Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25059
ZAMBEZI RIVER, ZAMBIA + ZIMBABWE The Zambezi is a big, burly stevedore of a river. It picks up rafts and flings them downstream through giant waves and sucking holes. The put-in is within earshot of mile-wide Victoria Falls and you run through the basalt canyon Bakota Gorge: "It's like being in a cathedral," says Zambezi-based outfitter Peter Berry, 31. "You can hear the whitewater coming from a quarter-mile away." Gaze at lions, baboons, hippos and crocodiles along the way. The river flows with solid Class V whitewater, which, by defini tion, shouldn't be attempted by a novice. "But 70 percent of the rafters are first-timers," says Berry. The Zambezi and its most famous 23-rapid stretch can be done in a 14-mile day trip. Longer trips of up to 78 miles run to a week. Unbelievably, the nations that share the Zambezi are contem- plating a dam that would engulf Bakota Gorge and Victoria Falls, a UN-designated World Heritage Site. Paddling season: year-round, best August to December. ALSEK/TATSHENSHINI ALASKA + BRITISH COLUMBIA The biggest hazard on the AlsekiTatshenshini system is the icebergs. "You don't want to be near them in a raft," says Tatshenshini rafter Mia Pearson, who arranges trips for Mountain Travel-Sobek. Calving icebergs make big, boat-flipping waves. With water so frigid-and help so far away you don't want to fall overboard. Paddlers come to the Alsek and the Tat for the dramatic north country wilderness, the wildlife-moose, grizzlies, bald eagles, bighorn sheep-and the solitude. Some rafters put-in on the more exciting Alsek, which throws in Class III and IV rapids on the 180-mile trip to the Pacific Ocean. Others shove off on the Tat, which joins the Alsek for a 130-mile ride. Either way, it's a nine-day trip. Near route's end, you hear the crack of splitting glaciers and float through eerie regiments of odd-shaped icebergs. Most common put-in is near Haines Junction, Be. Paddling season: June to mid-September. CORUH, TURKEY Floating down the <;:oruh (pronounced cho-ROO) you won't get the feeling you're surveying unexplored wilder ness. Rather, you'll drift back in time, into a realm of Byzantine and Seljuk Turk castles commanding the heights atop the river gorge. The chasm-walled <;:oruh pitches and rol ls, building to a crescendo of three notorious rapids at the Yusufeli Gorge. Little-visited Turkish villages with rug weavers, tea shops and mosques nestle alongside the river. When the water is high, the <;:oruh courses with Class III whitewater. Paddlers who put-in at the northeastern town of Bayburt usually travel 17S miles to the take-out at Artvin, near the Georgian border. Paddling sea son: May to July. "OUR FIRST DESCENT OF THE COLCA WAS A STRUGGLE BETWEEN VIRGIN RIVER IN THE WORLD'S DEEPEST CANYON AND US-THE INTRUDERS-FOR EACH METER OF TERRITORY. IN 11 DRAMATIC DAYS WE ADVANCED ONLY 44 KILOMETRES." JERZY MAJCHERCZYK Sloths hang lazily in the rainforest bisected by the Pacuare, but they're no metaphor. Just spectators. When it rains in mountainous Costa Rica, the emerald Pacuare pours. Boaters brace for rambunctious Class IV rapids. "The Pacuare has some really difficult whitewater and a few places that give you a break," says Chattanooga's Mark Lyle. "You can look around and see some pretty interesting scenery." A 32-mile run down the free-flowing Pacuare takes three to four days. Nights are spent camping on the edge of rainforests where the tropical wildlife-toucans, snakes, parrots and monkeys-creep close. Paddling season: year-round, best September to October.