More Rainy Day Activities

The same massive storm that we used to test the rainy day crag also had other uses. The rain adds a good volume of water to the Elandsrivier churning up a great flow and numerous sets of rapids. I'd only been white water kayaking one time prior in Laos and that was really an open deck affair. Gustav however owns a couple of fast water boats and invited me (Chris) to experience African white water kayaking. I didn't need much convincing and after a brief recap session in the Tranquilitas pool, we set off to take on the mighty Elandsrivier.

Over a 6km stretch of the river it alternates between tame flat sections through grasslands and brief rocky rapids. Gustav says we were a little late and missed the high water by a few hours. This added the challenges of more rocks and tighter shoots. Hints for future adventures include leaning into obstacles with the boat, always keep a transversly oriented boat tilted down stream when entering faster water, lean back thru the rapids, avoid obstacles by not only turning the boat but also paddling like mad in the direction one wishes to go and finally when chasing large bananas keep your feet up and out of the water and lay on your back.

Michael used a video camera to record and these are stills from the video. Getting the camera close to but not into the Elandsrivier proved tricky too. He did a great job racing ahead after each section to continue to shoot more footage.

In the distance, across one of the dams of the Boven trout farming operation, you can see the Toyota chase vehicle that Michael used to follow Gustav and Chris down the river. Chasing the kayakers involved much running through soggy long grass, camera in hand.

Chris leapt from his boat to capture the elusive Giant Mpumalanga Banana for tomorrow's smoothies.

"Dude, where's my boat?"

Cruising into Boven in a thunderstorm and the last light of the day. Perfect!