An eventful trip down the Chinyoka, followed by a drive up Domborembudzi to watch the sun set (and a very nerve-wracking descent in the dark).
Taking David's word for it, Troy, Beanie and I put in at the main road and told Ken to wait 30 minutes before going to the old road. Beanie has some paddling experience, and after running her through the basics we set off.
The first section is fairly technical, with a couple of drops. This is probably a section of river suited to novices who have the ability to confidently ferry and catch small eddies. Beanie isn't quite at that level and found the going hard, especially when I yelled at her to catch a small eddy just before a drop.
I attempted to radio Ken to abort the trip, but he'd left already, so we pressed on. The river flattened out somewhat, but was now sprinkled with shrubs and trees, which meant we had to keep alert to avoid getting pinned. A few more interesting drops, including a longish chute with three options, and we were at the final drop, with a nice little wave.
The run took about an hour and a half and is worth doing with intermediate paddlers when there is substantial water. Beanie acquitted herself very well and I hope she'll join us on more outings.
To cap off the day we drove up Domborembudzi, having first acquired the obligatory amber liquid. The climb was very steep, but the Landy didn't miss a beat (although our hearts did). We took a walk and watched the sunset from near the top (we didn't have time to get all the way to the top, having taken a look at a stream on the east side - which had dried up since Saturday).
We'd thought ahead and carefully planned the way down so we could find it after dark, but the guides were too nervous to allow the Landy near the steep drop we'd passed on the way up, so a new route was scouted while I sat with both feet on the brake pedal, with the Landy in gear and handbrake on. A nerve-wracking half hour of steep inclines followed before we made it back to flat ground, and the main road. All agreed that we need to organise a braai after a paddling session and spend the night on the Dombo - watch this space for details!
Beanie and the Landy on Domborembudzi (I wasn't dopped enough to upload the other one...)
ha ha thank you jan, what an awful photo although at that point i was just very happy to be alive :o), i really did have a fantastic day now that i look back past the tears, nervous laughter, quite a few yells for troy ha ha ha ha
ReplyDeleteyou have forgotten the vital effort we put in on descent from Domborembudzi, we scouted a new route and jan in his infinite wisdom goes full throttle over a tree stumps and finally nearly tips the landy!!!! after surviving the river, the Mountain, the Beer, the darkness, we were almost taken out by a tree stump!!! great time guys thank you so much for taking me out, i will be back again but maybe after a bit of basic training hey xxx