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WANT TO RUN RIVERS?
Join Graeme Addison, the man who
pioneered rafting and kayaking tourism in South Africa and also launched the
whitewater guide training school!
Want to book a river trip?
Or run your own trip?
Go to our exciting online videos!
Or even... find out about rivers on OTHER
PLANETS?
yes indeed...
You've come to the
right place for river info. Find out about
rafting, kayaking and canoeing in South Africa! I've been
running rivers for years and have collected plenty of information about the
many options on our
rivers. I run trips and expeditions myself but can
also advise you and book you with the most skilled and
reliable operators. Ask my advice. And to know about great water
conditions and special offers, join the whitewater watch list!
THE STORY
UNFOLDS...
A couple of decades ago, in remote corners of southern
Africa, gaunt and ragged river-runners were seen to be
experimenting with the concept of river touring by kayak
and raft. We explored unknown rivers and learnt plenty
of lessons. We developed rafts and other equipment for
waterproofing and river camping. The outfit was
called
RIVERMEN, and it is a legend today. For historic photos,
go here.
 It wasn't easy but it
certainly was fun. At the start, people didn't think you
could paddle South African rivers for fun: the sport of
canoeing was only for hardened Duzi competitors whose
goal was to cram as much suffering into one day as they
could. Rafting, kayaking and canoeing for fun became
possible when we identified a number of great scenic
trails on our rivers. As the years have gone by, many
new rivers have been added so that today South Africa is
a great paddling destination. Just take a look at thephoto galleries and
you'll agree.
THE
RIVER TRIBE
Since the RIVERMEN,
the industry has grown to cater for tens of thousands of
thrill seekers and nature lovers every year. I wasn't
alone of course - many brave people helped to set up the
trips. Among them were my sons, chiefly
Corran Addison, who went on to become an Olympic paddler,
took part in the Raid Gauloise, set the record for the
highest waterfall that's ever been run (Tignes in
France, 100ft), and has twice been placed second in the
world kayak freestyle championships. My girlfriend, then
wife, Karen, also contributed imagination and wisdom to
the Rivermen, and is a pretty good paddler too. Sons
Brinyth and Emlyn both stuck with on the river in their
formative years and have never quite recovered. Apart
from these family heroes, there were canoeists like
Deryck Armour, Wayne Nicol and Brian O'Regan, and a
motley collection of wilderness guides, farmers, motor macs, soldiers of
fortune and bywoners (hangers-on) who made it all
happen. I'm telling the story in a book that's being
written now, so hang on yourself.
RISE OF RAFTING
The river routes we
pioneered then are incredibly popular today. Thetrips on this site
reflects just a few. I've kept abreast
of developments, continuing to run trips myself and
working with other trip leaders
and operators when appropriate.
Equipment has
developed too. Apart
from setting up routes such as the Orange River Gorge
and the Senqunyane in Lesotho, I realised the need for a
small inflatable to negotiate our rivers and came up
with the concept of the Croc (originally called the Krokodil) two-seater raft. This is the most widely used
boat on our rivers today though unfortunately I was
stupid enough never to get a patent. A whole local
industry of boat-building and accessories such as
wetbags, lifejackets and helmets, has come into being.
The other thing
we did was launch the Whitewater Training School which
trained hundreds of river guides, as well as firemen and
safety officers for canoe clubs. Today much of the
training is handled by the APA (African Paddling
Association) which I helped to found and run in the
guise of SARA (South African Rivers Association).
WRITING &
ADVENTURE
 As
a result of what we learnt about equipment and
techniques, I've written two books on
rafting technique and the
world's rivers. Both are
available through Amazon.com and both have been
translated into other languages including Czech, German
and French - at least so I'm told because the publishers
haven't bothered to inform me. I get little cheques,
that's all. But writing books is pretty good for the
reputation and for the soul, so I do it. And am busy
with two others right now - my memoirs as well as a work
on The River of the Crater(the Vaal River in the Vredefort Dome).
The latter is a fascinating project because the Dome is
the world's oldest and largest crater, thought to have
been caused by
an asteroid impact way back 2000 million years ago. This area has
been central to South African history and the crater
blast was what buried and preserved the gold on which
the country's mineral wealth is built.
RIVERS ON OTHER
PLANETS?
Well, yes. Sooner or
later we'll land on Europa or Callisto, moons of Jupiter
which are thought to have water under their icy
surfaces. Ice-tunnelling is one of the crazier varieties
of river sport on the Earth today, so why not do it on
strange and exotic worlds? I hope to cover the story of
the first under-ice whitewater expedition on Europa in
my
blog. But seriously, I am fascinated by planetary
science, which is why I chose to live in the Vredefort
Dome. Here II sometimes conduct downriver canoe tours,
talking about the surrounding weird crater landscape as
we float along.
RELAX BY THE RIVER
I live in the heart
of the Dome at Otters' Haunt,
in Parys, a guest house and bush camp run by Karen. Our backyard is
the picturesque and exciting Vaal. Daily we wake up to
the sound of veld birds, ducks and fish eagles. And
every day finds us paddling the river, or cyling,
running or mountain hiking in the Bergland, the rim of
the crater which looms over the river. If you need to
chill out, or better still, run rapids then chill out,
visit us.
THE OTHER ONE
I
was a Professor of Communication during the 1990s and
have trained young journalists for a couple of decades,
so writing comes naturally. This is the "other" Graeme;
and some people will tell me there's a hooligan river
guide by the same name. Currently I specialise in
science and technology journalism and book publishing,
with five books to my name chiefly on innovations that
have changed the business landscape. My first love
remains adventure and the outdoors, and I'll be happy to
introduce you to all the things we love to do out there
on the winding water highway.
ADVISORIES
Breeze through the site then contact me. I'll tell you
what's best, give you a run-down on the latest river
conditions and levels, and advise on picking the right
trip for your level of fitness or passion for
white-knuckle stuff. You don't have to scare yourself
shirtless (though you can if you like!). There are great
canoeing trails on mild waters, and there are many rafting trips that are exciting
without being death-defying. So get hold of me!
You can also
sign on to my
WHITEWATER WATCH LIST for
advisories!
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