Just off four days canoeing on the Zambezi river and missing my friend Anne Taylor from Ottawa. Anne and her husband Mark taught me how to get around in a canoe starting when I was really young. We wish they could have been with us on this trip.
The Zambezi is the fourth longest river in Africa. Most people see it at Victoria Falls. It starts in Zambia but much of it runs through Mozambique. Where we were, it forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Even though we did not have visas for Zimbabwe, we spent a lot of time on that side of the river looking into Mana Pools National Park and stopping for lunch and snacks on the Zim side. So we got to add another country to our trip list.
See this sign? We did, but then we ignored it. Only the second part. But only when our guide Martin told us that we could. It was a bit weird swimming in a river where there were animals that could eat you. But Martin told us that both crocs and hippo preferred to be in the deeper parts of the river and as long as it was shallow and he could see everything easily we could cool off in the water. So don't worry Oma and Gran, there was no real danger.
We saw hundreds of hippos, dozens of elephants, and several crocs. Really close up! Once we even saw lion footprints. And we heard lions at night, but we always slept on an island to make it harder for them to find us. It was freaky, but also cool. And my parents said I have to also say that the landscape was beautiful and amazing or something like that.
Anyway, I recommend it in case anyone else is thinking of doing a canoe trip in Africa.
Anyway, I recommend it in case anyone else is thinking of doing a canoe trip in Africa.