Preparing for Zambezi White River Rafting

Author and adventurer: Lew Phelps, of Pasadena, CA, his wife and two adult daughters traversed the Zambezi Rive rapids on 30 November 2006.

The Zambezi River rapids immediately downstream from Victoria Falls on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, are considered the most difficult rapid in the world that can be navigated by commercial rafters (this is, rafts for hire to carry passengers).

Shearwater Adventures, a premier rafting company located in the town of Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side of the river, is very professional, well equipped and experienced. They take possible precautions to ensure that their customers have an exciting, eventful and most of all a safe rafting experience.

Among the precautions, each group of the rafts is proceeded by three or more kayak riders, who expertly navigate the rapids in advance of the rafts, and wait downstream in the calm stretches of water that lie below each rapid to rescue anyone who goes into the river. Every customer is equipped with a helmet and life jacket, and given good instruction and practise in the techniques needed during the white water rafting experience, including getting back into the raft from the river.

Shearwater also has an emergency helicopter on standby in case of serious injury to a customer. They have had to call it down into the river gorge only once on all their years of operation, which testifies to the overall safeness of the operation.

The Zambezi River rapids are an incredible experience – moments of high intensity (sometimes bordering on terror), interspersed with moments of floating along calm sections of the river in an unbelievably beautiful river gorge below the Victoria Falls.

Shearwater offers a half-day trip that transits 12 rapids – five which are category 5 (the most difficult), three are category 4 (almost as difficult) and two “mild” category 3 rapids, which are a lot rougher than anything you’ll experience at Disneyland. There’s also one category 6 rapid, which is walked around while the rafts are sent through empty. The full-day trip consists of 11 additional rapids, further downstream, including two category 5 rapids.

The probability is very high that you will end up in the river traversing at least one of these rapids. During the trip taken by the author, one raft flipped and dumped all 9 riders into the water. On the other raft, 3 of the 6 riders (including the author) were washed overboard by strong waves in several different rapids. At one of the rapids, the “flip” rate is 90% if the rafters choose the more difficult path, and 60% if they choose the “easy” route. Our raft choose the “easy” route and made it through unscathed, the other chose the more challenging route and flipped. We went through first and helped haul rafters out of the river downstream of the rapids.

In preparation for this rafting trip, any potential rafters will do themselves a considerable service by undertaking a serious physical conditioning program. Shed excess pounds (less weight to hurl up the steep trail!), develop your leg muscles, and improve cardiovascular conditioning. Two or three months of regular workout at a fitness facility, with emphasis on the stair climbing machine, should help to get you in shape for the climb out. To repeat, in can be done without such preparation – it’ll just be a lot easier you do prepare.

Things you should bring

Here are five things you will absolutely need to take on your trip if you’re running the Zambezi river rapids:

1. Swimming trunks (boxer style, not racing style) or fast-drying shorts and a t-shirt or long-sleeve polo protection shirt for men, and a swim suite of fast-drying shorts and a t-shirt or solar shirt for women.
2. Appropriate footwear – this means either good, well-fitting fabric running shoes or “river rafter” type sandles.
3. Waterproof sun-block, the higher the SPF, the better.
4. A baseball cap to wear under the saftey helmet and protect your eyes from glare.
5. Any medications that you might need during the trip, such as an asthma inhaler. (The guide will put them in a floating container so they won’t be lost).

Things you should NOT bring

Here are things you should absolutly NOT take with you on the river:

1. Any camera or video camera. You’ll lose it over the side, and you can’t possibly shoot during the rapids runs anyway – you’ll be hanging on for dear life – besides wich the rafting dervice will have videographers and photograhers on the banks tacking pictures of your raft as you shoot the catagory 5 rapids. Rely on them to document you adventure!
2. Glasses or sunglasses, unless you absolutly cannot do without them. If you are wearing glasses, the guides will secure them by tying a short string to the bridge of the glasses and then to your life jacket. If you must wear eyeglasses on the trip, wear an old, spear set. And bring at least one (prefably two) sets of spare glasses with you on your trip.
3. Any valuebles, escpecially including your passport, cash (except cash to tip your raft quide, wich you will definatly want to do), a watch, or jewelry of either monetary or emotional value. Leave your valuables in the safe in your hotel room, or in the safe at the Shearwater office where your excursion begins.

About the author and the adventure

The Zambezi river rafting trip was one of the highest of highlights of our three-week trip in Southern Africa – at least as exciting and memorable as game drives where we came within three meters of lions, elephants, giraffes,and rhinos and as memorable as our wisit to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and other Anti-Apartheid leaders were imprisoned for decades.

Please don’t be intimidated by this description. Rather – as the Boy Scouts would say:

Be Prepared!

Lew Phelps, of Pasadena, CA, his wife and two adult daughters who traversed the Zambezi Rive rapids on 30 November 2006.