In a canoe down the Zambezi

In a canoe down the Zambezi

Upon arriving at the Lusaka Backpacker’s hostel in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, I was up for another adventure, so I booked a canoe safari for the following day. I had been travelling with Selina, a girl from China, who decided to join me.

August 30, 2014

We got up early and took a taxi to the minibus station. We wanted to be there at six. We found a minibus right away and it was filling up quickly so we left at around half past six. The journey took around three and a half hours. They were trying to pick up more people on the way, then they stopped to have breakfast and then they stopped again next to a crashed lorry. The locals wanted to check out what had happened and take a few pictures. We arrived in a town at the border with Zimbabwe where we were going to canoe from. We took another taxi to a cottage next to the river.

We had breakfast and our guide told us some information about the safari. We set out at noon. The funny thing was that it was just the two of us going on the safari. What was less funny was that Selina and I were going to sit in one canoe together and the guide would be in another canoe. It caught me by surprise. I mean, I was going to canoe down the fourth longest and largest river in Africa and it was only going to be my second time in a canoe (the first time being when I canoed on Lake Bunyonyi n Uganda). The level of adrenaline went considerably up. But we had alright signed up for it. The guide explained us how to paddle, turn around and other things. We could face four dangers on the Zambezi river: a hippo, a crocodile, wind and fallen tree branches.He told us how to avoid dangerous situations and we set off. At first we were worried we would be taken by the strong current but we quickly came to grips with canoeing and the initial fear was replaced by excitement.

Getting ready for a canoe safari
Getting ready for a canoe safari
Elephants on the Zimbabwean river bank
Elephants on the Zimbabwean river bank
Catching a glimpse of a bird
Catching a glimpse of a bird
An elephant hiding in the high grass
An elephant hiding in the high grass

We were going to cover 18 kilometres that day. We had already seen a few elephants and hippos. Zimbabwe was on the right and Zambia on the left. There were lots of birds and beautiful scenery. We had a lunch break after having canoed for more than two hours.  It was really nice there. Sandy shore. An elephant grazing nearby. We left after an hour and spend another hour paddling. It was after four o’clock when we reached an island in the middle of the river to spend the night there. We put up tents and watched sunset while waiting for dinner. We ate the dinner having headlamps. A bright moon shone high in the sky.

Having rest and lunch close to the river
Having rest and lunch close to the river
Just before sunset
Just before sunset
Staying for the night on one of the many islands
Staying for the night on one of the many islands
Having dinner listening to lions roaring in the distance
Having dinner listening to lions roaring in the distance

August 31, 2014

On the second day, which was a Sunday, I woke up early. I watched a glorious sunrise, had a coffee and tea and we set out again. And that’s when the problems started. Our guide was sick. Apart from that the wind picked up, so I didn’t really enjoy that day.We were paddling until half past nine. The first hour was hard. I had the feeling that my effort to fight the wind was futile. I thought a few times I would end up in the water among crocodiles. But somehow we always managed. I was so exhausted shortly before a break for breakfast that I just wasn’t able to stop the canoe in the countercurrent. So we had to stop elsewhere. In Zimbabwe. The guide made breakfast but then he was just lying and having a rest. He was really sick. He had been coughing a lot at night and in the morning and said he felt miserable.

The sunrise of the second day
The sunrise on the second day
More elephants
More elephants

After breakfast we were going to canoe further down the river.  But I asked him if he was going to call someone and tell them about his condition. He replied he would do so later. But he never did. We didn’t spent much time in the canoe. Both him and us had difficulty paddling, but perhaps because of different reasons. Therefore we stopped again and waited until the wind died down. It took ages. The weather improved in the afternoon so we could finish the remaining stretch of the river before we reached another spot to spend the night. Because of the weather we failed to see many animals. It was a disappointing day for me.  At last, we saw a few elephants at least.

When we reached the place to spend the night the guide was totally exhausted. He helped us to put up the tents but we cooked dinner ourselves. The problem was that one box of matches was wet and he used all the four matches in the second  box without being able to build a fire. That’s how sick he was. We thought we would end up having biscuits for dinner but after our successful attempt to dry the matches we had we managed to make a fire and cook a warm dinner. Selina liked cooking so we were not hungry.

September 1, 2014

On the third day, we only crossed the river to the other side. As it turned out, we had covered more kilometres on the second day, so we had ended up on the spot where we actually finished the safari.

The sandy island where we spent the second night
The sandy island where we spent the second night
One of many remote villages we passed on our way back to Lusaka
One of many remote villages we passed on our way back to Lusaka

Adapted from journal entries dated August 30 and September 2, 2014

Check out the following link for more pictures from Zambia:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152704562423233.1073741844.717288232&type=1&l=580901b549

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