Yes! The Zambezi again!
I travel to different regions of the world to check out different rivers for different reasons. Sometimes, I never want to leave, and other times I’m happy to have just gotten out without getting hurt. No matter where life leads me, there is one river that will have me forever coming back; the Zambezi.
I love the style of this river; a huge, frothing, friendly behemoth of a river. As the river rises, different moves and lines open up, all requiring different levels of skill and commitment. This is my favourite time to be on the Zambezi; I can feel myself improving as a kayaker, and my overall fitness increasing dramatically as I hike down into the gorge, spend hours on the river, and then hike out again every day.
I am always trying to learn new things or practice old skills on the water, but on this river, improvement feels like it comes easier than normal to me. Here are a few things that I enjoy working on during my time on this river:
Timing
Getting big air off the back of waves requires perfect timing. Generally speaking, the longer you wait until you launch off the back, the higher and more disconnected you will be from the river. It’s hard while climbing up the walls of water on the Zambezi not to pull early and just get over it. This season, I feel I managed to get to a whole new level of launching over waves.
Edge Control
There are so many seamlines, boils, and whirlpools on the Zam, I leave every trip feeling way more in tune with my edges.
Power
You get strong kayaking on this river every day. I like coming here at the start of the year and leaving from my time on the Zam feeling strong and ready for the year ahead.
Commitment
This river is chock full of intimidating moves, and it honestly normally takes me a few days to feel confident going for some of the bigger ones. By the end of the trip, I am comfortably knocking into the biggest parts of the rapids, making last-second glides to where I need to be, and feeling at home on a really powerful piece of water.
Stoke
The Zambezi encompasses so much that I love about kayaking. I will forever be in love with this sport, but out here I am forever grateful for all the paths in life that led me to here. Endless days of bombing through the beautiful Batoka gorge, blasting over huge waves, and laughing with my friends at the takeout about all the things that happened on the river that day.
Hope to catch you out on the Zam someday,
Bren