color of the water blew my mind. It was a rich, orangey-red unlike anything
I had seen before, due perhaps to locals illegally panning gold upstream.
We managed to paddle roughly 500 meters on this red river before we
were forced to stop on a blind corner. With no way to scout, the climbing
recommenced. This time, we climbed up a small, steep gully formed by a
landslide on the opposite bank. Around 7pm that evening, we managed
to get to the village and find our driver, who had been waiting there the
whole time.
After some car problems, we made our way to the northern side of the
Eastern Highlands where the Gairezi River lies. The Gairezi is maybe the most
hyped-up river in the area, but the hype is real. It is an absolute “must-do,”
with crystal-clear water, big boulders and massive slides flowing in between
huge granite mountains. We met up with a local kayaker Jan Harts who
suggested that we skip the upper part of the gorge because water levels
were still on the high side of good. The upper section has a big 2-3 hour
portage and Jan recommended putting on just downstream of it, walking in
on a cattle trail used by local herders.
About 15 minutes into the hike we saw our first glimpse of the river. It
looked like pure kayaking heaven: big slides landing in tea cup pools,
the sun reflecting off the crystal clear, almost blue water. With visions of
paddling paradise in mind, it was easy to continue the hike another hour
and a half to the river. Arriving at the river was a lesson in perspective. The
slides were a lot bigger then they had looked from the trail!The very first rapid was a five-meter drop that landed into a tea cup pool
before going straight into another two-meter drop with a massive hole.
This was followed by a slide with another massive hole before ending in a
boulder garden section roughly 50 meters long. The river was pushier than
it had looked from shore, making it harder to get and stay on line than I
had anticipated. About 100 meters further downstream, we arrived at a
powerful slide about 200 meters long with a dodgy-looking hole guarding
the entrance. In the middle of the slide was another really nasty hole with
an eddy feeding back into it. Though previous groups had run this rapid,
none of us were feeling it and we put in half way down.Dewet and
Honza on one of
the more chilled
out rapids of
the Haroni River,
a clear view of
Mount Binga’s
smaller peaks in
the distance.