By Niamh Stack and Dave Burne

Niamh and Dave

Photos: Dave Burne and Nick Roberts

In 2011 a group of six kayakers from the UK completed a successful expedition to explore the white water in Sri Lanka. There had been a couple of previous trips to the island before, but this one was the first to be held in August, during the heart of the monsoon.

In 2012, Niamh Stack gave us a recap of the expedition and takes a look back as some of the thoughts and descriptions written while on the Pearl of the Indian Ocean…

The expedition saw the team searching out rivers in the Southern Central mountain range. Some rivers, such as the world-class Kokmole Oya, had seen previous descents. However, there is still so much to discover on the island, and the expedition claimed numerous first descents.

Another primary aim of the expedition, though, was to leave a lasting legacy in Sri Lanka. This was achieved with the help of Borderlands, a rafting and outdoor education company. As kayakers planning to explore the country with very little prior information, it was a great help to have someone on the ground to help us with the initial planning.

Nine years on and Dave works as a GP for the NHS in the Dee Valley and married Niamh in 2018 and now known as Dave Stack. During the marriage ceremony, Dave and Niamh flipped a coin at the alter to see who’s name we stuck with – Niamh won!

Riding the tears of Buddha – Sri Lanka – an expedition with a difference

The expedition saw the team searching out rivers in the Southern Central mountain range. Some rivers, such as the world-class Kokmole Oya, had seen previous descents. However, there is still so much to discover on the island and the expedition claimed numerous first descents.

I was one of the six kayakers from the UK who decided to plan an expedition to Sri Lanka, chosen for its mountains, climate and lack of kayak exploration so far. The news of a fledgling outdoor community that we felt we may be able to help was the final attraction, so we got hold of Borderlands. Over a Skype conversation with Wade (the Borderlands director), in the plush base camp longhouse surrounded by chilled out tunes, a happy crowd and beautiful jungle, we became very excited to start this partnership.

As kayakers planning to explore the country with very little prior information, it was of great help to have someone on the ground to help us with initial planning. This continued with airport pickup from a smiling Mahesh (driver, raft guide, chief scout, friend and all round top guy) to a meeting with the Educational Secretary of UNESCO, the current General Secretary of the National Association of Canoe and Kayak Sri Lanka who backed us on our expedition. Wade also arranged for Chanaka, a local with lots of river knowledge to assist with our initial findings. We then headed to Kitugala, Wade’s beautiful setup in the jungle for some warm ups on the lovely local runs.

“Not only are we exploring the rivers in the country, but we have also been working closely with the rafting and outdoor education company Borderlands to try and develop the kayaking scene in Sri Lanka. This has become of increasing importance with the news that Borderlands main rafting river, the Kelani, is to be dammed.” 

Yearning for more adventure we loaded the distinctive Borderlands truck and with Mahesh behind the wheel we set out on our travels. And what treasures did we find…

We started in the upper Sitawaka region, a beautiful unexplored area with a set of seven magnificent waterfalls spread up the mountainside. We managed to reach the bottom one, which was runnable! After a not so quick scramble up to halfway with a boat, we were offered an exhilarating ride back down with incredible photos! For an exploration trip it was a surprise to paddle every day. On top of receiving the friendliest hospitality from the people in this area, it was a great start to the trip.

Dave described the nature of the rivers of the headwaters of the Sitawaka, “Here we found lots of smooth bedrock slides and even more boulder garden fun. The rivers can rise and fall fast, which has taken some time to get used to (think two foot rise and fall whilst on a dry day run, and the water colour turning from clear to orange in a matter of minutes). August is the run off of the monsoon for the south west of the country (where the Central Highlands are), so there is a lot of water about (a nightmare for drying out kit!). The rain showers are quite intense, but weirdly really localised. Much more so than expected.

“Despite one pretty epic day getting stuck in the jungle after a long leech infested portage, everything has so far(!) been as efficient as could be hoped. Our big 4×4 truck and nails driver have been getting us everywhere we need! Cheers Mahesh!”

With clothes and us starting to smell, it was much appreciated to come back to the chilled haven of Kitugala, home! We recuperated, replenished, and organised our plans for the next few days. This time we headed north of Kitugala with one of Borderlands raft guides and a developing kayaker. After an interesting night sleeping in a tent shaped puddle we found the Goorook Oya, a world-class river of Grade IV-V rapids, which turned out to be a first descent.

Dave describes  the build up to the Goorook Oya, “We left our base at Borderlands ready for our next exploration after going to the Perihara ‘Festival of Lights’. This takes place in Kandy, where a huge procession of musicians, dancers, fire spinners and of course, 85 elephants in fairy lights! The major reason for the festival is to parade Buddha’s tooth. It is said that this tooth was pulled out and made Buddha cry, so signifies the start of the monsoon season in the north of the country.

“The suggestion of more rain is just what we needed to top up the rivers in Sri Lanka, so we were in high spirits. Unfortunately, after scouting a few dry riverbeds, we were beginning to worry that Buddha wasn’t crying hard enough. This all changed the evening after we scouted the Goorook Oya River. It looked good to go from the road and as we camped near the put in, the dark clouds gathered. It was only then that we realised the tent we’d borrowed from Borderlands was one that was marked for repair. Error!

“We emerged in the morning soaked to the skin, but buzzing with anticipation. We weren’t disappointed! Boofs, flares, grinds and cheers made this a birthday for Tom to remember and a river not to be missed if you ever find yourself in Sri Lanka.

