I drove up to Volda, Norway for the last semester of my undergrad. A couple of hourse before I got there, I was driving along this amazing-looking river and decided I was going to paddle it. To my surprise, there were no white water paddlers on my course or in Natura, the university’s amazing outdoor activities group, so I had to find a different solution. I looked up where I’d driven past on maps and found a raft base, Jølster Rafting. I figured raft guides often paddle, and many rafting trips have safety paddlers, so I sent them an e-mail in my best Norwegian asking if I could come over for a paddle. I got a reply in English from Shingi and Panda (from Zimbabwe and Czech Republic respectively) saying I’d be very welcome to join them on the river. We set a time and date, I ended up missing one of the many ferries en route and arrived almost two hours later than planned. ‘No problem. We have a client soon, you can be safety-boat’, was Shingi’s reaction.
Nervous, but pretty confident. Note: This is my slalom kit. I didn’t have proper white water things at that time. I should have worn a better b.a. and more visible colours.
The trip had some of the biggest stuff I’ve paddled so far, and it was phantastic. Shingi was driving and taking photos with Panda being the proper safety kayaker, who I did my best to follow.
Photos: Shingirai Kumonyera
Because I was just following Panda with no time to scout, this was a big ‘I can’t believe I just ran that!’ - moment.
The view back home.