PADDLER 102
Words : Sarah Webster # ShePaddles Photos : Sarah Webster except where stated
We were driving back from a pool session when Dasha said to me , “ I would like to organise a multi-day trip .” “ That ’ s a nice idea ,” I said , “ where are you thinking of going ?” Dasha was only 17 and had been paddling with the North Avon Canoe Club for less than a year .
Photo : Dasha paddling down the rapid at Zervynos
PADDLER 102
North Avon Canoe Club paddles …
the rivers of southern
LITHUANIA
Words : Sarah Webster # ShePaddles Photos : Sarah Webster except where stated
We were driving back from a pool session when Dasha said to me , “ I would like to organise a multi-day trip .” “ That ’ s a nice idea ,” I said , “ where are you thinking of going ?” Dasha was only 17 and had been paddling with the North Avon Canoe Club for less than a year .
I pictured her thinking of a paddle down the River Wye , perhaps from Ross on Wye to Monmouth , with an overnight camp on the way . “ Southern Lithuania ”, she said , mentioning a place , Druskininkai , that I had not heard of before . As a native of Belarus , Dasha had visited Druskininkai in the Dzukija National Park on family holidays but had never paddled the rivers . Now , she wanted to take a group of paddlers from the UK to see this beautiful part of Europe and make the club ’ s first descent of four Lithuanian rivers .
Photo : Dasha paddling down the rapid at Zervynos