Felix Unite use Mohawk flat-bottom style canoes that seat two people, together with space for provisions and personal effects, packaged in sealed plastic buckets. These canoes have a low centre of gravity and consequently more stable on the water, a feature essential for inexperienced paddlers! But despite that, my partner (Dave Bell) and I succeeded in capsizing five times during out 1.5 day journey.

The trip started at the Felix Unite base camp at Kotzedrif, situated on the north bank of the Orange River in Namibia, about 10 km downstream from the Vioolsdrif bridge (the border between Namibia and South Africa). From Kotzedrif, we would be paddling some 40 km down the Orange canyon to Sjambokkloof, where our vehicle would be parked, having been relocated by Felix Unite.

Also in the party was Volker Lorenz from the University of Wuerzburg in Germany, and the three of us were researching the provisional route to be taken by the international excursion. Together with two Felix Unite guides, we made up a group of three canoes.

A photogallery follows, which provides a visual account of the trip and a geological description of the spectacular canyon scenery for which the Orange River is famous.

	Landsat TM image of the lower Orange River. The canoe trip started at U (Felix Unite basecamp) and ended 40 km downstream at S (Sjambokkloof). X = Xaminxaip.		The Felix Unite base camp at Kotzedrif. View south across the river, with Karoo shales immediately on the right, which disconformably overlie Nama carbonate strata, seen in the distance.
	View upstream from the Felix Unite base camp at Kotzedrif. Karoo shales line the north bank, with a backdrop of an intrusive dolerite sheet forming the escarpment in the distance. Note the rock weir across the river in the middle distance; several of these are crossed by canoe between Kotzedrif and Modderdrif.		Flat-bottom Mohawk canoes stored at the Felix Unite base camp at Kotzedrif.
	Felix Unite guides (Trev and Sylvia) prepare the canoes at the launch point in front of the base campsite.		Dave Bell (left) and Volker Lorenz (right) size up the canoes that they will propel down the Orange River.
	Closeup of the canoes being prepared by the guides. Dave Bell and I were to be ensconced in the green one, Dave in the rear providing the steering capability, while I was to provide the paddling pace.		Finally on the river; gentle upright folds in massive, thickly bedded, black limestones of the Nama Group build the canyon walls between Kotzedrif and Modderdrif.
	A normal fault displacing Nama strata in the north wall of the canyon, opposite Modderdrif.		Disharmonic fold in Nama limestones, south wall of the Orange River canyon at Modderdrif.
	Campsite on north bank opposite the Helskloof River confluence. Volker waiting expectantly for bar snacks being prepared by guide Sylvia. Nama limestones in the background.		Morning light on the river, from the campsite. East dipping Nama quartzites in the distance.
	View south across the rover up the Helskloof River valley. East-dipping Nama quartzites form a monocline (foreground outcrops and ridges in the distance) along the west boundary of the Neint Nababeep plateau, a graben structure preserving the Nama platform sequence.		The Helskloof monocline is characterised by pronounced slaty clevage and milky quartz veins developed in the Nama quartzites. Granites of the Richtersveld Suite, cut by dark bostonite dykes. South wall of the Orange River canyon at Xaminxaip.
	View west down the Orange River canyon from the Helskloof River confluence, The river cuts a gap through the monocline of Nama strata, exposing pre-Nama basement in the mountains beyond, consisting of alkaline granites and syenites of the Richtersveld igneous province.		Back onto the river after breakfast; Volker (in front) with guide Trev, drifting through a still stretch. Access to the watertight buckets is straightforward, and Volker is going for his camera to shoot back at me!
	Unconformity between overlying Nama quartzites and basement, which here are metavolcanic rocks of the Orange River Group. North wall of the canyon, between Modderdrif and Xaminxaip.		View of the Nama/Orange River Group unconformity in the south wall of the Orange River canyon, between Modderdrif and Xaminxaip.
	South wall of the Orange River Canyon at Xaminxaip, with pale outcrops of leucogranite and syenite cut by dark bostonite dykes		View south, upstream to rapids (dubbed "Entrance Exam" by Felix Unite guides) between Xaminxaip and the Stinkfontein River confluence.
	View north, downstream towards the Stinkfontein River confluence (behind the ridge at the left).		View south, upstream towards the Stinkfontein River confluence. The grassy bank was our lunch stop.
	The lunchstop on the north bank of the Orange provided views across the river to the Sjambokkloof Granite, which is cut by numerous dark bostonite dykes.		End of the canoe trip; a quiet abandoned channel of the river provides a perfect terminus, where boats can be moored and removed onto vehicles for retrun to base camp. View south upstream from the Sjambokkloof River confluence.
	View west across the broad rock pavement swept clean by the Orange in flood. The Sjambokkloof Granite is cut by numerous dark bostonite dykes, which are more resistant to weathering and form several rapids along this section of the canyon.		Aerial photograph of the Sjambokkloof River confluence; the Orange River flows from bottom right to top left. The narrow channel occupied by the Orange at low water is cut by many rapids, where the dykes cross the valley. Flood surges are responsible for the much broader rock pavement that exposes the Sjambokkloog Granite and the intense dyke swarm.
	View from high on the north wall of the Orange River canyon, looking across the river at Sjambokkloof. Numerous dark bostonite dykes can be seen to cut the Sjambokkloof Granite, an A-type leucocratic granite of the Richtersveld Suite.		Sjambok rapids; dark bostonite dykes cut the Sjambokkloof Granite and form resistant barriers to the flow.

Last updated: 2003/02/15