RI7ER JOURNAL POSTS

I share a room with Jakob who is having a buttered roll with the pot of supper he has cooked. Oops, just can’t stomach the thought of food, maybe I will get into it

We arrived in the village a few hours back after a pretty long day. Derek Alberts was my chauffeur to Orange River Waypoint no. 6 (thank you, your knowledge of the region and the time you took out to get me up here is super appreciated). A solid 4x4 experience - it rained and the road was literally fucked! The plan had been to drive up to the village of Blood Berg but the Senqu was flooding and no way to cross with the vehicle

Jakob and I waded across and ferried the gear to the other side, walking up the hill to Orange River Hoek where we hired 2 mules - and their owners - to carry the gear. Two young men volunteered to carry the kayak for 50 bucks each.

3 hours later, we arrived in Thoteng, dropped down, had a smoke.

I quickly repacked and left the kayak and 90% of my gear with the village chief. Jakob and I headed north up the Senqu valley, walking for another three hours until I called ‘qame over’ for the day.

Jakob has just told me of an incident that happened during the day: There was apparently concern in one of the villages that we passed - they thought there was a funeral on the go - that my boat was a coffin, and that I was the gravedigger, from the way that I was carrying my paddle!