Take me to THE RIVER
‘The principles are very similar to an overnight hike,ʼ expedition kayaker Scott Reinders says of the adventures he has in South Africaʼs remote river gorges. ʻWe go in a small team of ideally four to six people with an objective of getting from point A to point B, but with the added element of water. You have to be self-sufficient because thereʼs very little help coming in those way-out-there places we often explore.ʼ
For the last 10 years, the frontier in local kayaking has been the hinterland of rural Eastern Cape, inland from Port St Johns. All of the big rivers there have been paddled, but there are whispers of a few stretches in the Umzimvubuʼs upper tributaries that are yet to be claimed. ʻTheyʼre often in the higher reaches of mountains. Thatʼs where a lot of the exciting stuff still lies,ʼ Scott says.
Scott – whoʼs done first descents down three rivers and cut his teeth as
