| Thina River - First Descent |
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 Big waterfall run - Transkei We have just got back from an epic two week paddling trip in the Old Transkei. This is an area which has not been paddled much due to it logistics and it's history of unrest, but we paddled some amazing gorges and discoverd a first descent which has been on my mind for some time now - the Thina Gorge. Read 'Mud People" to get some insight into our experience...........Andrew Kellett NEW! To veiw a slideshow of our trip follow this link; http://picasaweb.google.com/ak4foot7/TranskeiPaddlingMissionFeb2008 Mud People – A Transkei story  First of 3 people encounted over 40km Some would say it was luck or possibly good timing, but either way when we hit the Transkei on a recent paddling trip, the water was muddy brown. To a paddler, this means one thing………, you’re lucky, your timing is right! We had headed to the Transkei area with the intention of paddling some rivers in the area which had not been run often before and some that had never been attempted before. A quick call to Adi and Angela from The Falls Backpackers outside Maclear on the banks of the Tsitsa River, lead us to a detour from the N2, heading towards the mountains. The trusty Landrover carried the team of paddlers through Grahamstown on some dodgy roads avoiding a close call with an overturned logging truck late at night, to a haven of cold beers, hot meals, warm beds, didgery doo’s and some local herbs. We woke to a beautiful sight, boats on the roof of the Landy, two weeks free time ahead and a full muddy river. Happy days Our warm up rivers………….. Tsitsa River – Mclear section  Scott, Tsitsa freefall The Tsitsa is one of the main tributaries of the Umzimvubu, the third largest river in South Africa. The spectacular waterfall on our doorstep was the put in for the first days paddle. This section is quite technical with boulders and slabs of rock cluttering the river. Everything is runnable and there are some beautifully formed rapids. Wildebees River  Andrew running the 12m falls This river is a a beautiful combination of tight gorges, long rapids and huge waterfalls. This has the highest, most runnable waterfall in SA but don’t come here with the intention of only running the drop. It is in a remote gorge and the horizon line on these falls is very intimidating, as well as the 2-3m boil in the pool below. This is not to be taken lightly but if you are a bit intimidated but still want to huck a big fall there is its little sister just down stream of 12m in height. Now remember that this is still 6 stories high! The take out is easy and this has to be one of the top 10 sections to run in SA Pot River We ran this river at high levels with the flooding Mooi river pushing in a few kms downstream of the put in. There is something for everyone here. Slides, small drops, weirs, tight gorges and continuous class 3, 4 and some 5 rapids. One thing you must know is that the walk out has the ability to make grown men cry……..it’s steep and long my guys. After the warm up, it was time to head off to attempt a mission I had been planning in my mind since we completed the First Descent of the Tsitsa gorge below the N2. It was its little sister, the Thina. I was soon to be proven wrong about calling her the Little sister……………  Only vehicle for a transkei mission Driving over the Umzimvubu we were greeted with fairly good flows and this would be the option if the Thina was too low or too high. To attempt a first descent in a remote gorge in the Transkei at flood levels would not be a well calculated risk so we were very pleased to see that the Thina had good but manageable water flowing under the bridge. The Tsitsa on the other hand was in full flood, which made us question our decision to attempt the Thina. We decide to get as close to the Thina Falls as possible to see exactly what we were dealing with.  Local guides On the maps, the outlook was not good as there was no road access within around 5km of the falls. This was clearly not a tourist destination as yet. We decided to drive in from the Tsitsa side of the river to the Tina falls village. We were met with a huge welcome and children from surrounding villages came running to see what these ‘Umlungu’s’ were up too. After looking at the numerous boats, our self appointed local guide (the fact that he spoke broken English was the main reason he was our guide and tracker) decided that he knew exactly where we needed to be and eventually took us down a very overgrown jeep track which turned into a single cattle track. In his defence, we were headed in the right direction. We also didn’t really have the option to turn around with a trailer so we pushed on! Eventually we landed up faced with a steep shale slope of more than 60 degrees and decided to walk the rest of the way, to the disappointment of the 50 or so locals who we had collected along the way and who had been helping us clear the path ahead. Eventually it lead us to the river and unveiled the most interesting feature I have ever seen on a river. The river had developed a full horse shoe around a koppie and over time had eroded and cut out a quicker path, falling 80 m through a crease in the mountain side. The Thina and it impressive gorge was presented for us and we had the first opportunity to see the nature of the river and the rapids below the falls. The water was higher than I would have liked, but the rapids below the waterfall looked manageable and there was still scope for the water to rise if there was rain in the area. We knew, though, that we would be faced with what we encountered on the Tsitsa expedition - deep gorges with steep cliff face and no exit routes. This is just one of the unknowns when running a first descent and it is also where the risk steps in. We decided to make camp and get ready to go in early the next morning. The maps did not indicate large drops so we were confident that if we came across any, this would be easily portaged via an abseil.  Unwanted company Our tag along locals were still around and after we noticed that two of our bags had been stolen from our boats, we became quite keen for them to move on before unpacking and getting ready for the next day. There was still a lot to organise and it was not until supper time that their stomachs got the better of them and they moved on with some persuasion from Ant. With our minds clear and happy with our decision we headed off to bed soon to be woken up by the sound of heavy rain on our tents. This was not good. The river was at a level we were happy to push our limits on but we couldn’t handle too much more water. There were nervous looks the next morning and believe me it was not only due to the really bad oats so-easy we had to force down. No one brought up the subject of rain or water level and we decided to head down with our boats ready to put in.  