On our arrival in Sulawesi, we set off on our warm up
trip on the Maulu, one of the main rafting runs in
Toraja. It was the perfect warm up – easy kayaking in a
stunning gorge with iguanas jumping into the river in
front of you every few metres. It felt so good to have
arrived, and to be on a river as a group despite not
having previously met two of the team!
Takeout for the Lariang – Amy Elworthy
Putting up the hammocks – Amy Elworthy
the Matallo (we ended up walking out due to rising
river levels and illness within the group), and a twoday New Year’s trip on the Sa’dan rafting run, a lovely
conclusion to our holiday.
The kayaking was fantastic, mostly continuous grade 4,
ranging from the low volume Rongkong (grade 3) up
to the big volume style of the Lariang and Sa’dan.
Definitely enough to keep us entertained, with the
added excitement of having no idea what was around
each corner. It gave me the opportunity to push my
leading skills, knowing that Beth was right behind me if
I got something wrong or chickened out of going first.
I also discovered how the 9R paddles with kit in the
back – the answer is really well. Once I got used to it,
it tracked on line perfectly and punched through holes
with ease. Very happy!
Of course, it is not an expedition
without a bit of carnage
On the Massupu we had been warned about a nasty
rapid which could be difficult to walk around in high
water. On the second day, we reached the entrance to
a gorge and a rather ominous looking horizon line.
Sure enough this was the portage; the river-left side a
disgusting mess of siphons with a tree across the
whole river. The river-right side was a shallow slide
into a pool and then involved paddling through a gap
under a giant boulder to escape.
Massupu portage – Beth Morgan
After the success of our first day we were all excited
for the rest of our trip. Despite a few logistical and
transport issues (including the discovery of the lack of
road to one of the rivers we planned on doing), we
managed plenty of paddling in our three weeks: a
three-day multi-day warm-up on the Massupu, a
couple of hours on the Rongkong rafting run (to
break up a ten-hour truck journey), four days on the
Lariang, two days on an attempted first descent on
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