Zambezi white water rafting holiday
| country: | Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| departures: | 2009: 9 Oct |
| price: | From US $1700 (8 days) excluding flights |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
The Zambezi River’s Victoria Falls has awed visitors with its grandiosity and its beauty for time memorial.
A world heritage site and one of the seven natural wonders of the world, "Vic Falls" remains protected under the auspices of the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia. Spilling into a gorge nearly four hundred feet deep and a mile wide, the falls’ spray has created its own tropical rainforest ecosystem in the midst of semi-arid African tundra, replete with a dazzling array of flora, monkeys and birds of a thousand varieties, and a constant array of ephemeral rainbows.
Due to the spectacular nature of Vic Falls and to the abundance of activities in the area, Mosi-Oa-Tunya is the safest and the most oft visited tourist destination in Zambia. Contrary to the media’s interpretation of the region, Zambian government agencies have kept the area safe and free of political unrest in order to maintain its thriving tourist industry. Nearby Livingstone, Zambia likewise has maintained political stability, and boasts quaint English-style districts of tin-roofed Victorian homes and wooden verandas.
Dubbed the adventure capital of Africa, the area surrounding Vic Falls offers a range of activities, from bungee jumping over the Zambezi to sunset safari canoe cruises on the river’s mellower stretches; and just downstream of the falls courses one of the most thrilling and adventurous river trips in the world! An authentic African adventure, the Zambezi remains one of the top destinations for adventure travel on Earth. Check out our Zambezi River travel itinerary below and enquire today to book your spot on this once in a lifetime expedition!
A world heritage site and one of the seven natural wonders of the world, "Vic Falls" remains protected under the auspices of the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park in Zambia. Spilling into a gorge nearly four hundred feet deep and a mile wide, the falls’ spray has created its own tropical rainforest ecosystem in the midst of semi-arid African tundra, replete with a dazzling array of flora, monkeys and birds of a thousand varieties, and a constant array of ephemeral rainbows.
Due to the spectacular nature of Vic Falls and to the abundance of activities in the area, Mosi-Oa-Tunya is the safest and the most oft visited tourist destination in Zambia. Contrary to the media’s interpretation of the region, Zambian government agencies have kept the area safe and free of political unrest in order to maintain its thriving tourist industry. Nearby Livingstone, Zambia likewise has maintained political stability, and boasts quaint English-style districts of tin-roofed Victorian homes and wooden verandas.
Dubbed the adventure capital of Africa, the area surrounding Vic Falls offers a range of activities, from bungee jumping over the Zambezi to sunset safari canoe cruises on the river’s mellower stretches; and just downstream of the falls courses one of the most thrilling and adventurous river trips in the world! An authentic African adventure, the Zambezi remains one of the top destinations for adventure travel on Earth. Check out our Zambezi River travel itinerary below and enquire today to book your spot on this once in a lifetime expedition!
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive in Livingstone Zambia and transfer to either The Royal Livingstone Hotel or the Zambezi Sun. For guests that arrive by 3pm please feel free to join us on a sunset cruise on the upper Zambezi River, upstream of Victoria Falls. This is an awesome opportunity to enjoy your first glimpses of elephants, hippos, crocodiles and much more under your first African sunset. Back at the Hotel your trip leader will conduct a pre-trip orientation, preparing participants for the following morning’s departure. Sleep in deluxe accommodations near the Zambezi River. |
| Day 2: | Today we begin our journey down the Zambezi, putting in directly below Victoria Falls. This is our first taste of some of the most exciting rafting in the world, and we will pay our respects to the African River God, Nyami Nyami, one wave at a time. After some spectacular rapids and a short portage, we arrive at our camp on a beautiful white sand beach in the bottom of the gorge. |
| Day 3: | This morning we load up the gear rafts and head downstream through infamous rapids Oblivion, Overland Truck Crash, Stairway to Heaven, and many more. We reach our camp at yet another beautiful beach in time for sundowners. |
| Day 4: | Today the rapids spread out a bit and we are able to enjoy the great scenery and wildlife of the Batoka Gorge, navigating several more colossal rapids in between with names such as Closed and Open Season and Upper Moemba. Tonight we make camp above the riverwide, 20-foot tall waterfall of Lower Moemba. |
