Madagascar 2007
Words and photos by Nicola Pearce
When I was asked if I wanted to join an expedition to Madagascar, to be honest, I didn’t exactly jump at the chance! Madagascar is a small island off Africa, getting to it with kayaks was a logistical nightmare, it required several big scary injections and you can count the paddling groups that have been there on one hand….I'd never been further than Europe.
The trip was suggested by Sarah Potter, Em Bayne and Jen Orr, three medical students from Newcastle Uni, going out to do their elective there.
The plan was for them to work in the hospitals for two months, and we’d fly out to meet them for a further month. Booking flights was horrific, nobody flying into Madagascar would say they would definitely fly the kayaks, it not being something they’d really dealt with before.
Our biggest hurdle was getting all the safety kit out there, we could fly 30 kilos and 10 kilos of hand luggage. With an average boat coming in at 20+ kilos and paddles at 5 kilos – two sets, splits and paddle bag – that wasn’t looking like a lot! I opted to take my Dragorossi Pintail, weighing in at 16 ½ kilos, it not only made the weight limit easier but was easier to carry once we were there. And of course, it was pink! I took minimal extra kit, a rash vest and my pink Immersion Research shortie, some board shorts and that was me!
We were very lucky to have the help and support of a French guide, Gilles. We also had an advance party in that Sarah, Em and Jen were out there and could have maps printed and plan our first rivers.
Our first river trip was the Lily, a two day expedition. The eight of us and two river guides got on the river, we were excited and our boats heavy with the quantity of kit we were carrying.
The first drop was a bony looking fall, We got out on the bank and scouted it, all but Ted Piper decided to walk round, he looked again from the other bank, put his deck on and boofed over the lip, landing safely at the bottom, easy! Edmond, one of our guides decided to follow him, there was no boof, suddenly our guide was vertically pinned in the first drop, in a very difficult position to rescue and miles away from the nearest medical help. For a second we held our breath, had we just killed our river guide on the first drop? A moment later, he levered himself with shear strength out of the pin and swam out.
The Lily was amazing, our first taste of Madagascan rivers. Everything that could break, did, including two boats, drybags, water filters and fingers! It was a real epic, but amazing none the less. We slept in a harvested rice field, felt the spray of huge waterfalls on our face, particles of gold glittered in the water, stirred up in the rapids. Sparkling blue kingfishers flew across the river as we paddled past and we felt the warmth of hot springs in the edge of the river.
The highlight of the trip for me has to be our first descent of the river Izafo. This wasn’t the first time we’d tried to do a first descent, the day before we’d set off to the Onibe, the road was on the map, we had a get on and get off marked on the GPS.
As we started to drive up the road we knew it wasn’t looking good. Roads in Madagascar were often no more than sand tracks and the monsoons wash them away in the wet seasons. Before we knew it we’d buried our 4x4 in the road. We dug it out with sticks, paddles and banana leaves and kept going but just 10k from the get on, we had to give up.
So we found ourselves at the get on to the Izafo, an excellent grade 4+ and very accessible, flowing parallel to the road. Our drivers Harry and Andre arranged to watch for us whenever they could see the river from the road, they were amazing support and walked in to the river whenever they could to check we were safe.The river was in short sections of rapids, most of which were very easy to inspect from the bank or read and run.
We really enjoyed being on a river for the first time, looking to see if lines would go and writing river guides to help others afterwards.
The first descents we managed whilst we were there were the Izafo and Mananonaka. We did repeats on sections of the Lily, Maningory, Betsiboka and the young guns section of the Ikopa.We also looked at three other sections of rivers on the Onibe, Sakanila and the Manampotsy, but due to water levels or road conditions in August we were unable to do these, they’ll wait for next time!
Our trip would not have been possible without the help and support of Gilles. He spoke to us beforehand via email and arranged drivers and vehicles to pick us up from the airport, his river guides Joe and Edmond, were very useful in sorting us out when it all went wrong – they carried broken boats out of rivers for us, found us ox carts to get back up rivers when it didn’t go, and made fire from wet wood!
Our drivers were all amazing, Harry and Andre especially. We would recommend Andre to anyone going back to Madagascar, He was a fantastic driver with a lovely van and we kept him as a guide when his licence allowed him to drive for us no longer. He speaks Madagazee, French and English fluently, has an in-depth knowledge of the rivers, the water levels and could find a hotel and a restaurant in the middle of nowhere.
Harry was only with us for a short while driving our first 4x4. He was not only a great driver but again spoke good English, and was really supportive and looked after us, making sure we didn’t fall to the usual tourist trappings, checking seals on drinks we bought and finding us safe places to eat.
The biggest thing I’ve taken from our trip was a need to travel and discover by kayak. We had experienced things that we would never have found otherwise. An entire village community sung to us on the riverbank about the path of the river and following the path to church and to god. Three locals came out onto the river to paddle with us in their dugout tree trunk boats. Bats the size of dogs flew over us on the river.
Madagascar was a fantastic country to visit, there is a huge amount of unpaddled water out there and I’m sure we’ll be back.
