11 April 2012. Yes I am slow. Yes this was actually the first river we paddled, and yes I had to hold back the photos and hence this article because they were featured in the National Geographic Traveler magazine in Indonesia. Anyway, here’s what happened that day.

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At 05:15 on 13 April I woke up, this time I didn’t even hear the mosque! I felt tired though. The incessant humidity was taking its toll. If we could have slept a few hundred metres higher in altitude we could at least get some relief at night but in Purbalingga it was always the same temperature day and night, never wavering by more than 3 or 4 degrees.

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Welcome to the first article of my trip to Central Java, Indonesia. First and foremost my apologies for taking so long to post this. There have been several excuses, or reasons, depending on your view point. As soon as I got back I had to pack up all my clobber and move into my new spot, so that took a while, as I have a lot of ‘stuff’. I’ve also been super busy at work and then there is my own internal struggle in not being able to start this series with the first river which I did, because some of those photos will appear in the Indonesian National Geographic and cannot be posted anywhere before they’ve gone through a cycle that side. It’s in my nature to want to start the first article with the first river we did, in chronological order, but alas I cannot delay anymore and must fight the demons inside of me and do what I absolutely hate doing. This is similar to the way I never listen to music in my car on odd numbers, except for multiples of 5, and then 7 and 21 are acceptable in my eyes and the exceptions. Seriously. I assure you, I’m otherwise quite normal :-) I’ve also been waiting for photos from Toto, and am still waiting more than 3 months later.

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In November 2009 I was part of a 4 member South African team that was invited to explore the untouched Solok Selatan region of West Sumatra along with 4 other Indonesian paddlers. We managed to paddle several first descents and had a very exciting and successful trip. This year I will visit Indonesia once again, with the same local Indonesian paddlers, but this time alone.

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