BOOK A FELIX UNITE RIVER RAFTING ADVENTURE

The Orange River

A scenic six-and-a-half hour drive from Cape Town, heading north towards Namibia, and you’re in the midst of one of the most thrilling adventure parks you will ever visit. You’ll have to dodge the dead man first, then be forced to tackle an entrance exam and whether you pass or fail, you’ll still be walloped by a sjambok. You’ll then whiz through on a roller coaster and end up being part of a rocky horror show.

But these are not mechanised rides complete with long queues and officials collecting tickets. This is nature’s playground and these thrill-seeking attractions are rapids that you’re about to plunge into on the Orange River.

Having tackled Rapid Rafting 101 down the Breede River earlier this year, with the help of the esteemed river adventure specialists, Felix Unite, it was time that I graduated to expeditions more hard-core.

The Breede was a great initiation ground — infant rapids, comfortable cabins, flushing toilets — quite luxurious, in fact. The Orange, on the other hand, is the big mama of the rivers and boasts rapids to match. It also offers an authentic bundu-bashing adventure with little in the way of pampering and everyday comforts.

I was quite confident about my rafting abilities; it was my roughing-it competency that I was a touch concerned about. But the thought of sleeping under a sky scattered with stars definitely outweighed fears of what nasty creatures were sleeping under me.

A Felix Unite truck - they organised everything!

The very professional and competent staff at Felix Unite organised everything for me and, once armed with the recommended items on the list they provided, I was ready to take on the Orange. Pay very good attention to canoe kit list — they’re the experts and know exactly what you’ll need on the river. If it says take only two t-shirts, then do just that! I was tempted to take a different outfit for each day but was very thankful that I had shown restraint when I saw the small buckets in which we had to place ALL our belongings.

Our group -The Orange River Rapid Rafters

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The drive from Cape Town was painless — perhaps because I wasn’t driving — but more so, I think, because the Namaqualand area through which we drove was spectacular. The flower season had just finished but the region is blessed with some fascinating rock outcrops and dotted with charming towns. We stopped a couple of times along the way to refresh, most notably at Springbok, which is the most active town in the area and a good place to have lunch and stock up on alcohol. Keep in mind that glass bottles are not allowed down the river, so rather stick to cans or decant your hard tack into plastic vessels.

Our Felix Unite river guides

Most importantly, remember your passport! Just over 100km outside Springbok, we passed through the South African border crossing and then a couple of metres later, we were welcomed into Namibia. You don’t need any visas but your passport will be perused and you will need to pay a vehicle levy of R70 per car at the Namibian border. There is also a chance that your vehicle may be searched, so make sure you leave any illegal substances at home — otherwise the only view you’ll have of the Orange River will be from your prison cell window!

The camp paradise

A short drive towards the village of Noordoewer, and we arrived at the Felix Unite base camp called Provenance. After being cooped up in a car for a good couple of hours, the camp was an absolute oasis. Those who arrived early were already leisurely sprawled on the soft grass sipping their drinks. Others were swimming in the river while a couple had started up a game of cricket on the lawn. The 54-hectare camp has an idyllic situation — it is perched on an outcrop overlooking the Orange River, flanked by majestic mountains and topped with well-manicured vegetation and thatched rondawels.

The camp pool bar

We unpacked and joined in the relaxing activities — played a couple games of pool in the bar boma, soaked up the last rays of sun and chatted with the rest of our group.

A hungry camper in the dining boma

And as the first stars appeared in the clear night sky, our group of just over 30 people gathered in the open dining area for our first meal together. We feasted on a delicious braai of chops and an array of veges and salads with peppermint crisp trifle for dessert. There was still much pent-up energy after the drive, so many partied till the early hours of the morning before flopping into their sleeping bags.

We had taken camping mattresses and summer sleeping bags along with us, but by the middle of the first night, our inflatable mattresses were as flat as pancakes and I felt as if I was going to get frostbite! For the rest of the trip, we opted to instead sleep on the ground, which was actually more bearable than it sounds, besides the odd rock sticking into your back every now and again. And I bundled up with gloves and beanie before pulling my sleeping bag well over my ears.

So lesson number one: invest a little more in a camping mattress or good quality lilo and take a thermal sleeping bag or at least one very warm item of clothing — even in mid-summer!

Oh so snug

When you’re sleeping outdoors and the sun rises, you wake up! There’s no pulling the curtains shut or snuggling under your duvet — it's way too bright and hot to stay enveloped.

The boats were awaiting our arrival

So feeling slightly tender and bleary-eyed, we packed our belongings into three water-tight buckets which fit into the tailor-made kayaks; placed our drinks into ice-laden cooler boxes and headed towards the row of boats on the shore of the river.

The safety demo

After choosing a bright green canoe, we were given a safety briefing and a ‘canoeing for dummies’ crash course by our river guides — Morten, Tatum and Phil.

Preparing to tackle the rapids

Then it was time! We excitedly pushed our kayak off the shore and clambered aboard. The most experienced paddler sits at the back and takes charge of the steering while the other partner sits in front and is designated the engine room and primary paddler.

