Canoeing down the Zambezi

After I paid a pretty penny for my Canoe adventure, I had little money for dinner! That allowed me to meet the locals. My lodge was "self-catering, " which included this contraption that looked like a microwave, however it had 2 burners on top of an oven. I had cast iron pots - everything I needed. 2 supermarkets are within a 5 min. walk. TM is the popular one- all the student groups that I met at the Falls were there- kids buying all sorts of junk food. A woman in line told me they sleep at area schools. She also said the supermarket was busy because it was the end of the month when people were paid and the store was running specials.

As I was eating I heard some music- I looked outside and saw dancers down by the restaurant, so I ran down. About 10 guys dressed in zebra skins were singing and dancing. They took turns performing- almost like break-dancing, but the songs were African! Then they passed the hat and tried to sell their CD. All the patrons were white. I was staying in a pretty cheap place- options ranged from tents to cabins. In the morning I did see some locals- I guess they cooked in their cabin just like me.

The Rest Camp was quite large offering lodges (2 bedroom cabins with kitchen and bath,) cabins with just beds and tents. It was nicely spread out- with a restaurant and pool. 

During the night I heard the elephant trumpets. Looked out my window and just across the road, by a cabin were 3 elephants!

Maganu Adventures picked me up at 7am- we were a Dutch couple and a Zimbabwean. We drove 1 1/2 hours through the Zambezi National Park on roads that looked like rocky riverbeds. This was like a game drive because we saw elephants, buffalo and kudo. It was amazing to see how excited the guide was to see the animals. He had a camera and stopped the jeep with every sighting. Seeing tracks along the road the guide explained that it was a trapped buffalo with a collar dragging the plank. Eventually the animal would die.

8:30 they set up for breakfast. First hot tea or coffee. Then 2 guys quickly gathered firewood to start a fire to fry eggs and bacon. The guide gave us the safety talk - I was a little uneasy- I thought it was going to be super calm water, no rapids! We were in 2-man inflatable canoes. A Zambian fisherman was at the shore with a big catch of fish.

Luckily I was with the main guide. We saw a herd of elephants as they contemplated crossing to the island. I did the half-day- about 6 km. We were 15 km upriver from the Falls. We saw crocodiles and hippos. He told us how hippos were territorial, live in pods of 10, the dominant male does not tolerate other males. They can stay under water for 8 min.

The Zambezi starts in Zambia and runs through Angola, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. They want to build a bridge where the river intersects 4 countries, but some of the land would be taken away from Zim so they are objecting to the project. Then it flows into Lake Kariba, then Mozambique and finally into the Indian Ocean 2740 km.

The trip was fantastic. We stopped briefly on a sandbar to stretch our legs. Then the guide tightened my life jacket and we put our sunglasses, hats and cameras into the dry bag. He then told us about the series of rapids ahead of us. I was not too excited, but he said I could just hold on to the side ropes, no need to paddle. He expertly maneuvered us through as he squealed in joy. The river was wide, the trees were beautiful, the birds were large and plentiful, the weather was perfect, the company was enjoyable, it was everything and more than I expected.