Rafting Along the Zambezi River

The Zambezi, more than any other river, evokes the mystery and excitement of Africa. Few rivers remain as pristine or as little explored. For centuries, elephants have stamped tracks deep in the sandy beaches and hippopotami wallowed in its calmer reaches. Native boats-men have long fashioned canoes from trees that grow along the banks of the upper river, but their path downstream has been inhibited. Going downstream has been craved and been a glorious pleasure of many locals and visitors of this great African river.

The Experience
The Zambezi River rafting descent is a world-class adventure. There are dozen of adrenaline-pumping rapids and miles of calmer water to reflect on the beauty of the remote canyons. There are rafts that disturb baboons that bark in alarm as rafters drift by, elusive klipspringers bound over the boulders and fish eagles gliding overhead. The rafting experience of the Zambezi River has draw millions over people over the 29th century, from across the world as novice and expert rafters took the raging waves of the majestic river.

Rafting since Livingstone
Since David Livingstone named Victoria Falls after his Queen, millions of people have come from all over the world to witness the spectacle, a mile long curtain of water that stretches across the glistening basalt rock, erupts into spray, and then thunders into the canyons below.

The walls of basalt rock that capture the mighty Zambezi form one of the great river corridors of the world; this is the domain of the Nyaminyami, the River God of the Tonga people and is now the highway for rafts.

At Victoria Falls the Zambezi River plummets into a gorge which separates the placid river above the Falls and the turbulent rapids below. The gorge is over 100 meters deep at the Falls and increases to over 200 meters by the end of a full day raft trip. Despite this rugged terrain, the gorges below the Falls are thick with vegetation and incredibly spectacular. The gorge is also the home of many rare birds such as the Black Eagle and the Taita Falcon.

Gorges & Valleys
Rafting in the Zambezi give one the opportunity to view beautiful gorges and life buzzing valleys of the river. The Songwe gorges, home to the threatened Taita falcons, are spectacular. Sheer rock walls arise hundreds of meters above the river and the roar of the rapids resound up the narrow canyons. Vertical walls give way to a wider valley at times and white sandy beaches dazzle in the sunshine.

The Upper Moemba rapids are one of the most spectacular on the river and with so many of these rapids it has a perfect platform for photographs and rafters can stand within meters of the action. In this part of the river, the Zambezi disappears to a roar not unlike a jet engine and a cloud of spray. Rafts slide over the lip of the drop and into several huge crashing waves that appear to swallow them completely. The entire Zambezi at this point is squeezed into a narrow cataract.

Enter Ghostrider
After passing Chibonga Falls, downstream are the towering waves of Ghostrider, the biggest commercially run roller coaster wave train in the World. In the original exploratory trip on the Zambezi one of the rafters opted not to run the rapid and pushed his empty boat off into the current. The sight of the empty raft successfully running the rapid in the twilight (after two others had flipped), inspired him to name the rapid Ghostrider. It has been a legendary rafting area since then.

Lower Moemba Falls
The Victoria Falls to Lower Moemba Falls section of the Zambezi begins from the base of Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe/Zambia border. The closest major towns are Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) and Livingstone (Zambia), both just a few miles from the put-in. This section is classified as a high volume pool drop river. The river comprises of very large rapids followed by sections of flat or slow moving water. Although it has few exposed rocks on most rapids, sheer river volume, heat, waves and hydraulics present distinct challenges in themselves.

The rapids in this section of the Zambezi are usually referred to by numbers (1 through 25) rather than names. The section above Number 1 at the base of Victoria Falls is often referred to as the "Minus Rapids". The river is variously classified as Grade IV/V++(4/5++) depending on rapid and season (due to varying water levels). This level of river has been described as "extremely difficult, long and violent rapids, steep gradients, big drops and pressure areas." The river drops approximately 400 feet over the 25km distance often covered in a one-day trip. The river flows through a gorge with steep sides necessitating a 750-foot climb to the top of the gorge at either rapid 13 or rapid 25 when taking out. A number of rafting companies offer trips on the Zambezi from the Zimbabwe and Zambian sides of the river. There are also 'jet-boat' trips run from a number of points on the river that drive up certain rapids.

Rapid Names along the Lower Moemba
The rapids on this section of the Zambezi are often referred to by the following names.

Number 1 - The Boiling Pot
Number 2 - Between Two Worlds
Number 3 - Rapid Number 3
Number 4 - Morning Glory
Number 5 - Stairway to Heaven
Number 6 - Devils Toilet Bowl
Number 7 - Gullivers Travels
Number 8 - The Midnight Diner
Number 9 - Commercial Suicide or just 'Number 9' due to its infamy as a very difficult rapid. Rafting companies portage this rapid.
Number 10 - Rapid Number 10
Number 11 - Overland Engine Eater
Number 12 - Rapid Number 12/12B
Number 13 - The Mother - Normal take out point for most day long kayaking trips
Number 14 - The Wrestling Hole
Number 15 - The Washing Machine
Number 16-17 - Referred to by Number
Number 18 - Oblivion
Number 19-25 Referred to by Number - Normal take out point for most day long raft trips
Open Season
Narrows
Chimamba Falls
Upper Moemba Falls - Normal take out point for most multi-day raft/kayak groups from *Livingstone/Victoria Falls
Moemba Falls