Attempting to Kayak

Mom please don't read this...

The rafting had got me excited about being on the Zambezi again and this time I wanted to go down the river again, this time in a kayak. Last time I was in Victoria Falls, I had a guide try and teach me how to eskimo roll in the swimming pool. I wasn’t able to roll after 4 hours of trying so I decided it be best to not try and go down the river. I was convinced that I could make it down this time though.

I talked with Sven, the local kayak guru and he arranged to have one of his friends teach me how to kayak on the river. The weekend arrived and Sam arrived at the house ready to take me to the river. We went down to rapid 6 so that we could do some work in the pool there and some of the moving water just above the rapid. The morning went by without me being able to roll, but getting some work on the moving water. Kayaking is definitely harder than I thought it would be. It is amazing how unstable that little boat is in the moving water. The good thing is that it is a lot like skiing in what you need to do in the water… Going from still into moving water you need to lean downstream so that the water can flow under the boat, otherwise you go over. Going from moving into still water you have to lean upstream because as you leave the moving water you get fishtailed out into the still water. I started understanding the concepts, but was still quite wobbly in the boat, as I would get thrown around pretty good in the different currents and eddies. It is a lot like walking and I was just learning how to crawl. We spent the entire day just on the moving water and in the pools working on the roll. By the end of the day I was exhausted but pretty excited about what I had learned.

That night was Sam’s going away party. We headed over to Jolly Boys to start the evening out with some mojitos… how gay does that sound. The thing about alcohol in Africa is that you don’t have much of a variety. The only rum that is available is called cane, at least we assume it is rum, and pretty much is 141. Just add some mint, sugar and lime and you have yourself an African mojito. The road to belligerence was a fast and treacherous with fourties to follow the mojitos. I don’t remember leaving Jolly Boys that night but I woke up to my alarm the next morning feeling like a sledge hammer was pounding against my head. I spent the first few minutes trying to piece together what had happened the night before. Then I realized I was kayaking that day and had to meet my guide James about 5 minutes before I woke up. The good news is that James was out drinking with us the night before so he was feeling just as good as I was. After a quick breakfast and hydration we headed off for the gorge. It was more time in the morning just practicing rolling with me finally getting over by myself. But as quickly as I got it, I lost it. We had lunch and then headed to the moving water to do some more work. After a bit of time in the moving water it was finally time to head into the rapids. This required a little bit of work, as we walked up the gorge over the boulders to reach the set of rapids above us. This was a good hike up the gorge where we encountered a water monitor on the way that scared the shit out of me. After cleaning the crap out of my pants we continued to the top of the rapid. This was a nice long grade three chute with a three nice waves. We started from a nice little eddy just upstream from the rapids. I fairy glided to the middle of the river and then was off heading towards the rapids. My heart was racing and I was a little nervous heading into the waves. I hit the first one going through the center of it. I made it through the rest of the rapids and had such a rush coming out at the other end. James asked if I wanted to try the next rapid. Of course I did, I just had such a good rush and I wanted to keep going. Little did I know what I was in for. The next rapid was the Devil’s Toilet Bowl (as I was to find out later a grade 5). It is a section of pretty decent rapids followed by two massive waves about half way down the rapids. I headed into the rapids, following James’s instructions to stay by him and keep right on the big waves. The first section was a blast, powering through the rapids. Soon I was headed towards the waves but was too close to the center. I hit the first wave right in the center going into it, powering through to the top. I survived the first one, but had almost no speed going into the second wave. I dropped in and the front of my boat got flipped backwards and next thing I know I’m under water. There was no way that I was going to be able to roll here so I decided to pop out of the kayak… bad move. As soon as I was out of the kayak, and still under water, I was sucked into the toilet bowl. This was a massive whirl pool right after the wave. It felt as if my ankle was caught on a rock, but it was just the water pulling me down. It was strong enough to pull me under, pull my skirt off, and almost take my shorts off. I was under and there was nothing I could do about it. My mind was quite clear at the moment and all I could think about was how this wasn’t how I wanted to go. After a bit of a panic I spread my body out and eventually made it out of the whirl pool, about 30 seconds later. Those were probably the longest 30 seconds of my life. After making it out, James collected my paddle, boat, and skirt. I was back in the boat and had one more section of rapids to go. These were nothing big, thank goodness, and I proceeded without any more near death encounters. We pulled the boats out of the river and made our way up the gorge. Thank goodness for that horrible climb because it definitely took my mind off of what just happened.

