Greatness Indeed.

Before rafting the Great Zambezi it crossed my mind that I could very well die. But after doing a quick mental Pros and Cons list, I decided that if I did die, than this would be the way to go. Plus I had already booked and paid for the trip the night before during a state of dehydrated delirium after the 17 hr bus ride... took the liberty of booking Amber's too while she was in the shower!
The day started at 7am. I met my fellow rafters at the top of Victoria Falls, where I proceeded to do a standard sizing up of the group- before going into any questionable situation, I like to make sure that I am not the weakest link. The crew: our guide- didn't catch his name, guessing he didn't catch mine either bc he called me "US girl" the entire day. Let's just call him Hitler. His apprentice- Prince. A 56 yr old man- looked strong. Two twenty something girls from Sweden- healthy, very fair skinned, not much in the bicep department. And two thirty yr old guys- very athletic, but they were French and were wearing flip flops, enough said. I got this!
The descent into the gorge is 350 ft, straight down. Imagine climbing down the face of half dome, twice, on a 100 yr old ladder. Once in the water we had a 3 min paddle tutorial at the bottom of Victoria Falls, then began the 21 rapid rodeo.
The first 4 rapids were class 3 and 4, warm ups. Lost a few crew members to random tidal waves. Then came #5, oh #5. Still feeling that bugger. Coming up on 5 was not at all nerve racking. The drop off is so steep and so sudden, you don't even have the chance to be scared. I've white water rafted before, and again I did the crew size-up, so I felt pretty confident, but still said a prayer that went something like "God please don't let us die, and please don't let Amber lose her contacts". Not sure what happened next. No clue which way I was turned. Upside down? Underwater? Under the raft? My priorities list looked something like this- breath, find paddle (no way I was paying $10 for a lost paddle), and take picture while being pummeled by the rapids (thanks Aveline for the underwater camera). I eventually did all of the above, then grabbed on to Claude's jacket and floated the rest of the rapid out with him. Everyone got back into the boat very shaken. I think Amber cursed at Hitler and then looked at me and said "this isn't fun". She was also sporting a new black eye.
Rapid 8 was another flip. Definitely came up under the raft this time, not good for a claustrophobic. Made it out, just in time for Hitler to flip the raft right side up.... on to my head. Really? How about flip it to the left side where no one is floating and not concuss me?!?
On we went. The float down the Zambezi is beautiful. You are in a giant gorge the entire time- picture The Grand Canyon with elephants- Zimbabwe on one side, Zambia on the other. Halfway through we dropped the crew off, and Amber and I continued on with a raft full of guides. Which made it much easier for me to slack off on paddling, bc I no longer had to compensate for Pierre and Claude's subpar performance.
We had another flip at 18, and it was awesome. I didn't hit anything or anyone. It was more like a catapult. I was launched 30 ft from the raft! By the time I got situated, I was a good 200 ft behind everyone, and somehow collected 3 paddles!
The trip ended with a hike out of the gorge. So imagine that same 350 ft ladder again, this time going up. With rafting gear. At one point I offered Amber's hand in marriage to one of the guides in exchange for a piggyback ride. We made it to the top where we were promised refreshments. I opened the cooler to find Fanta and beer... 7 hours in the African heat, 1 bottle of water for the entire rafting trip, 45 minute hike.... water would have been a nice option. I guess they figured we drank so much of the Zambezi while eating ish on the rapids that we'd be fine....
In conclusion, the Great Zambezi is true to it's name. It was the greatest day ever. My body is telling a slightly different story; bruises and scrapes galore. It looks like Jackie Chan nunchucked my legs from top to bottom, then Zorro tapped in and sliced me up.