Zambezi map

The Zambezi River

The Zambezi River rises in a marshy dambo in the remote woodlands of north-western Zambia, at an altitude of about 1,524 metres (5,000 ft) above sea level. The area surrounding its source is protected as a national monument and forest reserve and lies close to the watershed separating the great Congo and Zambezi river systems.

From this quiet beginning, the Zambezi grows into one of Africa’s great rivers. It flows for about 2,500 kilometres across southern Africa, draining a vast plateau before eventually reaching the Indian Ocean in Mozambique. Along its course it passes through or forms the borders of several countries, including Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The most spectacular point along its journey is Victoria Falls, where the river plunges into a narrow gorge cut into ancient basalt. Below the falls, the Zambezi is forced through a dramatic succession of deep, zigzagging gorges. The combination of the enormous volume of water, the narrow channels and the underlying volcanic rock creates some of the most powerful commercially rafted white water in the world.

It was here, immediately below Victoria Falls, that Hélène and I began our 28-kilometre rafting adventure through the Batoka Gorge — a rather dramatic contrast to the quiet marshland where the Zambezi begins.