Thukela – Source to Sea – Phase 1

The Thukela River, meaning ‘that which startles,’ is the second largest river in South Africa. It also boasts an immensely high waterfall and rapids in the lower reaches that offer world-class white water paddling. The Thukela Source-to-Sea expedition aimed to do just that in two phases. It would be misleading, however, to suggest that the expedition ‘started’ on the 7^th of January. Those who participated in it will confirm that there were many hours spent through 2023 converting useless K1 or K2 paddlers (me included) into paddlers of some use in flat water and where there are minor rapids. Add to this boat management and exposure to other kinds of boats like crocs and plastic kayaks.

The first phase of the Thukela source to sea has just taken place successfully. We departed on the 7^th of January to Witsieshoek where we spent the night. We left early the following morning to be shuttled up to the Sentinel car park by 4×4 due to the state of the road. We then hiked up to Mont-aux-Sources via the chain ladders to the source of the Thukela River. On the flanks of this mountain at around 3200m, a spring emerges that gives birth to the stream of the Thukela. We followed this stream down to the edge of the Drakensberg escarpment, known as the Amphitheatre. Here, having grown surprisingly quickly and benefited from good recent rains, it plunges down to the Royal Natal Park valley in a number of huge leaps. Cumulatively, this is said to be the highest waterfall in the world. Whatever the facts may be, this is a magnificent sight.

After enjoying this view, we headed down to the Sentinel Car Park via the gulley descent, and then took a path that cut down into the beautiful Royal Natal Park. Our overnight spot was the Mahai camp, where we had access to showers and limited cover as the rainy weather settled in that evening. We had some tired bodies and sore knees and ankles after a 32km day of hiking, with a few members of our team covering a few more kilometers than needed and drifting off route in their haste to get to the camp.

Day two involved some exciting paddling in inflatable crocs from Royal Natal to the bridge under the main road beyond Hlalanathi resort. It is here that we transitioned into K2s for the flat water sections. We ended up camping on the edge of the Woodstock dam having covered a good 37km.

Day three involved more flatwater paddling on Woodstock and Driel dams and the stretch of fast flat water on the Thukela to Bergville. We paddled in the rain initially, but this cleared by late morning. We got to Bergville caravan park around midday, having covered 37km. I was thankful for this break, given my struggles with the ‘dead-leg’ condition I get in these boats. This also gave me time to investigate our options regarding portaging around the Spieonkop dam wall on our next paddle leg with both Ezemvelo and Umgeni Water. This effort proved unsuccessful with the usual bureaucratic frustrations.

Day four started with a 15km stretch in inflatable crocs. It is here where our group was introduced to big white water. We negotiated three big grade three rapids that capsized each croc at least once. At the upper end of Spioenkop we transitioned into K2s and covered the 14km of dam flat water before loading up and transporting to Mseni to bypass the dam wall. We then paddled through to Swartkops cottage. This beautiful place was where we had wors rolls and cake to celebrate Maria’s birthday. We had covered a good 42km, and everyone enjoyed a good rest.

Day five started with 20 kilometres of fast flatwater before transitioning to Crocs at the start of a white water section at Rolling M Ranch. Our first rapid was big, and caused some excitement. The following rapid led towards a grade 5 rapid that we ultimately portaged. This is where the entire volume of the Thukela is channelled through a narrow rocky gorge, where it becomes immensely powerful. Thereafter, we enjoyed some really fun rapids for another 3 or 4 km before getting to another transition point. It was then K2s all the way to Colenso. Having covered 55km, we were effectively a day ahead, and we used the following day to scout the less-known Harts Hill Falls section while the rest of the team rested. We are most grateful to the orphanage in Colenso for accommodating us for three nights here.

Day seven began with two groups. The first group included those up to the challenge of paddling and portaging what we believed to be a challenging section, while the second group included those who preferred to walk this section. Ultimately, the section proved more straightforward than I thought, and both groups finished by midday. This also meant that it was an option for anyone to do this section early the following morning. The Harts Hill Falls section is impressive. It has the Harts Hill Falls, a 12m high waterfall stretching right across a wide 250m section of the Thukela, broken only by an island towards the centre. It also has the thunderous ‘Little Augrabies’ whose presence is announced by sound and by the mist driven into the air by the Thukela being channelled through a massive rocky chasm. It is considered unrunnable, and these river features were obviously portaged.

This section also schooled me somewhat, as I failed to roll effectively when I was knocked over in a rapid above an unforgiving 3m waterfall. My second attempted to roll caused my knee to slip out from the kayak knee brace, and I had to abort, swimming rapidly to the safety of a reed island, only to have the boat and paddle swept away. Fortunately, we located both later, but this did little to temper my annoyance with this incident.

Day eight primarily involved the classic white water stretch from Peter’s Drift to Zingela Lodge. This 32 km section was at medium-high flow, resulting in the call to use a 6 and an 8-man raft instead of the 2-man crocs. The action started almost immediately with two or three crew flung from the 6-man in the section above the infamous ‘Rocky Horror’ rapid. A little later, our 8-man raft was flipped like a coin in a massive ‘hole’ that we ought to have avoided, with every crew member scattered in different directions in a fast-flowing stretch of river. This caused some commotion, of course, but each member was safely returned to the raft, even if most of us were now minus a shoe.

What followed was essentially world-class rafting with some seriously big features that tossed the rafts to and fro. Our two support kayakers were excellent in negotiating this water, and I am particularly proud of Chris Dendrinos’ development as a paddler in the last while. We arrived at Zingela late that afternoon, relieved to be able to sleep comfortably in upgraded accommodation supplied to us by the Zingela staff. Add to this a braai and the presence of our headmaster and family members, and we have an atmosphere suited to the closure of a successful expedition.

But not quite……the following morning, we paddled the last 12 km to where we would have 2×4 vehicle access. As such, it is a more suitable starting point for phase 2 of this expedition. We look forward to that starting on the 20^th of March. I am proud of how positively each pupil approached this expedition. Some had to deal with very real fear, while others dealt more with their fatigue. All-in-all, this is a great learning experience and what we value at Treverton.

I am thankful for the assistance we received from numerous people. Chris Nowlan served us superbly as our logistics expert. We are grateful for the guidance from Gustav of Itchyfeet, his right-hand man Kenny, and Gustav’s dad (transport). We are also thankful for Cameron Stork’s assistance in the challenging Thukela Canyon section at medium-high level. We are grateful for the permission we received from various landowners. Hennie van der Cloff (Witsieshoek), Craig van Rensburg (Hlalanathi), Lester Vickers (Woodstock dam region), Jannes Olivier, Glynn Trodd, Lionel Zunkel, Peter Calverly and Noel (Colenso Orphanage) were all helpful in this regard, whether we ended up using their land or not. We are also thankful for our support from Treverton, where our safety was a matter of prayer. We are also grateful for the support from families, both our own and those of each pupil who was part of this experience, for without their enthusiasm and commitment to this experience, it would not have happened.

Mr Derek Brown,