Diary

31st July

Set off downriver after an age of packing all the food onto the pak-canoe and a catamaran inflatable raft. We wound downstream between dark forested mountains, speeding over small, white water rapids from time to time.Saw a few ospreys and honey buzzards swooping around but no sign of the bear that left huge tracks close to last night's campsite.

1st August

A day of riding the rapids on the iver today. Sergei, the guide and I were in the canoe and for most of the time we steered it pretty well, though we did scrape against rocks from to time. We just thought we had got into our stride when disaster struck. We scooted through a gap between two large rocks and hit a huge boulder in the middle of the river. We spun side on to the current and the boat started to fill up with water. My bag with my passport started to float away and, in trying to get it, I fell in and got swept along with the current until I managed to swim to shore. Got the passport bag and Sergei hauled the canoe safely off the rock.

4th August

Tiger tracks two days ago a little way behind our camp. THe were the size of my hand and dented quite deeply into the mud. Sergei reckons they belong to a large male, maybe 2.5 metres long. Canoeing down the river's getting easier as the rain made the water level rise. We had to stop twice to carry the boat past waterfalls and there are still more rapids to negotiate.

5th August

Yesterday evening just before video phoning, we climbed the ridge across the river from our camp. We scrambled up a steep scree slope covered with strange fuzzy lichen. Rubble kept falling and a couple of times we set off mini landslides. I tried to cut up through some forest but nearly grabbed a snake as I was feeling around for handholds. It was a poisonous type we've come across before- a lucky escape. At the top, the view was truly breath taking- mountain peaks covered with forest in every direction and our camp just a little dot by the river far below. Coming down again was fun and quick; we skidded down grabbing trees for handholds.
More progress down river- there's a noticeable slope to the water on some of the whitewater sections, but mostly the canoeing is getting easier as more streams have joined swelling the river considerably.

6th August

Climbed mountain peak behind camp - straight up through forest. But: we came down the wrong ridge! We only realised when we saw a view of a valley we didn't recognise. Slight panic as we only had 2 chocolate bars for food and one bottle of water. Lots of bear tracks plus something in the bushes nearby- perhaps a deer. We got down to a stream and followed it to the main river. By sheer fluke we had done a circle right back to our camp!

7th August

Weather setting in with drizzle and heavy rain. Sergei and I scouted on foot upriver but found hut with poachers(?) Luckily they didn't see us. Sneaked back to camp, hurriedly packed up and set off down-river. We made 7km then decided to make camp as the weather looked like it was going to worsen.

8th August

It poured all day... well, 20 hours continuously. We all sat huddled under a tarpaulin and watched the river rise. In the ealy evening it stopped raining so I went for a walk up some dried up stream-beds near to the camp. There were lots of deer and wild boar tracks- and one TIGER paw print. With the amount he river has risen I think we will have a very fast canoe tomorrow.