Steep Creeking with Leeches, Sri Lanka
Palm Trees and Paddy Fields
A group of 6 kayakers from the UK have been in Sri Lanka for just over a week now, & with only one day spent without taking our boats for an outing things are going well!
Not only are we exploring the rivers in the country, but we have also been working closely with the rafting and outdoor education company Borderlands to try and develop the kayaking scene in Sri Lanka. This has become of increasing importance with the news that Borderlands main rafting river, the Kelani, is to be dammed.
Sunset on the Kelani River
Our mission, since we’ve chosen to accept it, is to try and find a suitable river for Borderlands to move to. The first few days of our expedition were spent with Sri Lankan kayakers on rivers that had previously been run (if rarely!). The lower Sitawaka seems to have potential as a rafting run a step up from the current norm.
One of the bigger rapids on the Sitawaka
After discussions with a friend of Borderlands (called ‘Chunky’) we decided to head up to the rivers upper reaches.
Here, we found lots of smooth bedrock slides and even more boulder garden fun. The rivers can rise and fall fast here which has taken some time to get used to (think 2 foot rise and fall whilst on a dry day run, and water colour turning from clear to orange in a matter of minutes). August is the run off of the monsoon for the South West of the country (where the Central Highlands are), so there is alot of water about (a nightmare for drying out kit!). The rain showers are quite intense, but wierdly really localised. Much more so than expected.
A new sight in the valleyWill on a sweet rapid on one of the Sitawaka tribs
Will on a sweet rapid on one of the Sitawaka tribs
Entering a tricky drop at the top of the canyonThe kids in the village were super excited (now there's asurprise!)
Park and Huck, Sri Lanka style
Despite one pretty epic day getting stuck in the jungle after a long leech infested portage, everything has so far(!) been as efficient as could be hoped. Our big 4×4 truck and nails driver have been getting us everywhere we need! Cheers Mahesh!
One of the cleaner rapids before the portages started!
But things were a play park on the stretch we paddled on the second day
The Borderlands truck is a top paddle wagon!
We are currently back at Borderlanks base to help saftey kayak for a group of 100 who will be descending the Kelani river over then next weekend. Following that, we’ll be heading to the rivers near Kandy to explore the river drainages there.
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Cheers for reading!
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Good point! There were actually some really nice bedrock slides in there, but it was tipping it down by that stage so no photo’s! The weather and humidity are giving our electronics a hard time! Wonder who will be the first company to design a waterproof SLR…
Such a shame the nice slides and boofs were interspersed with siphons and choss. Guess thats the whole nature of the game though!
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Hey, Nice one guys! I’m a bit concerned that drop was one of the cleaner ones though! Only one day off for the first week is pretty good going too – keep us updated! Cheers, Tim