The Mighty Zambezi with the 'Potato'

Yesterday we flew from Mfuwe to Livingston via Lusaka. We wandered around Livingston which is the adrenaline capital of Africa. There is everything here from bunji jumping to walking with lions to rafting. John being the river rat that he is, really wanted to raft the Zambezi River. I was a little fearful, but knew I had to do it. John and I met on a Grand Canyon raft trip, so ... We were picked up at 7:30 by a typical African shuttle vehicle, the back of a truck. Our guide introduced himself as Potato, or we could call him 'Spud.' On the way to the put-in we stopped at a village where about ten men hopped on the truck. We shortly learned they were the porters to carry everything down to the water. A great safety briefing by Potato was followed by a one mile hike that dropped about 500 feet to the water. The porters carried everything including the two rafts which were wrapped to resemble two giant pythons. Three porters carried each python. Two self-bailing rafts, ten clients, two guides, two safety kayakers and one kayaking photographer set off down the Mighty Zambezi. More to come.