My parents went to Africa in '99 or so; their friends bailed at the last minute - scared about disease and other 3rd world associated things - nonrefundable tickets means that me and my bro went instead.
We ran the Zambezi with the standard tour group. Our guides were former mercenaries from the Angolan war (ours was nicknamed "AK"). Not much in the way of safety precautions - they just wanted to make sure that we could swim. We did rapids (I think) 4-22 or so. We walked around one class 6, but ran a bunch of 4s and 5s and had the option of doing a 5+ but took the easier 4+ option instead (I know nothing about rafting... this is a 10 year old memory, so forgive me if my numbers are off).
It was lots of fun. The raft completely flipped over about twice and went vertical once, dumping everyone into the water. If you are a good swimmer it will be fine. I was a lifeguard at the time and while there were some water-swallowing moments after getting dumped, it was nothing too bad.
My mother (50's at the time) was not a good swimmer. She should not have been on the trip, and probably came a little too close to drowning at one point. If you're comfortable in the water, a strongish swimmer, and not an idiot - you'll be fine. If you're a 50 year old woman who can swim, but is not the greatest fan of swimming I'd recommend you stay on the land.
My dog did not bite your dog, your dog bit first, and I don't have a dog.
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