“This world-class (probably) first descent was made even more special because for the first time in any of our paddling careers it was a first descent with a team member from the host country. Thilack, born in the village of Kitugala near the Kelani River, paddled his third ever river with us. And nailed it!”

This was a fantastic achievement and highlight of the expedition for us, particularly to be done with a local boy. Following this we continued to explore the area and ran two sections of equally top standard, above and below the impressive St. Clairs falls on the Kotmale River. Things weren’t always rosy in Sri Lanka, and the need for energy to drive Sri Lanka’s economy often gave the expedition a set back, but as Dave describes, this time we were fortunate, “Dam projects are becoming an increasing problem for us searching for new rivers to paddle. More than once we have arrived at one, which looks, from the maps to have a good catchment, good gradient and good road access, but a mini hydro project has thwarted our plans.

“One river we planned to paddle was the Kotmale Oya. Parts of it have previously been paddled by a group of Russians. This was before the massive dam project, which is currently very near to completion. Fortunately we managed to get there before they completely stopped the flow. Who knows, this could be a second and last descent!

To help give a little of what Borderlands had given to us we assisted with one of their corporate programmes. We were impressed by how smoothly the weekend ran and really enjoyed being part of it. When the clients had left we spent a couple of days running some sessions for the raft guides showing them different techniques and safety methods. One of the major things we tried to do though was to inspire the locals to view kayaking as a hobby, not just a job. We really want to change the mentality of the staff to playing the river, not just surviving the rapids.

We also managed to help Borderlands out directly. Again the kayaking and safety sessions, but also in our recommendations of potential alternative rafting runs, which may be required when the Kelani River (Borderlands current base) is dammed (building has not started yet).

“Our mission, since we’ve chosen to accept it, is to try and find a suitable river for Borderlands to move to. The first few days of our expedition were spent with Sri Lankan kayakers on rivers that had previously been run (if rarely!). The lower Sitawaka seems to have potential as a rafting run a step up from the current norm.”

We were then off exploring again. This time it was the Kelengamu, which provided us with more world-class water. With Sri Lanka providing us with ‘liquid gems’ (as Wade likes to call them) time after time, an incredible driver and so many successful days we were starting to worry the trip was turning into a holiday.

The Kelengamu, a tributary of the Kelani, seemed super steep on the map, but we knew the massive Laxapana waterfall soaked up a large portion of that. How much though, we couldn’t tell. With heavy rain in the valley, we decided to hit the gamble button.

Unfortunately the gamble did not pay off. Four hours of walking to, through and around a river left us exhausted and made us remember how lucky we’ve been to find the amount of clean classics we had done so far. It was like canyoning… but with awkward heavy boats.

After putting in at the Mahoosive waterfall our portage fest (helped by yet another mini-hydro project) around the next 4km left us leech coated, aching and knackered, but also feeling content that we were satisfying our mission to explore Sri Lanka’s rivers. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

After our interesting previous day and with limited time left, some of us were dubious about returning to the same unsatisfying river. But with monsoon rains pouring all night long the majority were confident that the river could turn a corner into another Sri Lankan classic. And guess what… it did!

We had to work hard for this one, but an intense four hours of continuous grade 3-4 grew and grew with the addition of numerous pumping tributaries, ending in clean grade 4-5 boulder garden excitement.

And the best bit about the whole river? It flowed straight into the tonking Upper Kelani, then through our home run (the rafting section) and it was just a 10-metre walk to the cold beers in the fridge back at Borderlands base! We didn’t know it at the time, but for this first descent, the effort was well worth the reward!

Another weekend between exploring we returned to base to run some kayak clinics for some of the Borderlands staff as well as be stars of a Sri Lankan TV programme. It was fantastic to leave a bit of knowledge and passion for the sport and also be celebrities for the day! As Dave suggests, perhaps the next first descents we hear about in Sri Lanka will be by a group of Sri Lankan boaters?

“The only real disappointment we’ve had is that we missed high flows in a little creek near to the Borderlands camp. A scouting mission showed us a clean 30-foot park and huck with some more slides downstream, some nice, others a little on the dirty side!

This super sweet little gem we’ll have to leave for a future expedition to conquer. Or who knows, with the coaching sessions we’ve provided for safety kayakers at Borderlands maybe it will be a Sri Lankan who claims this first descent! Let’s hope!”

We continued to succeed in finding incredible ‘liquid gems’, many of which were first descents. We finished the trip with a wrap up evening organised by Wade, which included a short film premier and little presentation from us. The idea of this was to show various people we had met along the way what their help allowed us to achieve, bring together lots of locals with an interest in the outdoors, and have a celebratory night out!

All the work Wade and the Borderlands team put in really enhanced our experience and helped us get the most out of our stay. We were very grateful and very much enjoyed working with the crew.

Dave sums up how we felt about the country, it was almost as if it was itching to be explored, “Our last week in Si Lanka has been just as busy as the first. The exploration has continued and the quality rivers have kept flowing. Convenient rainfall has come at the right time and in the right places, it is almost as if the country is guiding us up the right valleys and making sure we make the right choices to get the maximum possible boating done with our limited time. Life is more than alright right now!” Sri Lanka – what a place! Be sure to get in touch if you want more information on this beautiful island – there is still so much more potential to be discovered…