(Continued from Part Two)
Despite feeling a complete sense of isolation and finding a camp site where you can't possibly be found by the locals, within 30 minutes of stopping for the night there will invariably be a crowd of young children gathered, curiously inspecting the newly arrived freaks. Our ledge was no different, and we were soon surrounded by inquisitive children eager to play with our kit.
The local children imitating the newly arrived freaks.
After waking up to find the same group of small children watching us, we packed and beat a hasty retreat to the solitude of the river. Some of the hardest rapids on the Thuli Beri lie below the long Awulgurta portage (unless of course you paddle the Awulgurta section), and after setting off on what we anticipated may be our last day, we were soon forced out to inspect a handful of rapids. A few kilometres later, the river began to narrow and we found ourselves in a gorge faced with a series of challenging rapids and the occasional sieve requiring a portage. Once out of the gorge, the whitewater continued, never easing to below grade 4.
Andy in one of the harder rapids below the Awulgurta portage.
As the rapids kept coming, we kept going. Unsure of how much ground we were covering, we relished each rapid we came up against, and with the exception of a boulder choke, there were no more portages. The river was now continuous IV/IV+, with very little let up between the harder sections. We pressed on, savouring the quality of the rapids, only pausing long enough to find lines in the harder rapids. After a few hours the river began to ease, gradually becoming continuous III rather than IV/IV+ and we came across more buildings and eventually a village.
Andy revelling in the continuous IV/IV+ whitewater.
The river, however, held one final surprise as it dropped into one last short gorge. After several kilometres of easier whitewater we had begun to wind down, switching our minds off and thinking instead about congratulating ourselves on finishing the Thuli Beri. We were quickly reminded of the power of the river, as we made our way through the final rapids in a somewhat less than stylish manner! Now, we really could relax and enjoy our surroundings, the river eased to grade III once more, and we soon found a lovely grassy terrace to camp on.
Our final campsite on the Thuli Beri. George dries his wadge of cash after letting it get slightly wet during the day.
All that remained was the paddle out. We were soon at the confluence with the Sani Beri, and making our way down the 58km of flat and occasional grade II rapid to Devisthal. From here there is a bus out to the main road, but unfortunately for us we believed the guidebook ("The Beri improves greatly below here") and opted to paddle out the remaining 140km. Sadly the Beri didn't improve greatly, we didn't find any fantastic grade III whitewater, and nor did we come across any spectacular gorges. Instead we endured 3 long days of flat water, paddling past communities washing their babies arses on the beaches. Fortunately this didn't detract from just how incredible our 4 days on the Thuli Beri had been - it truly is a fantastic run, in a spectacular setting with world class whitewater. A must for any whitewater paddler.
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