Run run river

If you hop in your car and head up the N7 from Cape Town through the swartland and over piekenierskloof pass, past the orange orchards of citrusdal, and after a quick stop in Springbok kaffee to look through their ecclectic collection of books and semi-precious stones turn east on the Uppington road and finally, opposite a dusty petrol station in Pofadder, head north again on a bumpy dirt road you will arrive at a borderpost. You will be the only car there. In fact, you'll probably be the only car to arrive there all day. This is Onseepkans.

It is one of the dusty outposts of northwestern South Africa, a few families and farms clustered along the banks of the Orange River, and surrounded by the vast dry kalahari dessert. Look around and you'll see vervet monkeys playing in the trees, a stray chicken or goat being chased by one of the local kids, or a grey heron sitting on a rock midstream....and amongst all this you might be surprised to see a group of barefoot sun-browned river guides lining up inflatable rafts, paddles, and watertight barrels full of food. This is base camp for Gravity Adventures on the Orange River Gorge.

Later that evening as the clients arrive by car from Cape Town or Joburg or Durban and get ready to start their river trip, the guides will get the food ready for a braai and put the final touches on the packing before they settle down to tell a few stories about the magical Gariep river...

But a picture is worth a thousand words so I will let the photos tell the rest of the story -