TRAVEL
Words: Jurie Pohl ǀ Photos: Stephen Wagner
EXPEDITIONS & NOBLE CAUSES THE SENQU EXPEDITION WAS AN EPIC ADVENTURE BIRTHED FROM DESIRE, CONVICTION AND NEED. Every one of the members of the team had previously embarked on similar adventures, but it was the desire to do something truly extraordinary, and to do it for a noble cause, that brought this team together.
Quality paddling.
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WITH THE AIM OF FURTHER EXPLORING THE OUTSTANDING ADVENTURE WONDERLAND OF LESOTHO, SOME IDEAS WERE DISCUSSED BETWEEN DEVON AND MYSELF AROUND DOING SOMETHING REMARKABLE AND USING THIS ‘EXCURSION’ FOR THE GREATER GOOD. OF COURSE, A BIT OF TOM TO HELP US COVER SOME OF OUR EXPENSES WOULD BE HELPFUL, BUT THAT WAS NOT A PRIORITY. 2 • DO IT NOW Magazine | #35
Devon and I had been involved with SALT (Spirit of Adventure Leadership Trust) for some time and seen the incredible change within students' lives, facilitated by SALT. We firmly believe in the great work SALT is doing and wanted to raise funds and awareness for this truly noble cause. With this in mind, we set out to structure our Senqu adventure’s marketing, planning and support around SALT. We were still nobodies in the world of extreme sports and finding willing supporters of the expedition was a yearlong struggle. We did manage to get some really cool groups on board though. I cannot mention all of them, as it would take up most of the article, however, there is a detailed account of the support groups on our Senqu blog. Similarly, it is not possible to share all our experiences in this article, so you will also find the full story on our blog, and we encourage you to read it!
The start of Senqu.
The expedition included 100 km of high-altitude running across the Lesotho Highlands to Mokhotlong, where we would meet up with our awesome support driver, Stephen Wagner, and the Beast (our brilliant support vehicle). From there, the three of us planned on paddling 434 km of white and flat water, basically covering the full length of the Senqu River (the Orange River within Lesotho), which starts in the Mnweni region of the Drakensberg, in the north east of Lesotho, and finishes in the south west of Lesotho, near the Tele Border Post. We had been told that Lesotho was fighting through the most severe drought in recorded history and we prayed desperately that Lesotho would receive a lot of rain in the upcoming weeks. It did (eventually)! Devon and I started our hiking/running leg on
the morning of 14 December, about 7 km from the foot of the Mother Ugly Rockeries Pass in the Mnweni region of the Drakensberg. We have both climbed many passes in our lives (it’s part of our jobs), but the Rockeries is the nastiest of them all. Anyway, we managed to climb this monster in under three hours, marched for another 2 km to the source of the Senqu and then covered another 12 km before passing out in delirium. We barely slept that night because of the bitter cold and were pumped to get going the next morning so we could warm up. We only planned to get to Mokhotlong on the afternoon of the 16th, but we felt strong and after our nap on the afternoon of the 15th, we decided to push as hard as we could and hopefully make it all the way to Mokhotlong on that day. We finally reached Mokhotlong at 02:00 a.m. on the 16th, having covered 65 km in 21 hours. This may seem ridiculously slow, but we did do a lot of hiking and running at night, and trust me, it gets VERY dark in those ‘woods’ at high altitude, with mother-heavy backpacks on and we crossed several rivers over a 100 times! All things considered, we did flipping well.
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Full of Bull - we needed wings.
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Last evening in Lesotho.
Post portage, Kings Gorge.
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WE WERE AMPED FOR A WHOLE DAY’S WORTH OF FINAL PREPARATIONS (AND REST) ON THE 16TH AND WERE TREATED LIKE KINGS BY OUR WONDERFUL HOSTS AT THE LOCAL MISSIONARY STATION, WHO WE COULD NEVER THANK ENOUGH. STEPHEN AND THE BEAST ARRIVED AT ABOUT LUNCHTIME AND WE QUICKLY GOT HIM UP TO SPEED ON THE FIRST LEG OF PADDLING OVER THREE DAYS, WITH NO SUPPORT. 6 • DO IT NOW Magazine | #35
We set off on the 17th on a high from our running/hiking leg and although the water level was shockingly low, we were so happy to be on the Senqu River after months of planning and training. The first three (and a little) days of no-support paddling were possibly the worst three days adventuring of our lives. There were very few sections where we did not have to portage our 5 m monster of a boat, and we gained two serious cracks early on running rapids that this boat was not exactly made for. Even after covering 117 km in those first three days, we were way behind schedule and never mind our bodies, our spirits were broken. The first few days really were something from a horror novel and an experience that I would forget if I could.
