A Kayaker Re-born!

KAVU DAY!!!!!
Paddled the top ten. Did a good job of it.
It's a long story, feel free to stop reading here, you've got the jist now.

Sorry for all you none Kayakers out there, this is going to get a bit technical and go on a bit. Sorry for all the kayakers out there. I've gone on a bit and you're going to be hearing me re-tell this story for years too.

Smiling above Number 1, but not really meaning it.

The right line on number 1! This is the smallest rapid of the top ten.

the view downstream from number 1
Me, Mincing about, should have bee 30 feet to the right in the eddy, instead of in this chos.

The long version of the story....

Last night I found that i couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about the river and finding myself lying in bed all tensed up. Fanally dropped off and woke at 8:30 with the same nervous feeling.




Sam picked me up about 9:30 and we headed to the falls. Vicky and a guy called Rob joined us and took photo's and video of the first rapid.






Number 1 - Boiling pot.


It's just a ferry glide really, the hard work is making the break in. after that it's fine. Had no problems.



Number 2


Big wave chain, just good fun really. The waves are 8 feet high, but there's not much to do except keep paddling.



Number 3 - The Mother.


It's just huge, and it's well named. Choice words were coming to mind.

The run in down the glassy top wave lasts a few seconds and all the while the big white wave builds up in front of you till its about 12 feet I recon. Slammed into it and submerged. Stayed underwater upright for a couple of seconds and then popped out nose first. Spent a few seconds trying to get the nose back down, but couldn't manage it before the next wave. Got flipped and rolled up on the third attempt, you just cannot roll on the upstream side, the water is way too powerfull. So I switched to the left side (which doesn't normally work for me) and poppped back upright.

I've performed 3 rolls on my left here, came up first time every time. My lifetime total of sucessfull left hand rolls on a river now stands at 4.



Number 4 -


Huge hole. Sam led me a fantastic line and I punched through a little opening in the left hand wall of the wave. The next two waves crash on you from left and right, but the met just before I came through and created a lovely saddle which I just paddled over. Really good run. Still loads of big waves and boils and things but it's all fine after the first two waves.

The Rescue.



No not me! Someone called Richard. I did not swim.



There's a big flat pool below 4 with two crocodiles in it. Saw one, still couldn't spot the big un. Always nicer to actually see them and know where they are.

Below 4 the two hydroelectric stations (one for Zambia, one for Zimbabwe) feed back into the river. It the river wasn't big enough volume already, it is after this. This is still mid high water, they've only been rafting the top ten for a week. The river still has five meters to drop before low water runs!



Anyway, there were a group of rafts on the side so we went over to see if we could help. A guy called Richard had a broken leg. Someone in the raft with him had been thrown across the raft on number 4. He landed holding both ends of the paddle. The middle of the paddle and all his weight landed on Richard's calf. It snapped, bone showing, toes pointing 90degrees the wrong way, the whole lot.

They were a bit short of strong people to carry him out so Sam and I lent a hand. We got him as far as the powerstation and then waited for the doctor. We were going to head off, but the raft guide was flapping a bit, talking about other bad injutries he'd seen and basically not being very helpfull to Richard's state of mind. So we hung around.

The doc came down and I can't say I was overly impressed with him either. He needed a spare hand to remove the needle he put in and he didn't have a sharps box, so I had to stash it back in it's original case. Yes Mike I know! I would have given him a lecture for you, but it wasn't the time. Besides, I was already in his bad books, just before sticking the needle in he said "small prick" so I said, "I'm sure it's nothing to be ashamed of" I got a laugh from Richard and a scowl from the Doc.



Then we got a tour of the powerstation right through the turbine hall to the lift. You can hear the water thunder through the place.

The lift was tiny and we had to stand Richard upright to get him in, so some inventive strapping to the stretcher was called for. We finally got to the top and left him, ready to head on down the river.... and then the rafting trip leader asked up to safety kayak for him because one of his safety kayakers had popped his shoulder out on number 1 and they were down to one kayaker!

The company is called Clombwe or something similar. If you come here use Safari Par Excellence instead, they know what they're doing.



Anyway we declared the two of us to be worth 1.5 safety kayakers headed on down to



Number 5



Huge waves. You travel down a chute between them for about 30m as they get bigger and bigger around you and them punch out river right, just before they fold on you. Anyway, I was pleased with myself cos I'd paddled it well enough to make the safety kayak eddy and wait for the rafts.

The eddy was boiling and surging 3 feet up and down. Sam asked if I was ok. "Fine, no problems." And with the last sylable of problems, I was flipped upside down by a surge. I rolled and then went to the next eddy and waited there.



Number 6 - devils toilet bowl



Is fine, It's a huge wave chain, but it's ok. I took a roll. I also saw the largest whirl pool of my life. Damn thing was 20 feet across. I wasn't in it thankfully. Guess they named the rapid suitably.



Number 7



We inspected. There's a huge boil of water pushing left to right. There's a huge wave/hole in the centre of the river which pushes right and there are two big rocks with the water pouring between them on the right. The right is not the place to be!

Getting left is hard, hard work. Ferry gliding amongst 10 foot waves and a big hole over boiling water. But hey, we were there, there was a line, so we ran it.



Got the break in ok, through the first two small (3-4 foot) wave and drop ok and then started the ferry glide. Paddled as hard as I know how and was doing ok until the 10 foot crashing wave.

It's at this point you realise why it's the rapid everyone worries about. Ferry gliding requires you to point upstream, getting through the wave requires you to point downstream. Not getting through the wave requires you to get spanked hard by the journey between the rocks on the right.

The wave fliped me, but I'd hit it hard enough to avoid getting swept right. Rolled. Hit the next wave, flipped, rolled, turned and hit the next wave head on. Ran straight into the pressure wave of the two bottom rocks. Flipped, smacked my elbow on the rock and rolled up. Did the undignified "rock parry with a flapping paddle while travelling backwards" maneuvre past the second rock and then turned to face the last of the waves. All good from there down. Not a good run, but good enough, two rolls and a sore elbow are acceptable consequences.

Number 8

8 was fine. Just main line down through the huge waves.

Number 9 - Commercial suicide.

Suitable named and in my opinion rightly graded 6. It's just in a whole new league. The upper river is 2 miles wide. The pictures you've seen on here of the sunset, that's not the far bank you can see, it's just an island. The falls themselves are 1.6km wide. Rapids 1-8 this whole river gets pressed into a gorge about 100m wide. At number nine it gets pressed down to 50m at most. The first two holes are massive and the breaking wave below them is 30 feet high. No exageration. I've seen a kayaker on it to give it perspective.

I walked, without so much as a second thought.

Number 10 -

Another wave chain. Huge, hard work, but fine.

We paddled down through 11 12 and 13 too, but while they're big, I'd run them already and didn't have any problems.

The walkout up the gorge is hard hard work. 40 minutes of stomping up a 45 degree slope. There was a cold beer at the top.

The porters have been carying my kayak for a few days now and I don't know how they do it. They sell hand carved necklaces of Nyami Nyami the river god. I bought one and paid too much for it as a thankyou (8$ instead of haggling to 2$). Besides after 6 years away from Kayaking I figure Nyami Nyami may well have been looking out for me.

See you.

Vick has some top updates for tomorrow, but she's had a hard day drinking G&T today and has gone for an afternoon nap.