Nervous times Ant’s face when he saw the river said it all and we knew we were faced with a tough decision. The river had risen by a metre and was heavily silted and chocolate brown. What were manageable class 3 rapids below the fall the day before, were now littered with holes and pourovers. Easy enough to scout from 100m up but when you are in your boat they are car size and ready to eat you up! Kate was battling with her decision but the rest of us had made our minds up. The thought of carrying our laden boats with gear for 4 days back up the 60 degree hill was enough to push us into a decision and we were confident in our ability and experience. We had also come off the back of some very solid kayaking in Maclear on high volume creeks and our spirits were high. Kate finally won her mental battle and showed interested in remaining in and the group gave their vote of confidence to enable her to be one of very few female paddlers in South Africa to attempt an expedition of this nature.  Setting up the abseil  Only just We were very happy to see that our 60m abseil rope was just enough for us to do a multi pitch abseil into the gorge below as this was one of our main concerns when we packed our gear in Cape Town. Abseiling in to a gorge is nerve racking at the best of times, but when you have your boat between your legs which is packed with your gear for the next few days, the waterfall thundering down next to you and no safety line, it becomes quite intense. We were also very happy to see that the two bags that were stolen the day before had been returned with all the contents in them! This revived my faith in human kind and we were very happy with the consciences of the locals and their willingness to come good.  Kate below the 80m Thina Falls  Phil tight line  Action late in the day Only once we were on the river could we appreciate the scale of the gorge as well as the rather awkward 80m waterfall. The river was as predicted, much harder to read from the water but there were still enough eddies to be able to scout. In fact the increased volume would prove to be a blessing in disguise over the length of the expedition.  Phil clawing out of a hole The river took a sharp bend to the right and the nature of the river changed automatically. The river bed was littered with huge boulders and the gradient we had picked up on the map remained consistent over the next 35 km. Most of the rapids were scoutable from our boats but we were constantly surprised by the hidden dangers once in the rapids. On an expedition of this nature where the access is remote and injury is not a realistic option, we often chose to scout the rapids ahead to make sure of the dangers as well as choosing the safest path through. Where we could not see from our boats, we scouted from the bank. There were 2 or 3 rapids that Kate and Scott decides to portage which Phil and I ran. After 10 hours on the river our bodies were feeling the fatigue and our minds were labouring under the constant decision making in the Rapids. It is impossible to describe all the rapids we came across, know this though, there are lots and they remain consistently challenging.  Camp short of the confluence Towards the end of the day we encountered one of the bigger rapids on the section. River Right was banked on a sheer cliff face and River left was split by an overgrown island. The group were waiting in an eddy in the middle of the river whilst I scouted and set up for some shots. It would have been ideal to scout the rapid individually but I decided to send the guys down one at a time with some basic signals. I sent Phil first to see how he was going to handle. Only when he entered the huge hole at the top and completely disappeared, did I realise the scale of the rapid. He clawed his way out and disappeared into the brown foam of the next drop, dwarfed by the cliff face and water falling in the background. Eventually, wide eyed and with a nervous smile he emerged in the eddy pondering whether to question my decision to run, but eventually he set up the video and gave the thumbs up. I think this was in anticipation of capturing a good beating on the video, kayakers are a great bunch! Scott made it through well with the extra volume of his large solo and Kate made it look easy choosing a great line. The fact that she weighs about 40kg also helps! As I made my way back up I realised that I had a huge ferry ahead of me as I was on the river left hand side and I needed to enter on the right. I had made my way closer to the entrance to be able to scout but there was no way of getting higher upstream. I contemplated for a while and was wondering if Phill was going to get his wish! The river left was littered with rocks and siphons so the ferry was critical. It was also close to 6pm and getting dark now and reading the dark muddy water was becoming difficult. With the line secured in my mind I entered the current and paddled strongly. I surfed across the face of the hole that caught Phil and headed far right where I wanted to be, but having my back to the Rapid, I lost my bearing and missed the entry. I fell off the shelf into the crease and felt the normally very buoyant Solo disappear to the base rocks of the rapid. The next thing I saw was the broad smiles of the other 3 on the bank. Kayakers are such bastards……………… We were hoping to get to the confluence of the Tsitsa by nightfall but the river had other ideas. The last of the sun came out on some of the most spectacular mountains we had seen yet and we took it as a sign to stop and appreciate where we were. After all, you could probably count on your hands and feet the amount of people who had seen this view, us being the only paddlers and most probably, the only non locals. The Thina gorge was utilised by the local people as a safe haven for their cattle to graze and in 30km we had only seen one person, with no sign of human impact.  Andrew in the Umzimvubu gorge The next morning the rapids continued all the way to the confluence with the Tsita which is where we saw the first real settlement and the first of many pay-ferries which transport people from one side of the river to the next. We took time out to appreciate what we achieved as well as the beauty of the gorge and its rapids which we had experienced. All that remained now was the 100km to the sea which sees the Tsitsa join the Umzimvubu River which cuts its way through to the sea. We totally underestimated this section of the trip and with the extra water from the feeding tributaries, we encountered some of the biggest rapids 40 or so km from the sea where the river cuts through a granite gorge and forms some amazing class 4/ 5 rapids. The flat water to the sea was made bearable by the 8-12km per hour flow of the river and the awesome scenery but you don’t want to this at low water my guys!  Port st Johns at last When we reached the tar road followed by the bridge to Lusikisiki, the reality of normal life set in with trucks, pollution and development. Paddling into the sea felt a little disappointing after having paddled one of the last remaining hidden gems of our country, South Africa. What was encouraging was the friendliness and support we were given by the locals and we can truly say that this really is the new South Africa.  First kayak descent of the Thina Andrew Kellett Paddlers Andrew Kellett Phil Solomon Scott Martin Kate Walton Ant Hoard – Retired hurt(dislocated shoulder) Matt Doms – Driver Sponsors Fluid Kayaks Cape Storm Julbo Walton Family - Landy – our transport for the trip |
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