The hippos are everywhere. They growl and snort like grumpy old men forced out of bed too early in the morning. Then they sink beneath the muddy brown waters of the Zambezi river and pop up uncomfortably close. Only their eyes peep above the water. Probably just to scare us.

You won't want to get too close to them, especially if you're stuck in a couple of metres of fibreglass on a 100-kilometre stretch of the Zambezi river. For the first-timer, the canoes don't feel very stable. I had been expecting something longer and wider, perhaps sturdier.

Nothing to worry about, says our sun-baked guide. He has been doing this for years and was only once trampled by a herd of buffalo - and then it was only because he wasn't looking. Over a fine lunch that has appeared on the banks of the Zambezi, Alistor-guide entertains us with hippo-horror stories. Then he skips over the safety talk and offers up some simple rules: swim for shore if it's a hippo attack, hold onto the canoe if its a crocodile. That's it.

Nearby, a group of hippos are wallowing in the river. All is peaceful until some big grumpy male comes along and upsets the pack. Then there is much grunting and lunging at each other with those huge jaws. There's no telling what they'd do to a bunch of tourists protected by nothing more than factor 24 sunscreen.

With our meal done we waddle down to the awaiting canoes. None of us, except Alistor-guide, has done this before. So we ease into the seats and gingerly poke our paddles at the water. Alistor smirks as members of the group tie their life jackets onhe wrong way. No matter, we push off onto the river.

This is a canoe safari, an unforgettable encounter with the truly wild. There are numerous options and operators to chose from when considering a trip along the Zambezi at Mana Pools in northern Zimbabwe. Depending on the depth of your pocket and the level of your adrenaline reserves you can choose tours ranging from three to nine days. Options range from self-catering, build-your-own-tent to decadent gin-and-tonic tours.

Ours was the latter. A four day trip that runs from Chirundu to Mana Pools along a stretch of the Zambezi that flows past the Mana Pools National Park, the land of the hippo.

The Zambezi has always carried people. Perhaps not always in the same style as our gin-and-tonic tour. Even when Africa was an empty space on many of the world's maps, the river was a watery highway carrying its cargo of gold, ivory and slaves from the Monomatapo kingdom in present day Zimbabwe to the Mozambique coast. The Zambezi was also one of the first routes to be used by 18th century European explorers to open up Africa to the outside world.

Dr David Livingstone called the Zambezi "Gods Highway", the fast lane into Darkest Africa. For him, the Zambezi would carry the three C's: Commerce, Christianity and Civilisation. Livingstone's second expedition into Africa set off in a metal-hulled, flat-bottomed steamer to navigate the Zambezi from the Mozambique coast. The journey was stopped short by one of the Zambezi's great gorges.

Later explorers made it their life's work to find the source of the river. A certain A. H. Gibbons set off with 500 porters and a whole lot of hope. He finally reached the source with only four porters and five donkeys.

On our first day on the river we managed a sedate eleven kilometres. Something we were all proud of. There were occasions when a canoe snagged in an eddy and did a few pirouettes towards a pod of hippos, but these incidents were rare. Mostly we slithered past the countless hippos who hissed at us and, to our obvious relief, sank beneath the water.

On land, we managed to manoeuvre ourselves into cleverly arranged camp chairs just in time for sunset. It was gin and tonics all round as we swapped hippo jokes and waited to be called for dinner. With cold drinks in hand and a spluttering fire to gaze at, the hippos did not seem all that bad.

Incidentally, a gin and tonic in this part of the world weighs in with a 35.5ml shot of gin, compared to the measly 25ml doses found in other parts of the world. Obviously something to do with the malicious mosquitoes that lurk like mobsters the other side of sunset.

Dinner was served on linen table cloths, beneath the largest African night sky. We ate a meal of roast lamb with crispy potatoes, greens and gravy, all expertly cooked over a wood fire.

A five-star tented safari takes some getting used to. Guests do absolutely nothing except paddle. Our safari was accompanied by a full back-up team who went ahead by land and erected the strip of A-frame tents that made up our camp. Everything from flush toilets to the hot showers were set up and taken down. It is extremely decadent and hardened travellers may cringe at the luxury of it all.

It is difficult to believe that the Zambezi starts as a fistful of water in the distant north-west reaches of Zambia. The river has its source in a crack of rock set in a corner of land squeezed between Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Zambezi is formidable. The fourth longest river in Africa, it draws a 2,700 kilometre question mark across Southern Africa's thirstlands before spilling into the Indian ocean. On its way it tumbles over two great gorges and passes through two of the world's largest dams. For most of its journey the river encounters few cities and is mostly lined by wilderness reserves.

