Is rafting on the Zambezi River below The Victoria Falls Dangerous?
Arguably the finest one-day white water rafting trip on the planet, on one of Africa’s iconic rivers. Rafting the Zambezi River in the Batoka Gorge offers splendid isolation, breathtaking scenery, the opportunity to forget the daily grind, be physically active and reconnect with nature at an almost atavistic level. Starting at the headwaters of the “Middle Batoka Gorge”, directly below “The Victoria Falls”. Rafting the Zambezi river has been an outdoor adventure renowned “must do”, since the first descent in 1981. But is rafting the Zambezi safe? (Because it is exceptionally good fun). The origins of the name “Zambezi” are contentious, the modern use of the word by the “Kaonde” people of North Western Zambia is “Great River”. While the English derivative of the name itself, is thought to have come from the same general area, from the “Lunda” people’s word “Kasambambezi”. Ominously translated as “those that know how to swim”. Rafting the Zambezi is an extreme outdoor adventure expedition. Rafting any river carries a level of inherent risk that must be acknowledged. In order to classify the level of river difficulty, the world wide rafting fraternity use a basic numbered system from Class-I to Class-V. With Class-V being the highest level of commercially available rafting. While definitely not infallible and subject to serious downright heated debate. The system does allow a base level of measure, with regard to difficulty and what to expect. The class of a rapid has no bearing on the amount of “fun” you can have on it, and the Zambezi is full of punchy Class-III’s that will have you yelling for more. RAFTING CLASSIFICATION TABLE CLASS Characterised by: I Moving water, with small waves and riffles, few obstacles and small areas to avoid, straightforward to see and easy to navigate with limited experience. II Easy, read and run rapids, with wide clear channels, easily avoidable obstructions with the occasional need to navigate around obstacles/features. III Fast moving water, often necessary to take on large waves/features and stay on lines. Strong eddy lines and powerful currents. Multiple obstructions. IV Powerful fast moving rapids that require concentration and a high level of skill to navigate, necessary to make certain complex lines. High pressure moves to avoid areas and features. Necessary on occasion to ‘scout’ these rapids. V Long, difficult and violent rapids, demanding routes, high pressure navigation required, may contain unavoidable features which have to be run. Rescue conditions are difficult and there is risk to life or limb. The upper limit of commercial rafting. The Zambezi River is classified as a Grade-V river, most notably this is on the very top end of commercially available rafting. It is very important to acknowledge and respect the risk that accompanies the decision to sign up to one of our rafting trips. Guests are ultimately responsible for their own safety decisions and there are expectations of guests on this Class-V river. Here is what you need to consider when making your decision: The Middle Zambezi rafting section is located within the steep sided “Batoka Gorge”. Guests need to be able to negotiate the steep hikes to access and exit the gorge. After a long day on the water these hikes can be demanding. The ability to do these hikes is an indication of the fitness levels necessary to enjoy this incredible experience. The Zambezi River undergoes substantial seasonal water-level variation and as such we are constantly changing the entrance and exit paths to raft different sections. Some paths are more demanding than others, but in general these hikes take the average guest 15-25 minutes. You will need to be able to sit and remain balanced while in the raft and be able to hold on with one hand. Follow instructions in stressful situations and communicate effectively with other guests and our guide team. You will need to be able to walk around some of the bigger rapids on difficult terrain and to get into and out of the raft in slippery conditions and on broken ground. You would need to do this on multiple occasions. You will need to be able and willing to actively participate in your own rescue. Be able to move your body and hold your breath in fast moving water, if you end up in the water you need to be able to regulate your breathing and keep your cool. Guests will also need to be able to help other guests back onto the raft. Rafting this river is an excellent team activity and everyone joins in. River trips by their very nature are risky and here often lies part of the allure of the adventure. If you are comfortable with the above read on about how we moderate this risk with thirty years of experience on this incredible section of river. Our Guides All of our team are International Rafting Federation accredited and hold Class-V rafting licenses. We are constantly training scenarios and de-briefing. No day on the Zambezi is ever the same and “every day is a school day”. We never stop adapting and learning. Guest safety is our number one priority. All of our team hold Advanced First Aid Certificates and we have yearly refresher courses. We are proud that four of our team successfully qualified the Basic Life Support (BLS) Certification from the American Heart Association. On all of our trips we take an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). Our team are all in-house trained and from our community, we are a strong family; and most of our guides have been with us for over 15 years. With vast amounts of logged river hours on this stretch of the river. Our guide team are exceptionally customer focused. If you feel unsure or nervous, they understand and many a morning’s “butterflies”, have turned to exhilaration after the first rapid. You got this. The International Rafting Federation is the world wide body which oversees the certification and training of professional raft guides. We pioneered this qualification on the Zambezi with Adventure Logic and
