Victoria Falls white water rafting suspended

WHITE water rafting activities have been suspended in Victoria Falls as the Rafting Association of Zimbabwe (RAZ) closed for the season owing to rising water levels in the Zambezi River.

RAZ chairman Mr Skinner Ndlovu said water levels have been rising by about five centimetres per day lately, making it difficult to sail.

Usually the rafting season closes for three months between March and May when the river receives huge inflows from upstream.

Mr Ndlovu said this year they closed late because inflows delayed but picked up in the past few days.

"We closed rafting on Sunday because water levels have risen above the cut off point. In rafting safety is our priority hence we check on water levels daily," said Mr Ndlovu.

The activity, which attracts scores of tourists on a daily basis, relies on water levels.

When water level is very low, some rapids become dangerous and so is when the river floods.

White water rafting is one of the popular tourist activities in Victoria Falls and starts from rapid number One between the Victoria Falls Bridge and waterfall and runs downstream up to about rapid number 30 depending on water levels.

For the past month, guides have been starting from rapid 11 because the level of water had risen making it dangerous to do the activity on the upper rapids.

Said Mr Ndlovu: "Usually water rises by two centimeters per day but lately it has been rising by five centimetres. This year we closed late because inflows delayed but recently it has been rising fast. It's hard to tell when we will resume because the level is still going up but usually we close in March and reopen end of May after water starts dropping in April".

The other popular activities in the resort town are Flight of Angels, bungee jumping, boat cruise, gorge swing, elephant ride, lion walk and rainforest tour.

Some of the companies that do white water rafting are Shearwater Adventures, Wild Horizons, Khanondo and Shockwave Safaris.