The next morning we made our way towards Mana Pools National Park. When the Zambezi reaches the Mana Pools area it is a lazy, grey strip of water 300 metres wide. This stretch of the river is called Zimbabwe's wildlife riviera because of its abundant wildlife. The reserve runs some 50 kilometres along the river and cuts about 30 kilometres inland. This reserve was once one of the last refuges of the black rhino and today is still home to a great number of species.

Along the banks we encountered a group of youngish bull elephants who let us get annoyingly near to them. Creeping up on wildlife in a silent canoe must be one of the best ways of getting close to the creatures short of prancing about in a rhino costume. We skimmed past a host of other creatures. Macho 'dagga boys' (buffalo) looking for mud to wallow in, waterbuck who looked up quizzically from their grazing and, somewhere, the cry of the fish eagle. This is Africa, choreographed to its best.

On the second night the evening chit-chat around the fire was interrupted by a group of young bull elephants bumping into trees as they approached the camp to take a closer look at us. Also coming to have a look was a lone hyaena who got caught, centre stage, in a flashlight a few metres from our tents. Despite the visitors we slept surprisingly well, serenaded by the sounds of the African night.

The next day we started early, after splashing our faces with hot water and feasting on a full-house breakfast that miraculously materialised just after sunrise. As we moved along the river the landscape changed imperceptibly. On one side, the Zambian escarpment was a masterful collage of greens, blues and browns. In Zambia this area is back-to-back wilderness, with the Luangwa Valley extending from behind the escarpment.

On the Zimbabwean side there were signs of the silent battle that goes on along the course of the Zambezi. The ecology of the area is trying to adjust to a river that has not flooded since the Kariba dam was built in the 1960s. The scenery changes from grassland to riverine forests littered with acacia and mahogany trees and then back to grassland. The two landscapes battle each other for dominance and it would seem that the older tree areas are giving way to the grasslands.

With the dam in place the river's flow is set at a dangerous constant that seems to be at odds with nature. The seasonal flood waters that once rubbished the river banks and sprinkled a healthy dose of top soil are no more. This has allowed exotics like the paper thorn acacia to dominate the undergrowth. The paper thorn selfishly allows only species similar to itself to grow.

Besides environmental concerns, some argue that the Kariba dam is little more than a monument to the folly of humankind because little can control this moody river. This can shrink into a stream at times and rage into the world's frothiest rapids at others.

No wonder locals near Kariba dam have developed a deep respect for the river which, they say, is home to Nyaminyami, a creature part snake, part mythical fragment of the Batonga tribe's imagination.

According to the legend of Nyaminyami, the river creature liked for nothing better than to flit between Victoria Falls and the Indian Ocean. Until Kariba dam came along. When construction began in the 1950s the Batonga clicked their tongues and shook their heads at the white-mischief. They had an intimate knowledge of the river's erratic floods and the cranky moods of Nyaminyami. The dam wall, so the legend goes, would separate Nyaminyami from his love and there would be no telling what a love-sick river-god would do.

Towards the end of 1958 a mighty flood tore down the beginnings of what would be, at the time, the largest dam in the world. Work began again, but the following year another flood came. Finally Nyaminyami called a truce and the Italian contractors finished the dam wall. Eighty one people died in the process. But the dam wall will collapse. It has to, say the Batonga. Because of love. Nyaminyami is on one side and his lover is on the other. It's only a matter of time before those urges force them together.

But the hippos don't seem to mind a river that no longer floods. On the fourth and final day we tried to count them at a place called 'hippo city' but gave up at around 100 just after midday. Some of them raised their heads and threw us a bored glance, but for the most part they seemed content to mulch around in the muddy waters and do their hippo things. They graciously ignored us as we pulled our canoes onto land for the last time.

The hippos seemed very happy to stay there, something I could easily understand. After all, there's still a whole lot of river to see. That night we watched the Zambezi rushing on. The great river would pause to catch its watery breath at Cahora Bassa before pushing on to meet the Indian ocean. It was difficult to imagine that all this came from a crack of rock somewhere in the heart of Africa.

South African James Bowyer is a freelance journalist whose work has been published extensively. He is currently working on a coffee table book on Mexico.

Early Explorers of the Zambezi River

The Zambezi has seen extraordinary feats of exploration, of which Livingstone's are perhaps best known. Although he was neither the first nor the last, his double crossing was indeed an epic and brought the attention of the world to this remarkable river. But, to his immense frustration, many others had been there before him.

