The Zambezi River rises in northwestern Zambia, passes through Angola, goes back to Zambia, flows along the border with Zimbabwe, on into Mozambique, and empties into the Indian Ocean. The best feature of this 3,500 km river is the spectacular Victoria Falls. The second best, arguably, are its high volume water and steep gradients giving rise to one of the world’s wildest white water runs.

Rafting the Zambezi can begin with either a solo or 2-person kayak alongside a few hippopotamuses and crocodiles as you paddle towards Victoria Falls. If you survive the crocs, you can get your first lessons in white water rafting with gentle Class I and II rapids.

Just a mile below Victoria Falls, your introduction into the mighty Zambezi begins where you are initiated into the higher classes of white water rafting. After descending on a steep trail into the banks of the Batoko gorge, you are presented to Nyami-Nyami, the Zambezi river god who then takes you to a white water rafting adventure you can talk about with your children and grandchildren for years to come.

There are plenty of rapids along the Zambezi, starting just below the Victoria, at the Zambia-Zimbabwe border. You can start you adventure at the official No. 1 rapid, the Boiling Point. This is accessible only from the Zambian side so be sure to book your accommodations and outfitters within Zambia, otherwise you will need to bring your passport along as you cross from one country into the other. Just be sure to seal it in a ziplock to keep it dry.

The Boiling Point is a Class IV to V rapid that you can consider your baptism of fire amid all that water. It runs directly into a wall creating a huge cushion wave and eddy. From there you will negotiate about 20 or 25 more rapids with names such as “Stairway to Heaven”, a Class V with an 8 meter drop over a 10 meter river flow; “Devil’s Toilet Bowl”, Class IV that makes you think of the whirlpool in your own toilet bowl, only infinitely larger; “Commercial Suicide”, classified at Class V to VI, it is easily the most infamous of the lot; “Gnashing Jaws of Death”, is another morbidly named rapid, but at Class IV it may be appropriate; the “Overland Truck Eater” also eats rubber rafts with its Class V white waters; and “Oblivion”, another Class V that flips more rafts into oblivion than it allows to pass unscathed. Once you pass this rapid, though, you are on to the milder rapids at Class II and III before you are taken out of the river. By this time, you should now fully appreciate why it is called “the Mighty Zambezi”.