Kali River – Adventure for good causes

After 18 months of meticulous preparation involving trips to the Rivers Wye, Tryweryn, Usk and Teifi (to name a few), various fundraising events and grants, 37 members of the Phoenix Canoe Club, Barnet Network Scouts and Barnet Explorer Scouts set off from Heathrow for a two week trip to India, with the highlight being a six day expedition down the Kali River.

Despite some fairly strange looks at Heathrow, we got our 30 kayaks (seven of the party were rafting) through the airport and thankfully they all arrived safely with us in Delhi where we were met by Jam McManus our trip organiser and river guide from IntoIndia.

That evening and over the next day we went to visit the two community projects that we had been fundraising for, Sai Kripa an orphanage and the Social Outreach Foundation primary school. At Sai Kripa we were shown around the 30 children’s desperately basic and crowded accommodation and got a chance to talk, play and eat with them. The school showed us to what good use they had put the 12 computers we had donated. They also fed us. We were proud to have been able to provide nine large suitcases of clothing and equipment to these causes as well as a school for the blind, and donating around £4,000 between them for specified projects.

When we arrived in Kathgodam we were picked up by two small coaches, which took us on a 10-hour drive along precarious cliff edges in the Himalayan foothills to our next hotel in Pithoragarh. Here we were given our 100L dry bags to share with a partner and live out of for the next six days. Sure enough, not everyone managed to squeeze everything they wanted into their dry bags! The next morning we were up bright and early to finally drive to the river. We arrived slightly before midday, and dragged our kayaks and equipment down a steep, narrow track to the beach. We were not quite at the Kali yet, but were starting on the Kali Ganga, which would meet up with the Kali soon enough. Together with the raft guides, safety kayakers and cooks from IntoIndia there were 53 people on the water, ranging in age from 14 to 56, with 38 in kayaks and 15 in six rafts which were holding all our gear, tents and food – everything took a while to get moving.

As we set off we enjoyed some bumpy Grade 2 rapids, which were to prove a very inadequate warm up for what we were soon approaching!

Kayakers into swimmers

Where the Kali Ganga met the Kali River, there was a section of large Grade 3 rapid which was much bigger than anything we had ever paddled in the UK and in almost no time at all turned the majority of kayakers into swimmers. I ended up Eskimo-rescuing a kayaker side-on in the midst of the carnage whilst approaching a boulder the size of a Transit van at fairly high speed. Needless to say, I had not intended to partake in this particular rescue as I was struggling to remain upright myself.

I was also beginning to think that perhaps bringing my Pyranha 4twenty wasn’t the best idea, but since I had survived this first rapid I pressed on, with two others also in playboats. After another set of large rapids the river became a bit friendlier and I officially decided that there was nowhere else I would rather be, given the amazing backdrop of Himalayan jungle and the fun I had just had wrestling with the rapids so far. All too soon we reached the beach where we would be camping, set up the tents, dug the latrine-holes and tucked into dinner around a camp fire.
The next morning the cooks were up at 0400 to start getting breakfast ready and we surfaced at 0630(ish) to eat and then get ready for the day’s paddling. Putting on cold, wet gear early in the morning is still unbearable – even in India. The rapids on day two of the river trip weren’t quite as big as on the first day and we had fewer capsizes.

Playboats swapped

y the end of day three, 15 kayaks were taken off the water as we were warned that the rapids started getting bigger from day four and 15 kayakers became rafters. The three playboats, which had served us well thus far, were also swapped for bigger boats, which might offer us better chances of survival.

We got into the swing of river-life quickly enough with early starts, four to five hour-long paddles and the setting up of camp again every afternoon. The afternoons were spent either sunbathing, playing games or fishing, although nothing was ever caught, least of all the nine-foot long man eating Goonch Catfish that we had all heard far too much about before the trip. The beaches further down the river had loads of firewood for some huge campfires; leopard paw prints in the sand and one had a small waterfall complete with plunge pool, which we all used for an impromptu shower. The guides taught us the game of Kabbadi, which to the untrained eye looks like a cross between tag and rugby. It was fantastic fun and provided an entire evening’s worth of entertainment, for participants and spectators alike.

The rapids grew steadily bigger from day four, and the number of kayakers steadily decreased, due to sickness or a desire to face the river in a raft rather than by kayak. By day five, the rafts, at 16 feet in length were shorter than the faces of some waves and the kayaks were dwarfed. As a kayaker, you could see nothing but water in the trough of the wave, until you were flung up to the crest and were desperately trying to find the direction you had been advised to paddle in.
On the last day, day 6, we had to arrive at our get out point on time to catch our lift to the Jim Corbett National Park.

This meant that we were not stopping to scout any sections of rapids and were ploughing straight through some truly enormous waves. I made a serious mistake when I didn’t follow the recommended line and headed straight for what looked like a good wave for surfing. As it loomed up I suddenly realised the size of the beast and was by now committed to paddling straight into it. I got a fairly serious trashing which felt much longer than the four seconds the camera I was wearing proved it to be, but managed to roll up again with a grin on my face! The last day was easily the best on the river, with plenty of spectacular capsizes, and the first major loss – a boulder landed on a pair of Werner paddles, snapping them cleanly into three pieces.

The middle of the jungle

When we got off we had another long road journey in seven 4x4s to the national park, for a jeep and elephant safari. We were staying at Camp Forktail Creek, which had open sided buildings for the bar, lounge and dining room and we slept in fixed tents and mud huts in the middle of the jungle. It was a fantastic place with comfy beds and crucially, proper toilets! The safari got us up close to several species of monkeys, deer and birds and some people were rewarded with a sighting of a tiger about 30 metres from their jeep. The elephant safari was another novelty, although we didn’t see very much and were more than happy to get back into our jeeps afterwards!

After two days in the park, we travelled back to Delhi by overnight sleeper train (this time third class non air-conditioned, which meant triple bunks and no sheets and then by coach to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal., for a guided tour. Lunch was had in a revolving restaurant and shopping for souvenirs ended our visit to Agra as we went back by coach for our last night in Delhi.

As we got on the plane the next day, I think everyone could appreciate how lucky we were to have come on such a trip. Although some people would not dare define it as a holiday, it was an absolutely amazing experience which most of us would all happily do again. Some had had enough of curry twice a day for the last 13 days and were not amused when we were served it again on the plane! As a group, we had got on tremendously well, despite the age range of 14-56 years and it was such a shame to be leaving such a beautiful place. The company, www.intoindia.com was brilliant and ensured the trip ran without a problem, despite the many complexities and we are currently in the process of deciding where to go next!