The earliest known attempt to cross the continent was by Governor Lacerda of Mocambique's Tete Province. British annexation of the Cape in 1795 sparked a flurry of fearful colonial exploration and in 1798 he set out for Angola (via the Zambezi). Sick when he started, he died before completing the journey. The earliest recorded successful crossing was by two Angolans who walked west to east and back between 1802 and 1815.

Senhor Silva Porto of Angola also travelled widely throughout Central Africa for some 40 years from the late 1840s. Enraged and insulted by an attack upon his village in 1890, this eccentric wrapped himself in a Portuguese flag, lay on 13 kegs of gunpowder and blew himself through the roof of his house, unfortunately to die a lingering death.

Lasszlo Magyar, a Hungarian who had adopted Angola as his home was in the Linyanti area (Botswana/Caprivi Strip) years before Livingstone but committed the cardinal sin of not publicising his exploits widely enough.

The prize for the most creative approach to African exploration must surely go to Paul Graetz who, having crossed Africa by car between 1907 and 1909 (Dar-es-Salaam to Swakopmund), decided to repeat the exercise in a boat. Starting up the Zambezi and travelling via Lake Malawi and the Congo he avoided difficulties with suspicious natives by carrying a bag of glass eyes, one of which he produced at the first signs of any hostility. He experienced no trouble on his journey!

Life in the River

Kariba was closed in December 1958 and rose rapidly, full of nutrients from the virgin bush. Fish populations, especially tigerfish (Africa's famous fighting fish), flourished and giants soon emerged. Having reached nutritional equilibrium, it is unlikely that we will again see the 15.5kg southern African record caught in 1962. Today tigerfish are much closer to the 3-5 kg bracket - but still as fiesty as ever.

The world over, eco-systems are threatened with invasion by exotics; the Zambezi is no exception. Fishery experts at Kariba successfully introduced a freshwater sardine from Lake Tanganyika (known as "Kapenta"). Today, the successful Kapenta industry produces employment and protein.

It was believed the sardine would stay in Kariba, unable to escape. This proved untrue. Kapenta are now found in Cahora Bassa and throughout the lower Zambezi. This is not serious in itself, but should they enter Lake Malawi via the Shire River, they could annihilate the unique Cichlid populations there.

Kariba Weed (Salvinia molesta), an exotic water plant from South America, was known in the Zambezi from 1949, but an open lake prompted phenomenal growth. With doubling times of 8-17 days, by 1962 it occupied just under a quarter of the lake's surface - over 1,000 km2 - and was a major threat. By 1980, deprived of nutrition as the lake matured and embattled by biological agents, cover had fallen to less than 1%. It was no longer a problem.

Other exotics include the beautiful water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes). Another South American, its gorgeous blue flower has ensured its spread around the world from river to pond and from pond back to river. Like Salvinia it spreads rapidly and is extraordinarily tenacious. It absorbs nutrients, shades out other plants and is a menace. Thanks to the hyacinth, the banks of the Zambezi below Kariba are lined with blue.

ZAMBEZI FACTFILE

Most trips operate between Kariba and Kanyemba. Especially popular are those along the Mana Pools shoreline. The average length of a trip is three our days.

When: Any time, except that canoeing trips are not offered during the rainy season (usually November to March).

Access: There are regular flights and a quality coach service from Harare to Kariba. Operators will organise your transfer from there, and some will also assist in getting you to Kariba. Air charters are available to the starting point of your safari.

What to Pack: Travel as light as possible, especially if taking a participatory trip as your bags and other supplies will be carried in the canoes. Air charters and some safari operators have a luggage weight restriction, so check before travelling. You will certainly require sun block and a good pair of sunglasses (see Coping With the Sun, page 92).

Type of trip: Ask your agent what kind of safari you are being offered. Luxury safaris involve being based at upmarket tented camps, with all services provided. These tend to be situated near Mana Pools from where it is easier to provide support services.

Participatory safaris operate in areas more difficult to access, such as beyond Mana. On these trips clients are expected to help with camp chores.

Operators: The number of concessions allocated on the various stretches of the river is limited. This means that you are likely to have your stretch of the river pretty much to yourself, and that your operator will have a lot of experience. Most Africa travel specialists in your country will work with a good operator in Zimbabwe or Zambia.

Guiding: In Zimbabwe, the qualification to become a river guide is very strict - only about one third of entrants passed the most recent exam. Certification also requires the guide to have completed many hours on the river.

Safety: You will possibly be concerned about the risk of attack by hippos. While there have been instances where hippos have charged canoes, such occurences are rare. Operators are very safety conscious and your guide will be alert to possible danger, so follow his instruction at all times.

Published in Travel Africa Edition Seven: Spring 1999

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