RI7ER JOURNAL POSTS

The Pure Orange Expedition Journal - Getting there ....

Tuesday, 14 April 2009

Wow , tis all looking good so far , about 100 km’s to go and plan to meet my mom and dad on Friday 17th . Was originally going to be the 18th , but the lure of the end is pulling me in .

Was a freakin cooker today . Mercury topping the mid 40’s on river , god knows how hot inland .

Amazing how the lure of diamonds will get humans living out here , digging and hope they get the big 1 . The land is terribly scarred with the open-cast mining in the ancient riverbeds .

Harsh , wild , desolate and beautiful ever changing mountain scenery with the river as the life line .

Saw a few vehicles along both sides of the river and am sure hey saw me . I am still undecided how to approach the final bridge which is 12 kms from my final take-out at the Atlantic ocean . Whether i gun through and take a chance , or present myself and ask for permission to proceed to the sea . Either way there could be problems . i am in a restricted area without a permit .

Although i have nothing to hide, i have heard a few stories how tough the security is in this diamond crazed area . We’ll see .