RI7ER JOURNAL POSTS

When pulling the horse coming up to the source of the Senqu the day before yesterday, i remember having an image quickly passing through my mind of pulling a kayak. Little did i know...

When the water level is too low to sit in the kayak and paddle down the river as you normally do, and you are 3000 meter above sea level, and you are one day walk from the nearest road, and the only people you see are the local herders walking or riding a donkey or a horse and only speak Sotho, and you want to see the river: You walk the boat down the river, and you paddle the possible meters there are.

H2O.

As with all boating you want to go with the flow. It’s a constant looking for where the water goes. In this case, you are looking for where some water is flowing. Even if it is between rocks, the amount matters because the more water the less you scrape the boat over the rocks and the less strenuous it is. Bare in mind, every less rock you have to pull (a loaded boat packed with supplies for ten days) over, the better for muscles and mind it is.

Rocks.

Rocks close to shore that are dry and sort of flat on the top and stable are the best. But you don’t know that until you step on it. They can be slippery, unstable and under water. Better if you can step on it from not too high, because the higher you step down on it the bigger consequences. The shorter legs you have, the more you might have to bend the knee in order to avoid too high a step down. Big feet might help, size 42-48 is preferable.

Rope.

The rope / webbing / flip line is attached to the front of the boat with a carabiner. When you are walking in the river and it is narrow, it’s better to have the rope short because that gives you more control and you keep the boat close.You might have to vary the length quickly, then the rope might twist around itself.  A longer rope has advantages when walking on shore and there a few rocks in the river to alter the direction of the boat. Watch your speed and the boats speed. It hurts when the loaded boat hits the inside of the knee or the side of the thigh.

Rapids.

There were slides (easy if not slippery and without potholes), boulder gardens (good if boulders not too high or steep), sand bottom (stable and trustworthy, only disadvantage is that sand collects in the socks and shoes or between foot and sole if wearing sandals), sand / mud (not favourable you sink or slide), shallow rock rapids (the least favourable one and the deeper the worse).

Paddle.

Walking with the paddle in the hand is probably the best. Leaning on it easily makes you loose your balance.  Also, using it as a walking stick it might get stuck between two rocks.... Walking with it meant having no hand free to support oneself if falling. But the paddle is most valuable, you cant risk it being damaged.  

Mindset.

Thinking of what to have for dinner (lentils or rice), whats happening next week, or anything  (....) that takes your attention away from the here-and-now don’t work. The second you do, you either stumble or slide, a rock moves, the boat changes angle or gets stuck. There was nothing else to do than focusing on one step at a time, where the water and the boat was going.

All put together.

It was hard work and a great experience. And yeah, this particular walk lasted 29 kilometres (!) over four days. It was amazing when the clouds had built up enough to let the rain start and bring the river up. And we could paddle non stop rapids at 2800 meters following the Senqu winding downriver between the mountains, small sugar pea crops, an odd herder in a blanket and balaklava with his horse and some goats.  

Ine