Another day on the divorce barge – this time, on our anniversary no less! We departed directly from camp this morning, after slight delays due to hippo activity in the water near camp. Damn Billy.
When we approached any rapids of significance, the guides got out to scout the line (and, of course, check for hippo activity downstream). Kurt and I didn’t show much improvement in our communication and ability to work effectively in the kayak together today, but at least we stayed in the boat.
We had to detour around hippos multiple times today, including by disembarking on a small beach that was clearly home to a particular pod as they watched us closely from the water. Between dodging hippos, fatigue from paddling into the wind on flatwater, and our steering difficulty, I was ready to be done and get the heck out of the boat.
Thankfully, our take-out upstream from the Devil’s Cataract was not far from where we stopped for lunch. It turned out that the lodge where we were staying for the night was only about 1k from our take-out spot, but we couldn’t paddle directly there because there were too many hippos in that stretch. So, we hopped back in “the beast” for the short drive to the lodge (and, we saw more zebras on the way).
Old Drift Lodge is located inside of Zambezi NP on the banks of the river. We received our welcome briefing from the staff upon arrival with clear instructions not to go past our veranda toward the river and to call for an escort (who would be carrying a rifle) from our room to dinner. The property does not have a safety perimeter to protect against wildlife in the park (which was obvious by the pile of elephant poop near our front door).
We were delighted by how large and luxurious our room was! It was truly as big as an apartment. I told Kurt, “I could get used to this.” He responded, “I would advise you don’t.” Ha, ha. We hopped into our private plunge pool with our drinks to take the edge off the adrenaline from the past two days. Then, we relished getting clean and taking our first shower in days.
Then, it was time to grab another drink and head out for our sunset “booze cruise” on the river. Now, this wasn’t a bad way to spend our anniversary!
Our local rafting guides were waiting when we returned to the lodge, and they provided us with a large dry bag that included sleeping bags and inflatable mattress pads for the river. This bag would be transported to our campsite for us. We received an overview before dinner of what to expect for the upcoming days on the river.
And, no, they weren’t kidding about the safety escorts to/from dinner. A man with a large spear and flashlight escorted us to our room after dinner (while the man with the rifle escorted a group to the rooms on the other side of the lodge).
I had to repack our bags yet again for what was coming with us on the river. All of our other luggage would be waiting for us when we arrived at the next lodge once we had finished rafting.
Tomorrow the Class 5 version of fun begins!