Sun Khosi Part 2- the River

The next day dawned bright and early as we tried to sort out how a typical day on the river would go. We started off with hotwater "tatopani" for tea, around 6:30 as the Equator crew and the girls started to get breakfast ready for all of us.


Early morning light on our camp

While some helped out in the Kitchen, more of us opted for a morning Yoga class led by Whitney- one of two yoga instructors we had on the trip. After yoga, brekky, and packing up camp, we were on the water around 10 trying to make up some of the ground we lost from our late start. The rapids started out pretty small, with some good flats in between, giving everyone a nice warm up and a chance to get used to their new equipment. The Nepali Girls were on the paddle raft that day, learning a bit about whitewater and working together as a team.

Having such a large group with such mixed abilities proved challenging on the river- some of the western ladies had only been paddling for a few months, while others had been paddling for more than 20 years! We teamed up in pairs to help everyone make it down the rapids safely, and did our best to figure out a system that first day to work together using everyone skills, making sure people were comfortable. We definitely had a few swims as we attempted to work out some kinks, hitting our first grade 3 rapid No Exit that afternoon. At camp that night, we were all exhausted, but excited as we split up into teams to try and camp set up before dark- putting up tarps, toilet tents, and cooking for 40 people is no easy task, let me tell you!

Day 3 was the first day we got to get the Nepali ladies on the river with us. Because most of these girls had only learned to swim a few weeks ago, we made sure that each Nepali lady had at least two western girls that felt comfortable spotting them, to help them get down the rapids safely.

Sophie Hoskins watching as Sita makes her way down the river


I think it was a bit intimidating at first for the girls, to have so much attention on them- but they soon got used to it and we had to chase them down the rapids!

Hester Hilbank and Malaika Davies offer support to Sambohvi as she charges it

Two of the Nepali ladies- Sita and Sussmita had been learning to paddle for the last 8 months, so they were on hand to offer the girls some encouragement and show them how it was done as well.

Sussmita charging through one of the bigger wavetrains

The day moved slowly with lots of stops for practice eddyhopping and T-rescues. By the end of the day, the girls were looking way more comfortable with the boats, the river and us. There were a few swims, but huge smiles all around.
Hasila loving the Pyranha Ammo

The girls made it through some pretty impressive wave trains- the sun khosi is a big volume, pool drop style river, making it easy to collect the pieces after a swim, and making most of the swims, while still intimidating, relativly low risk. Even with some swims, the girls were more than ready to hit the water again the next day.

Day 4 dawned with two members of team Kiwi feeling sick. Traveling to anther country, long days, changes in diet and living togther in close quarters would take its toll on the trip, with some girls feeling poorly almost everyday, forcing us to change up who was in what raft and which kayak on an almost daily basis. Some Nepalis and Kiwis team up to get the paddle raft down the river

Even two members of team Kiwi down, the girls got some good boating practice in before taking a rest from kayaking the next couple of days. Fortunatley, we had plenty of chocolate and catching up to keep us in good spirits as the sand from the beaches began to creep into everything we owned.

We knew days 5, 6 and 7 would bring some bigger rapids- starting with Huckapoa and heading into the Jungle Corridor, the most continuous section on the Sun Khosi. We all just tried to hone our skills and get to know our group as we got ready for what was to come.