It didn’t take long before we attained a rhythmical rowing motion — left, right, left, right — multicoloured paddles, mostly synchronised, entering and leaving the water at the same time. We kept back and watched as 15 canoes bobbed in front of us with the ecstatic human chatter competing with the shrill birdcalls.

Ready to face Dead Mans

We journeyed as a pack until we approached our first rapid — Dead Mans — which we would face one canoe at a time. The name of the rapid was disconcerting and from a distance the water gushing over the rocks looked tumultuous. The loud roaring, as the water lashed against the stone, didn’t exactly calm my nerves either and I was wondering whether we’d become just another of Dead Man’s victims!

A rapid comes into being when a piece of rock forms an obstacle across the riverbed. The water then finds the weakest places in the rock and eventually wears these places down. So the best way through the rapid is where the water has worn into the resistant rock.

The guides manoeuvred themselves into a position to save any bedraggled paddlers and one by one we faced the gauntlet. It was soon our turn and I felt a bit more confident now that my companions had survived and I couldn’t see any stray bodies floating by. We headed straight for chaos, our guides yelling instructions to paddle hard left. In the tension, I couldn’t remember in which direction I had to paddle in order to turn our boat leftwards. So I just paddled with all my might and within a couple of seconds, all was calm again.

Our bedroom for the night

With our first rapid under out boats, we felt a lot more confident and for the day we paddled with sanguine ease. Late in the afternoon, we followed the lead of Mort, Tate and Phil and pulled our kayaks onto the sandy shore. This was to be our home for that night — no cabins, no beds, no bathrooms — just rocks for pillows, sleeping bags for beds and a portable toilet seat in the bush. So this is what "roughing it up" is all about.

We hauled our buckets from the boat, unpacked our sleeping bags and then helped to make a bonfire, which would hopefully keep the nip out of the air. Dinner could never have come at a better time and we tucked in hungrily into scrumptious and hearty spaghetti bolognaise. After some star-gazing (and what magnificent night skies we saw), we crawled into our little nests and slept.

"Showering" in the river

The sun seemed to arrive a lot sooner than I expected and any attempt to block out the dawn rays proved fruitless. So I shook myself out of my bag, bathed in the river and packed up. We were soon on the river again and heading straight towards the Sjambok rapid. This is one of the most powerful rapids on the river, as the channel is pretty narrow, resulting in higher water pressure and a bigger rapid. There were one or two minor casualties on this one, as boats collided with rocks and toppled over but we managed to paddle through unscathed.

Atop the Fluorspar mine

That afternoon, we climbed a rock outcrop to explore the Fluorspar Mine. This mine is not active anymore but still contains plenty of fluorspar — the ore of the mineral fluorite. In industry, this metal is used in the production of hydrochloric acid and in the manufacture of enamels and glass. However to us, these pretty green stones held firework magic. We collected as many of these rocks as we could carry and then threw a couple into the heart of our bonfire that evening. Nothing happened for the next few minutes, but soon afterwards the rocks exploded with a pop and sprayed little fluorescent green particles everywhere. It’s a great party trick but just make sure your audience stands well away from the flames.

The next day wasn’t too eventful rapid-wise but my rowing partner and I did have an opportunity for a solitary encounter with the river. We had stopped off at a small island and were told that we could take the next four kilometres to the camp at a leisurely pace. The rest of the group sped off while we decided to take things more slowly.

Chilling out on the river

By the time we set off towards camp, the river was so still. We glided tranquilly on the water listening to the rustle of reeds and the calls of birds. The only interruption was caused by the sudden splashes of water when the fish leapt in and out. As we neared the camp, the sun was setting and the mountains were bathed in a warm orange glow. The peacefulness and serenity of those couple of hours were unforgettable and I can’t remember ever feeling so calm and at one with nature.

By the time we bedded down for our last night in the bundu, we were old hands at this camping thing. The group was tired and subdued and compared to that first raucous night, we were all much quieter. Without cellphones, television sets and computers, we became more streamlined people. Without worldly distractions and stresses, we could concentrate on finding our inner cores. Obviously this wouldn’t last, but while we were out there surviving in the bush, I felt like a primitive person.

Hanging onto the shrubbery before hitting the rapid

The next day, we packed our buckets for the last time and tackled the last stretch of rapids. Our final two obstacles were the Roller coaster and Rocky Horror. Their names were worse than their bite and we managed to manoeuvre through the swirls unharmed.

We made it!

All that was left was the final flat stretch to the finish. And, as we pulled up onto Aussenkeur Farm, I was smacked with a mixture of feelings — relief, exhilaration, exhaustion. We sprawled on the vine-roofed deck and drank ice cold drinks. There wasn’t too much chatter, just one or two exclamations of joy that we had made it.

The bus ride back to camp

An hour's ride on a rickety old bus later and we arrived back at our starting point. It had only been five days earlier that we had rode into the camp full of bravado and excitement. I felt a lot different when I returned: quieter and filled with an inner peace, almost as if I had conquered the world. But we had conquered the Orange and for me, that’s as good as the world!

HOW TO BOOK A FELIX UNITE RIVER ADVENTURE Phone: 021 - 683 6433 E-mail: reservations@felix.co.za Website: www.felixunite.com