White water rafting activities resume

THE Zimbabwe Rafting Association (RAZ) has resumed high white water rafting activities on the Zambezi River as water levels started subsiding.

Usually the rafting season closes between March and June depending on which month the river receives huge inflows from upstream.

During this period any rafting activities will be dangerous as the river will be at its fullest. High water rafting period is prominent between mid-May and mid-August as well as mid-December to mid-March. Low water rafting takes place between September and mid-December.

RAZ president Mr Skinner Ndlovu said activities started recently and doing higher water rafting from Rapid No 11 to Rapid No 23. It is still dangerous to sail in the upper gorges as the river’s levels are still high. Zambezi River, which cuts across six countries, received record inflows this year, which authorities said beats a 50-year record.

Mr Ndlovu said levels are now falling by approximately one centimetre a day on average. He, however, bemoaned lack of clients as a result of Covid-19 induced lockdown.

“The industry is open now and we are doing rafting from Rapid 11 to 23. We are seriously affected by Covid-19 and it’s as good as there’s no business because this year due to the pandemic, we have run about 50 clients so far from all companies,” he said.

About 90 percent of rafting clients are usually international and the remainder is shared between regional and local.

The Government and the tourism industry have been on a drive to promote domestic tourism on the backdrop of demise of international travel. At its peak, the rafting industry would handle more than 1 000 clients per month.

Several Victoria Falls companies are offering the activity, which is only done on the Zambezi River and is one of the best in the world. It is one of the high adrenalin activities preferred by tourists.
Others are bungee jumping, gorge swing, zip-line. —chronicle.cl.zw