Many Rivers to Cross – Zambezi

There are some places that have remained wild and rugged regardless of the their publicity – even twenty years ago, Victoria Falls on the Zambezi had less than a hundred European residents and a hundred years ago it had less than thirty. Despite its fame, and romantic associations with the explorer, Livingstone, for whom its town is named, the Zambezi as a whole remains a massively unexplored river. It is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from its source in Zambia, through Angola, along the borders of Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, to Mozambique.

Of course, the Zambezi's most spectacular feature is Victoria Falls, the world's largest waterfalls, but other notable falls include the Chavuma Falls and the Ngonye Falls. Believe it or not, this incredible river is spanned by only five bridges - located at Chinyingi, Katima Mulilo, Victoria Falls, Chirundu and Tete.

Such wild and torrential water is recognised as some of the most exciting rapid shooting and kayaking in the world – the names of local chutes, ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘Oblivion’, gives you some idea of the kind of adventure you can expect here. Parts of the river are categorised by the British Canoe Union as Grade 5, which means ‘extremely difficult, long and violent rapids, steep gradients, big drops and pressure areas’.

If such excitement is not your thing, the Zambezi basin supports more than two hundred species of fish that are vital to the ecosystem and serve as a key food source, such as the tigerfish and the great Vundu catfish, both well worth trying to catch. Hundreds of bird species live in the basin including the beautiful Bataleur or snake eagle, the African fish eagle and the Marabu stork and tributary rivers provide habitat for the world's largest herds of elephants, lions, zebras, hippos, African cape buffalo, monkeys, baboons, crocodiles, monitor lizards and black rhinos.

Zambezi photograph by cardamom, used under a creative commons attribution licence

 

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