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Our Experience
Although we have spend many days on the Zambezi and done
many canoe trips down the river this is account of our most recent trip
- with Shearwater in January 2009
Well our trip started off with a fantastic game drive through the
Zambezi National Park - where we saw about twelve Wild Dog lying on the
road in the early morning - it was wonderful (it is always a thrill to
see these endangered animals - and a real bonus to the canoe trip.)
When we arrived at the launch spot - we were given a cup of tea and a
very good and thorough safety talk by Shaun our guide.
The group was then
split into partners and we were shown the inflatable's (crocodiles - as they are
called). I must say that the first fifteen minutes feel very low
and close to the water - but you soon settle down and start to enjoy and
appreciate your wonderful surroundings.
The Zambezi River is
wonderful on this stretch with lots of channels to be enjoyed and then
of course the stretches of white water to be negotiated.
I must
say having Tony in the back of my canoe was very reassuring (as he has
spent many years guiding and canoeing and knows the Zambezi very well) and I settled back to enjoy
some great bird watching and the warm African sun. Yes, I did have
to do my share of paddling -but mainly the river is quite fast flowing
and the paddling fairly easy. It is entertaining to watch
the couples trying to paddle together and ending up going round in
circles - sometimes it is best to have the married ones separate - for
obvious reasons.
Because of the quietness of the canoes the game on the bank very
rarely even know that you are approaching - and one can really get up
close to them - but with the safety of the river and in some areas high banks.
We did not see any elephants on this particular trip - but we certainly
have seen them before at the right time of year.
The hippos and crocodiles are there to be honest - but the guides
know their stuff and the banging of the water (to alert the hippos and
make them surface) becomes an almost reassuring sound and I found myself
banging the water -whenever I saw anything that looked like a hippo -
which most of the time, was merely a tree stump.
We did have an interesting half an hour when we had to get out
of our canoes
and wait on the bank for a hippo
to move off into deeper water -before Shaun would proceed.
The white water and rapids that we went through - were not very big
and the inflatable's handled them very well - a bit of water coming into
the canoe - was the worst that happened.
Again the guides were
very professional with one in front and one behind all the canoes to
make sure we all got through with out any difficulties.
The day was over to soon for me and I found myself wishing it was
longer - we arrived at the take out point to a wonderful picnic lunch
which was very well received. The food and hospitality of our
guide and the staff was fantastic.
This trip is definitely one of our personal favourites..
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