Introduction
Since David Livingstone named Victoria Falls after his Queen, thousands 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 our 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.
PRE-DEPARTURE BRIEFING
There will be a pre- departure briefing at the Sprayview Hotel poolside at 6.00pm, the night before the trip departs. This will give you a chance to meet your raft guides, discuss the adventure that lies ahead of you and ask any last minute questions.

Day One   Guests are collected at 8.00am and should have had breakfast prior to departure. Guests are driven to the “look-out” where they are given the safety briefing and asked to sign an indemnity form. The first part of any rafting experience is very much a learning exercise and after a few practice runs we nudge our boats into the current and drift down-stream to challenge the legendary rapids of the Zambezi. There is no gradual build up; this 23 km stretch on day one is by far the wildest section of river that will be covered on the six-day trip including many class 5 rapids. A cold buffet lunch will be served at rapid #11. And we will reach our beach campsite at rapid #21 at about 3.30pm. Some of the rapids on day one are Land of The Giants, The Devil’s Toilet Bowel, and the famous Oblivion.

Day Two   We rise as the sun illuminates the towering walls above, to the smell of bacon and eggs on the fire. Once again all the equipment is harnessed down tightly for the voyage down stream, a long day lies ahead. Over the next week our world will become one of exhilarating action and scenes of remarkable beauty. 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. There is now more time between major rapids, than on day one, a chance to relax in the sun as we drift down calmer stretches. On day two we shall negotiate rapids such as The Narrows and Let’s Make a Deal, Chimamba Falls arriving at Moemba Falls beach camp for the second night.

Upper Moemba rapids is one of the most spectacular on the river and with so many of these rapids it has a perfect platform for photographs and we can stand within meters of the action. In our approach the river disappears to a roar not unlike a jet engine and a cloud of spray. Our 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. “Standing nearby one can feel a perceptible vibration between one’s feet, as the surge every now and then exhibits an extra spasm of violence”. (Sykes quoted Lamplugh, 1908)

Day Three   Day three is another hard working day running Upper Moemba and portaging around Moemba Falls. We arrive at the Dam site by 10.15 am where we will have lunch and portage of Chibonga Falls. Downstream the towering waves of Ghost rider, the biggest commercially run-able 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 Ghost rider. We get to camp at about 4.30pm after travelling about 20kms.

Day Four   There is no rush on day four and after breakfast, rigging the boats and a late departure from camp, we paddle past a set of small rapids before negotiating a more technical rapid named Asleep At The Wheel, and then drift into camp! (Again about 20kms travelled on day 4).

Day Five    After departing camp we drift past Fish Eagle’s nests, negotiate rapids - Wave Train, Jay Bay, (similar to Jeffrey’s Bay in South Africa - a popular surfing place), Bismark’s Territory, (home to a particularly large crocodile named Bismark!) and Smugglers Camp. This is the biggest fisherman’s village encountered during the 6 day trip and the villagers are happy to show us around, giving us a glimpse at an astonishingly uncomplicated and simple lifestyle, totally free from the modern urban world we left behind some days ago.

Day Six   The river really changes character. Basalt rocks give way to grassy banks and the grunts of vocal hippopotamus carry across the water. Our rafts drift past islands in the river, havens for Egyptian Geese and basking crocodiles. After a couple of hours, we rendezvous with our vehicles near the Matetsi River mouth. After packing up and deflating the rafts we head back to Victoria Falls by road, having lunch on route. The journey back takes about 3 hours. After taking time out to unpack and freshen up, a group dinner and party is always a favorite option.