Adrian Tregoning

This is first article in a series of 3 documenting the 2010 Fluid Team trip on the Mzimvubu River here in South Africa. This article will feature days 1 and 2, second one only day 3 and the final article days 4 and 5. It will be mostly of a photographic nature with words being thrown in to establish the setting, set the scene and provide some entertainment.

I slept the entire night on top of my Therm-A-Rest. Only early in the morning did I feel a little cold but I never even touched my sleeping bag. That was the first time I’d camped on a river trip in such warm conditions. There were now some clouds around and it almost looked as if it would rain. We packed up all of our gear and loaded the boats again. Luke was in his medium Fluid Solo and I was still in my usual large. It’s amazing how much stuff you can actually fit into those boats. We had packed in, correction, Luke especially had packed in a serious amount of luxuries (even two plastic glasses for our wine) and we weren’t even noticing it. As we were getting ready to leave, two fishermen came from the other side of the river. They greeted us cheerfully from the other side and went about their business as if we were nothing unusual. We headed off and began our days’ paddle.