Smurfs on the Senqu.
Crossing the Finish Line.
We met up with our trusty support crew on the morning of the 20th and accompanied with some really good advice, concurred that we could not carry on paddling in these conditions. We therefore decided to skip a section of the Senqu and put-in where the water level was more acceptable (hopefully). The 20th was filled with incredible sights and adventures, including the most horrendous 4x4 pass to a dead end – and a massive waste of time. We finally arrived at the Matabeng confluence and set up a kiff camp where we could finally have a good look at the damage done to the boat on the first four days. We managed to slap together a plastic concoction that worked supremely well (thank you USN containers) and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the company of a legendary Afrikaans couple that were meandering through the country.
By now, Lesotho had received a lot of rain (prayer is amazing) and it continued to rain three-times daily for the duration of our expedition, so the water levels only got better and better. We milked the next 100 km in one-and-a-half days and this section included over 80 rapids, which we capsized on, on many occasions. This section of the Senqu is the most beautiful place I have ever been in and won a spot on my ‘must-do-again’ list. It was topped off with a night in a cave that we named Wookie (read the blog to find out why). There was still a lot of interesting paddling between us and our support crew and after our fantastic lunch with Stephen, we still had quite a distance to cover that included having to navigate two huge weirs and the most crazy grade 3 rapid to end off the day.
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The infamous Kings Gorge portage.
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ABOUT SALT The objective of the trust is to provide a sustainable opportunity for all youth in KwaZulu-Natal to receive leadership training, so that our nation can be developed for the greater good. Therefore, the primary beneficiaries of SALT will be youth from previously disadvantaged (PDI) backgrounds and under-resourced schools.
THE NEXT DAY (23RD) TOOK US 55 KM FURTHER (A NODDY BADGE TO US) AND PAST SOME SPECTACULAR SCENERY, ANOTHER GRADE 3 RAPID AND THE INFAMOUS KINGS GORGE PORTAGE (A REALLY WORTHWHILE SECTION OF OUR BLOG). IT WAS A TRULY SPECTACULAR DAY’S PADDLING (ANOTHER ITEM ON MY ‘LIST’). 10 • DO IT NOW Magazine | #35
By the morning of the 24th, we were fit and milked it! We covered almost 68 km (partly due to the amount of Red Bull we consumed) of mostly flat water on the day. Later, we enjoyed the most spectacular Christmas Eve dinner (more details in the blog) and slept like babies that evening. By the last day of the expedition, there was only 43 km left to go. We paddled it (with our Christmas hats on) in under 5 hours and finished completely spent, but satisfied with our Christmas Day victory! We had finished the expedition two days ahead of schedule and topped it off with amazing Christmas leftovers back at Devon’s farm in Oribi (a 600 km incredible drive later). Total distance covered = 473 km.
Crossing the finish line.
IT WAS THE MOST DAUNTING, REWARDING AND GAINFUL EXPERIENCE OF OUR LIVES, AND ONE THAT WE WILL ALWAYS VALUE! ONCE AGAIN OUR THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE, ALL IN THE NAME OF SALT. HASTA LA VISTA FROM THE SENQU TEAM. NEXT ADVENTURE TO FOLLOW SOON! •
If you would like to find out more about the expedition or get some advice on braving this truly exquisite river, then contact Jurie via email on ccrjuriepohl@gmail.com or Devon on dhsflappy2@gmail.com. They would be more than happy to share or help. For a full and entertaining account of what transpired in Lesotho, check out the Senqu blog: www.juriepohl.wordpress. com. Also in this blog is a file that can be downloaded and viewed in Google Earth. It is a file showing, in tremendous detail, the full magnitude of Devon and Jurie’s undertaking. The blog also contains a lot of footage including some really epic must-see videos.
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