| Day 5: | This morning we wake early to take advantage of the cooler temperatures for two portages. The first is Lower Moemba where we lower the rafts a short distance around the falls. After a short float downstream, we encounter our next portage of Chibango Falls, which is also the site of a proposed dam that continually threatens this incredible river. This portage is long and hot. Everyone’s help will be appreciated as we carry the boats and gear around this stair-stepping falls. Below the falls, we reload the rafts and shortly downstream we are rewarded with quite possibly the biggest waves and best rapids of the trip, Ghost Rider. Negotiating this rapid is one of the biggest challenges of the trip and always produces some fabulous whitewater stories! Afterwards—and hopefully upright—we float to camp. |
| Day 6: | The whitewater mellows today as the gorge begins to slowly open. This is an awesome day for wildlife. Fish eagles, baboons, vervet monkeys and some impressively large crocodiles. We also get a chance to visit Smuggler’s Cove, a tiny Zambian fishing village where we’ll purchase some smoked Tiger fish for our night’s appetizer. Tonight’s camp is located on an enormous beach at a wide, flat part of the river situated perfectly for sweet sunsets! This is our last night on the river. |
| Day 7: | This morning we wake at a leisurely pace, put on and float downstream through the calm waters up to the confluence with the Metetsi River. Just before the confluence we cautiously pass by pods of hippos and crocs, all the while keeping our eyes peeled for the huge goliath heron and other exotic birds. Just below the confluence we’ll take-out, eat lunch, and meet our helicopter for an incredibly scenic return trip up the canyon. Flying upstream we’ll enjoy glimpses of the spectacular rapids and the extraordinary gorge that we just descended before landing at the renowned Taita Falcon Lodge, which overlooks Batoka Gorge.† After settling into cozy bungalows, we’ll commence our grand celebration banquet and party, toasting all around to completing one of the most quality river expeditions on Earth! |
| Day 8: | We’ll say our farewell at the hotel and you’re free to depart for the airport or to your next adventure! |
small group adventure holiday
Typically you will be sharing your experiences with between 4-20 like minded travellers (depending on the trip, operator and how many others are booked on the trip) and you'll have a group leader with you. Whether you are travelling alone or with friends its good value, and a great way to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of privacy. This trip will appeal to travellers of all ages who enjoy meeting new people as well as seeing new places. how this holiday makes a difference
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We’ll start our expedition in the town of Livingstone in the country of Zambia. This is a beautiful part of Africa. It is surrounded by parks. Wildlife preservation has become a major push in this region. With tourism increasing every year the community sees the value of preserving their unique environment.
On our Zambezi Trips our local guides do a night with Nishma and Vegetables. Nishma is a big part of the local diet. Its corn based and a local favorite. On this expedition we stay at local accommodations before and after the trip. We use local river guides on the river and we use locals for transportation. All of our meals are purchased at the local markets. This upper canyon is remote and beautiful. This expedition will take you far away from the tourism of Livingstone. Sightings of baboon families in the wild are common along the river corridor. We practice leave no trace on all our expeditions so we’ll pack out everything we pack in. While rafting on the river we propel ourselves with the most environmentally friendly power, physical labour. Throughout the entire trip, we pack all gear, food and refuse out of the Gorge and leave nothing in the river or on the banks. Even dishwater is strained so we don’t deposit small pieces of food in sump hole. Food and beverage cans are smashed to save space. Anything recyclable is hauled out to the proper facility after the expedition is complete. Our suppliers consist of a short list, the market (food for the river trip) and lodging (before and after the river expedition). We always do our food buy locally, for the reasons of helping the locals, convenience, and freshness. The lodging we set up for our guests ranges from hostels to private bungalows with room service, depending on our guests’ requests. We always choose the most eco-friendly lodging available. We steer clear of “golf course in the desert” resorts, both because it is a terrible idea and it is not our style. Our main policy aim is to keep conservation simple my making our environmental and cultural impact as low and friendly as possible. Keeping our impact low is comes naturally, as this state of mind has been held as a standard by most river communities for many years. Our ultimate goal is to instil these ideas into our clients’ every day life. We hope to accomplish this both by practice on the river expeditions as well as exposing them to the remote pieces of the world and giving them a greater appreciation for wilderness and our environment, giving them another motive for being environmentally responsible. |
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