Sunday 28 September 2008

Canoetrip and Rafting on the Mighty Zambezi

The last week or so we've spent on the Zambezi river in Zambia. First we left Livingstone to go to Kiambi Lodge close to the Lower Zambezi National Park. The drive was very long, especially the first 80 km's out of Livingstone are terrible with more potholes than road. This stretch takes at least 2 hours to drive, and even then it is very uncomfortable.
The day after the drive we then left on a 4 day/3 nights canoe trip on the river. This is certainly another highlight of the trip so far. The canoeing is not really hard or anything, I suppose it is much like the Gudenå in Denmark (well, if you add the Crocs, Hippos, Elephants etc. that is). The nights we spent on islands in the river, and hippos and elephants come very close to the camps. We saw tons of both of these fantastic creatures, and even got to experience a couple of pissed off elephants trying to scare us off with their mock attacks (apparently they wont make proper attacks into the river). We also got very close to the hippos and a few crocodiles, and got to see buffaloes for the first time here.

We hope that the following pictures can give you a better idea than anything we can write about the last week.

Arriving at Kiambi Lodge











































Day 1 of Canoetrip













































































































































Day 2 of Canoing

















































































































Day 3 on the river















Day 4

Includes our second visit to a local village. This time (a Tuesday) there were children attending classes.








































































After the canoe trip we went back to Livingstone via the Kariba Dam and lake.

Kariba Dam and the return trip to Livingstone





























































Yesterday we then went white water rafting, which was a lot of fun. We went in two boats, with 4 Chinese and 4 Russians, who didn't seem to pay much attention to the safety instructions (or understand them for that matter), but we all made it out alive). The rapids are rated 2-5, with plenty of nice big ones. We flipped totally once, and Christian got thrown out a couple of extra times, and you really feel the power of this river when you end up as a swimmer. At our flip we had the easy choice whether to take the easy or hard way, and as we approached the rapid the guide said something that sounded like "and then we will flip for sure", we were discussing this briefly, and as we hit the wave below the fall we realised that that was in fact what he said......
Tomorrow Thomas's parents arrive, and we'll then do a helicopter flip over Vic Falls, elephant back safari and then go to Botswana to see the Okavango Delta and Chobe national park.

The Rafting (In the first three pictures you can see how Christian is lost)









































































6 comments:

far/leif said...

Hej.

I am changing my mind, in the beginnning I did not understand why on earth you wanted to go to Africa, now I understand.
Have a nice trip, and all the best regards far/leif

muttimarie said...

Wauv, so nice to hear from you and see the photoes. It really looks fun and a bit dangerous....Now we understand why you wanted to take a break!We are so proud of you;-)You have really dared to make your dreams come through and I wish we were young and had dared the same.

Kaere alle 3 I oenskes flere gode oplevelser. Knus fra muttimarie

muttimarie said...

HIP HIP HURRAAAAAAAA, congratulation Thomas! Wish you a happy birthday whereever you are. I am sure this day will be very special for you. Really wish we could have been with you.
Kaerlige hilsner fra Lyon,
muttimarie

Jan said...

Hej TP,

Tillykke med fødselsdagen ol' buddy ol' pal.

Mvh.
Jan

Helle said...

Hvor ser det bare fedt ud!! Kan godt forstå I nyder det for vildt !!

Lejligheden på Vesterbro klarer sig fint uden jer - selv planten kan leve uden beboere i lejligheden ;-) Men jeg savner jer selvfølgeligt - og glæder mig for til vi skal på ski til vinter...

KH
Helle

supersook said...

Hey Christian,

Only got the adress for your blog now, and I've missed out big time I guess. My man, what an amazing trip you are doing there with some amazing people. I'm gonna read it all!

Greets from that little town in Denmark,

Koos