The next week I didn’t sleep too well. All I could do was dream about being sucked under water and not being able to get out. I wasn’t too keen to get back in the kayak any time soon. I told myself that I should take a week off and rest a bit to get the incident out of my head. Thursday night though I ran into James and his friend Ian. James unfortunately had to take some clients down the river on the weekend and couldn’t take me down. Huge sigh of relief. Ian was free though and wanted to take me down. Balls to the wall, if you fall just get back up again. I was heading down the river on Saturday with Ian. We met up on a sober Saturday morning and headed down to the gorge. I told him I wanted to do some work in the still water on my rolls and then do some rapids, but not the Devil’s Toilet Bowl. After only a few minutes in the boat I was glad that I decided to get back on the river. After a few more minutes I was questioning myself again. I couldn’t believe how sore I was still from the week before, not in my shoulders but in my hips. A few rolls and they were burning. We did a little moving water work and then had lunch. After lunch it was time to hit the rapids again. This time it was only grade 3’s. I progressed enough to get through the rapids without any problems and even was able to get into and out of eddies without much trouble. I was feeling really good in the boat and having a blast going down the river. I’m really glad I went back into the water but learned my lesson not to try to run before one can walk.

Life on the Zambezi

It didn’t take a lot to convince me to go rafting down the Zambezi, all she did was ask. It was Leilani’s last weekend in Zambia and she wanted to go rafting. I hadn’t been down the river yet on this trip, but have made it a priority every time I make it up to Victoria Falls. This trip was no different, I’m just surprised it took me so long.

Saturday morning we headed down to the river with our roommate Kent who would be taking us down the river. I had one request to Kent, please just make sure we flip the raft. This shouldn’t be much of a problem on the Zambezi as the water is low and the rapids are big.

The day starts with a nice long trek from the top of Victoria Falls down the gorge to the Boiling Pot. This would be where we would start our day rafting down the river. We headed off with a pretty full boat with 8 people that would be on board with us. The day starts off pretty easy with a grade 3 rapid called Morning Glory, but quickly progresses to the reason it is one of the hardest rivers in the world to raft with grade 4 and 5 rapids for the rest of the day. Stairway to Heaven left us a bit jarred around but again no flip. After a bumpy ride down The Devil’s Toilet Bowl, we pumped our leaking raft back up to try and ensure a flip on number 7, Gullivers Travels. This rapid has three options with the right being the easiest, the middle being harder and the left, Star Trek, for those that have lost most of their braincells drinking the night before. We headed to the left down Star Trek, a twenty foot drop down into giant ten plus foot waves. The raft got folded in half with the front of the boat nearly touching the back. Unbelievable we somehow made it through without flipping, but with only 3 people left on board. We had one more chance to flip on the Gnashing Jaws of Death but again our boat was about as soft as a Cadillac and we just got thrown out of the boat without a flip. We stopped for a lunch break and said goodbye to those who were only doing a half day. Most importantly we were able to switch rafts and get a nice firm raft which should be easier to flip. We didn’t get much time to digest before we were off down the river again. Kent promised us a flip on number twelve, the Three Ugly Sisters, a progression of three rapids with number two being the big one. We headed down the first rapid without issues and continued to number two. This was a massive wave off of a big drop. We went in getting sucked in for a decent surf which turned our boat around backwards before throwing us out. I was out of the boat and was quickly swimming for the eddy on the left. I made it to the eddy and was able to get back into the boat. We were going back into the rapid by paddling up the eddy and swinging back into the rapid. It was amazing to go up the river and get sucked into the rapid. All you can do is get down and hold on while the raft surfs. We got another classic surf and lost some more people from the boat but still no flip. Unfortunately, as one of the ladies got tossed out of the raft her oar hit Leilani and knocked out one of her front teeth. She was a champ though and we headed back into the second ugly sister three more times without a flip but with some great surfing. We continued down the river, front tooth missing, and still no flip. There was one more chance to get a flip, on number eighteen, Oblivion. Oblivion is my favourite rapid on the river. It is 3 massive waves in a row. If you hit it right you get a good surf on the second rapid and then it throws the boat up into the air vertical with people getting thrown everywhere. Today would be no different. We had our surf and got tossed into the air, but not far enough and we were left without a flip on the last big rapid of the day. Kent was on a mission though and on number 22, Morning Shave, we finally flipped the boat but only by everyone sitting in the back quarter of the boat going into the rapid. It was like a row of dominoes as we all went tumbling on top of each other and the boat coming down on top of us. We had finally flipped. It was a classic day of rafting down the Zambezi and was topped off with the walk out of the gorge with cold beer waiting at the top for the ride back to town.

Zambezi Sunset

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Originally uploaded by kgoldsch.

Sunday was a bit of a crazy day. I was supposed to go to Zimbabwe to pick up some sports equipment for the sports program I was setting up this past week in Livingstone. Unfortunately they wanted to charge too much money for me to head across the border to pick up the stuff. Phil and I then headed into Livingstone on a frantic search for some footballs (soccer balls). Amazingly after searching every store we could and even heading to both local markets, we couldn't find one football. This is Africa at it's best. It is really hard to find anything that is even remotely a luxury item here. Not to worry, Phil had to head to Zim during the week anyway so he would pick everything up then.