With thanks to Dragorossi for all their support and tolerance to pink!
Paddlers: Nic Pearce, Ted Piper, Sarah Potter, Alex Hulley, Em Bayne, Dan Heyworth, Jen Orr, Tom Hollis.
Words and photos by Nicola Pearce
Words and photos by Nicola Pearce
When I was asked if I wanted to join an expedition to Madagascar, to be honest, I didn’t exactly jump at the chance! Madagascar is a small island off Africa, getting to it with kayaks was a logistical nightmare, it required several big scary injections and you can count the paddling groups that have been there on one hand….I'd never been further than Europe.
The plan was for them to work in the hospitals for two months, and we’d fly out to meet them for a further month. Booking flights was horrific, nobody flying into Madagascar would say they would definitely fly the kayaks, it not being something they’d really dealt with before.
Our biggest hurdle was getting all the safety kit out there, we could fly 30 kilos and 10 kilos of hand luggage. With an average boat coming in at 20+ kilos and paddles at 5 kilos – two sets, splits and paddle bag – that wasn’t looking like a lot! I opted to take my Dragorossi Pintail, weighing in at 16 ½ kilos, it not only made the weight limit easier but was easier to carry once we were there. And of course, it was pink! I took minimal extra kit, a rash vest and my pink Immersion Research shortie, some board shorts and that was me!
We were very lucky to have the help and support of a French guide, Gilles. We also had an advance party in that Sarah, Em and Jen were out there and could have maps printed and plan our first rivers.
Our first river trip was the Lily, a two day expedition. The eight of us and two river guides got on the river, we were excited and our boats heavy with the quantity of kit we were carrying.
The Lily was amazing, our first taste of Madagascan rivers. Everything that could break, did, including two boats, drybags, water filters and fingers! It was a real epic, but amazing none the less. We slept in a harvested rice field, felt the spray of huge waterfalls on our face, particles of gold glittered in the water, stirred up in the rapids. Sparkling blue kingfishers flew across the river as we paddled past and we felt the warmth of hot springs in the edge of the river.
The highlight of the trip for me has to be our first descent of the river Izafo. This wasn’t the first time we’d tried to do a first descent, the day before we’d set off to the Onibe, the road was on the map, we had a get on and get off marked on the GPS.
As we started to drive up the road we knew it wasn’t looking good. Roads in Madagascar were often no more than sand tracks and the monsoons wash them away in the wet seasons. Before we knew it we’d buried our 4x4 in the road. We dug it out with sticks, paddles and banana leaves and kept going but just 10k from the get on, we had to give up.
So we found ourselves at the get on to the Izafo, an excellent grade 4+ and very accessible, flowing parallel to the road. Our drivers Harry and Andre arranged to watch for us whenever they could see the river from the road, they were amazing support and walked in to the river whenever they could to check we were safe.The river was in short sections of rapids, most of which were very easy to inspect from the bank or read and run.
We really enjoyed being on a river for the first time, looking to see if lines would go and writing river guides to help others afterwards.
The first descents we managed whilst we were there were the Izafo and Mananonaka. We did repeats on sections of the Lily, Maningory, Betsiboka and the young guns section of the Ikopa.We also looked at three other sections of rivers on the Onibe, Sakanila and the Manampotsy, but due to water levels or road conditions in August we were unable to do these, they’ll wait for next time!
Our trip would not have been possible without the help and support of Gilles. He spoke to us beforehand via email and arranged drivers and vehicles to pick us up from the airport, his river guides Joe and Edmond, were very useful in sorting us out when it all went wrong – they carried broken boats out of rivers for us, found us ox carts to get back up rivers when it didn’t go, and made fire from wet wood!
Our drivers were all amazing, Harry and Andre especially. We would recommend Andre to anyone going back to Madagascar, He was a fantastic driver with a lovely van and we kept him as a guide when his licence allowed him to drive for us no longer. He speaks Madagazee, French and English fluently, has an in-depth knowledge of the rivers, the water levels and could find a hotel and a restaurant in the middle of nowhere.
Harry was only with us for a short while driving our first 4x4. He was not only a great driver but again spoke good English, and was really supportive and looked after us, making sure we didn’t fall to the usual tourist trappings, checking seals on drinks we bought and finding us safe places to eat.
The biggest thing I’ve taken from our trip was a need to travel and discover by kayak. We had experienced things that we would never have found otherwise. An entire village community sung to us on the riverbank about the path of the river and following the path to church and to god. Three locals came out onto the river to paddle with us in their dugout tree trunk boats. Bats the size of dogs flew over us on the river.
Madagascar was a fantastic country to visit, there is a huge amount of unpaddled water out there and I’m sure we’ll be back.
With thanks to Dragorossi for all their support and tolerance to pink!
Paddlers: Nic Pearce, Ted Piper, Sarah Potter, Alex Hulley, Em Bayne, Dan Heyworth, Jen Orr, Tom Hollis.
Words and photos by Nicola Pearce
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