Victoria Falls Day 3

We were picked up at the campsite reception at 7.20am by three guides in a safari vehicle with four inflatable canoes for our canoeing trip on the Zambezi river. We drove out into the national park and started with an hour's safari drive near the river where we saw quite a few wild animals including a kudu, impala, zebr and a, bushbuck. We came very close to seeing the elusive leopard that we've been hoping to see for the entire journey. We arrived by a safari vehicle where the driver said they had just seen a leopard by the road. However, it had disappeared and we didn't manage to see it.
We drove on through the trees and scrubland and eventually turned right into a beautiful area of trees by the river. The guides had prepared a nice breakfast for us and got our canoes ready. The lead guide gave us a debrief about how to stay safe on the river and what to do if we came into contact with hippos or crocodiles. If I didn't know before, I now knew that we would be paddling on a very wild river. We then put on our life-jackets and boarded our boats in pairs. I sat in the back of our canoe with Lauren in the front and it would be my responsibility to steer the boat which I wasn't sure if I was up to. We paddled along by the river bank and it took a while to get going as we got used to paddling together and the wind kept blowing us into the bank. We eventually managed to get paddling in a neat line out into the river. The lead guide was careful to paddle us away from the groups of hippos that we could see out in the river. We also saw a crocodile basking on a river island at the centre of the river and the lead guide regularly slapped the water with his paddle to scare away any crocodiles that might be nearby. We then stopped by a river island and the lead guide advised us how to paddle through an area of rough water with swirling water and where to go to avoid contact with hippos. We set off into the rough water and it was quite a challenge to paddle through as the river currents had become much stronger with the rising waters on the river. The guide was pleased that we all paddled through and we stopped on the river bank to rest and have a drink of water. I got out of the boat and walked up onto the rocky river bank. I looked out across the wide Zambezi river and soaked the evocative atmosphere of this legendary African river.
We then continued on down the river past more hippos. Our paddling rhythm improved along with my steering and I was able to begin relaxing and enjoy the wonderful views across the river. All too soon we returned to river bank where the safari vehicle was waiting for us at the end of our trip. We saw a small crocodile basking in the sun up close on a river island just before we paddled our canoes into the bank. We disembarked and ate the lunch provided by our guides. I had one more chance to look out across the beautiful river before we got back on the safari vehicle and drove out of the national park and back to our campsite. It had been a wonderful opportunity to spend time on this beautiful river above the great falls famously explored in the late 19th century by Dr. David Livingstone.
I then rested and prepared for my planned helicopter flight over the Victoria falls. However, the heavens opened about half an hour before the flight. The transport still arrived to take us to the airport for the flight and despite my protestations that it was going to be raining for the flight we were still checked in for the flight at the airport before the flight was inevitably cancelled. It was frustrating to have wasted the time preparing for a flight that I knew wasn't going to happen. I had the opportunity to rebook the flight the following day if the weather was better.
In the evening I met some of our new travellers who were joining our trip, two young Swiss men, Oscar and Simon, and an older couple from Liverpool, Phil and Bro, who were also 'died in the wool' Liverpool FC fans. As a fellow fan myself we were already on good terms. All the people joining our truck seemed very nice which boded well for a continuing positive group atmosphere for the trip to Cape Town ahead of us.
We had dinner in the restaurant on the campsite and had some enjoyable banter with our fellow travellers. I said my goodbyes to the young American, Kim, who would be leaving our trip tomorrow.
I retired bed in the wet and humid night and thought of our planned white water rafting trio the following day with some trepidation.Read more