Seeing as we had wasted an entire day running to the border and around town, we decided it would be a good idea to have another relaxing sunset. This time we would do it African style. We all packed into the back of my friend's truck and made a quick stop at the Zimbabwe market. This outdoor marked sells booze and other goods on the black market. Everything is smuggled in over the border from Zimbabwe and is much cheaper than any of the shops in town. We went to my favorite lady and bought a few cases of beer. We then headed off towards the Zambezi. We turned off onto a dirt road that took us along the banks of the Zambezi to where the Maramba River dumps into the Zambezi. There is a little peninsula here, right along the banks of the river, but a few meters above the waters edge, so safe from hippos and crocodiles. We sat up here on the banks and cracked open a few beers. Soon we were greeted by a herd of elephant making their way from Zimbabwe to Zambia, swimming across the river. It was amazing to watch the elephants swim, completely submerged with only their trunks as snorkels. The ended up on the banks of the Maramba river, just across from where we were sitting. It was an amazing sight, having them this close and truly nothing between them and us. After the elephants disapeared into the bush, the hippos got a little curious as to what was going on with us. They were checking us out from ten meters away in the water, poking thier eyes out of the water and every so often giving a grunt and yawn to entertain us. The hippos were great, but it was time for what we came for, the perfect African sunset. This was truly one of the best sunsets I have seen on the Zambezi, being this close to nature with the locals. This is heaven. As the sun was setting, another herd of elephant arrived on one of the islands on the river and had a drink with us at sunset. This is the Africa I remember... heaven.

Zambezi Sunset

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Originally uploaded by kgoldsch.

Elephants strolling by as we sit on the banks of the Zambezi having a few beers.

Victoria Falls

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Originally uploaded by kgoldsch.

Last weekend was a trip to Victoria Falls. I have been to the falls many times befor, but this time I would be on the Zambia side, doing a trip to Livingstone Island. We took a speed boat from the Royal Livingstone Hotel along the Upper Zambezi River. We sped along the river, winding through rapids, rocks and islands towards the falls. We arrived at Livingstone Island and were greeted by our guides and some energy drinks. An energy drink in Zambia consists of some orange juice, bananas and milli meal (corn meal). It was a bit gritty, but good. We walked along the island towards the edge of the falls. This island is where Dr. Livingstone was taken by the Tonga people to be the first white person to see Mosi A Tunya, the smoke that thunders, later to be named Victoria Falls. Upon viewing the falls, Dr Livingstone decribed them as, "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight." I couldn't have said it any better. We walked to the edge of the island before we had to go for a swim in the Zambezi about thirty meters to a small island. It was a nice swim, but I was still nervous about it, seeing the water falling off of the falls only fifty meters down stream. Once on the small island, we made our way to the edge of the falls. When at the edge of the falls, it is a thrilling sight, watching all of the water rush over the edge. It was time to go swimming again and take a closer look.

Our guides showed us a pool at the edge of the falls that was three meters deep and safe to dive into. This pool is called Devil's Armchair. It is only about two meters wide and we had to jump off of a cliff into this pool that was right at the edge of the falls. One of the guides went first, showing off and doing a back flip into the pool. We followed, minus the backflip, jumping into the pool and swimming to the rocks right at the edge of the falls. My heart was racing being right at the edge of the falls, in the water, with only a few rocks for me to grab on to. As I looked over the edge, I saw one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen in my life. A wall of rushing white water was falling all around me and crashing into the gorge two hundred meters below. The force of the water crashing down was amazing and causes mist to come rising up from the falls, high enough to be seen from twenty kilometers away. Looking down was like looking into the mouth of God. It was just a breathtaking sight. We spent some time at Devil's Armchair, staring into the falls and doing some more dives off of the cliffs. We then went for a rough swim up the rapids a little to sit in the "poor man's jacusi." I can't think of a better jacusi in the world, just don't slip!

After the trip to Devil's Armchair, we swam back to Livingstone Island to have a few drinks and take a walk around the island. I hit up the "loo with a view," which puts the view from the 95th floor of the Hancock Tower to shame. I took a walk around the island, checking out the views of the falls and some of the wildlife on the island. There were also some flowers that only come out for a few weeks a year called fireball lillys. They were pretty cool flowers about the size of a softball and looked like bright red balls of fire. We eventually had to leave the island and got back in the boat for a ride back to the Royal Livingstone.

We stayed at the Royal Livingstone to watch the sunset while having a drink at a bar built on the banks of the river. There were amazing views of the falls from here. I was even treated to a phone call from the parents who were a bit jealous of me sitting back and enjoying life on the Zambezi. We had a beautiful African sunset and were joined by some hippos along the river. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day.

Victoria Falls

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Originally uploaded by kgoldsch.

Looking over the edge of the falls.

Victoria Falls

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Originally uploaded by kgoldsch.

View of the falls from Devil's Armchair.