We woke up to a perfect morning. The early morning glow over the river and the cliffs on the Namibian side was magic. The Fish Eagle was calling. We packed our dry bags with coffee, snacks and lunch and we were off on the easy downstream run towards the Thumbprint cliffs. It really was very easy going and the kayaks were wonderfully stable and easy to paddle. There were lots of waterbirds and lots of sandbanks and little islands. It was very hot on the water. We paddled up to a broad river bank and enjoyed our morning coffee on the Namibian side! It was strange to be in Namibia and we did not even need a Covid test! There were little rapids just round the corner and this was as far as we would be going. It was quite a bit harder paddling back against the stream, but it was wind still and we managed without problems. We came across a young man with his canoe laden with his personal goods. He was a fly- fishing guide who was on an one-man eight day journey down the river. He managed to land a huge yellow fish, but there is a catch and release policy on the river and the fish was free to go!! We decided to go back to the camp for lunch and relax and then get back onto the water later in the afternoon when it would be cooler. But the wind came up and we realized that we were in for a much harder time. It initially appeared that the wind would be from behind as we went up stream, but in reality the wind was coming from all directions and it proved to be very hard work. At times we simply were making no progress and we had to fight hard not to go backwards! We were not the only ones struggling. At one stage Paul decided he was getting nowhere and that they would be turning back. We were determined to at least reach a little beach o the Namibian side we could see a bit further on and they eventually also decided to follow. There were two other couples also padding and we watched how the youngsters desperately tried to cross some shallow rapids without making any progress. They eventually also capitulated and landed on the beach. We had our afternoon coffee on the beach and then tackled the downstream run. Despite some crazy wind gusts, it was considerably easier and we were soon back. After great showers and enjoying some drinks, we sat down to a tasty lamb potjie which we had ordered the day before. Unfortunately is was rather cold, but it was a good way to end a wonderful trip that we had shared with Paul and Petra and our very special Troopy vehicles. Tomorrow we would go our own ways, because we were going to take a slower route back.

Geschreven door Leartravels