Victoria Falls: 19th Aug 09

White water rafting day - we spent the drive over to the gorges crapping ourselves - the safety briefing beforehand mentioned what to do when thrown from the boat, being stuck under it and being rescued by helicopter, followed by compulsory signature of two disclaimer forms! There was a long walk down the gorge to the river, scrambling over rocks and boulders, pretty hairy in parts; particularly when I got my leg stuck between rocks and had to yank it out! Got down to the river and crapped ourselves some more, particularly as we had to jump from the rocks into the water and swim up to get in the boat. Paul was up first and was lucky to be able to jump directly into the boat, very funny to watch, the rest of us (me and four other English lads) followed straight into the drink and had to be pulled up into the boat.

The rapids are graded from one to six according to some British standard, one being tame and six being certain death. The route we followed meant we were to go through a total of ten rapids with numbers four, five and seven graded as five on the scale, i.e. very scary! Rapid number nine was graded six on the scale so we had to get out of the boats and walk it on the Zimbabwe side of the river (no visa required). At one point between rapids we saw a crocodile chilling out on the side of the river! Rapid number seven was the most difficult (graded five) and our guide told us to paddle like crazy and if he started shouting to follow his every instruction. Our boat managed to get through okay but one of the guys from our group came out of his boat in the middle of the rapid and spent the rest of it experiencing being in a washing machine – he looked so shocked, to describe his expression as seeing a ghost just doesn’t cut it - more like seeing his own arse from the other side of the river!

After we sailed though our final rapid we had to walk the 300m (higher than Canary Wharf tower) back up the gorge. A 300m ascent + life jacket + safety helmet +paddle = PAIN! To say we were knackered is the biggest understatement ever - we both thought we were going to die! Having eventually got to the top we felt a huge sense of achievement, what a fantastic experience. Note to readers re photos – Paul and I initially started at the front of the boat but moved to the back to give others a chance (thank God), as you look at the photos Paul sits on the left and Matt on the right (back of the boat in all photos).