Entries about paddle nepal

Teo wanted to do a survival course as we were meant to spend a month in the jungle in Ecuador but we never got there.... So for his birthday we decided to try and see if we could organise a day out where we would be taught the essentials of survival skills.... We were lucky to find Jeff (www.ozarkmountainpreparedness.com) who does all sorts of courses on survival and outdoor cooking and who managed to do a custom course for us and the kids....

He moved to the Ozarks 2 years ago from Utah where he owned a gun shop and prior to that was a fire-fighter for 6 years .... so he was well equipped. His house is in the middle of 22 acres of woods and the perfect setting for the course.

So the kids learnt what to do if they get lost:

1- don't panic, relax and do not go from where you are without indicating the way you went so the rescue team cam work easier... keep busy and do not sulk!!!!

2- get a fire going to prove to yourself that you can take control of the environment around you... this is good for the morale, will keep you warm, will be able to cook whatever you catch, will enable you to signal and will keep predators away.... he taught us the oild fashion way (flint and metal)and some other stuff too... he taught the kids the basics of what you need for a fire... (fuel, heat and oxygen)

3- get water.. here he showed us where to find the water around you and how to purify it....

4- make your shelter ... here we made a lean to shelter but he also had some examples of what other teams have made like raised shelters, winter shelters etc...

5- get some food. This was great as we rummaged through the woods finding plants to eat... we sampled some and we can now recognise them which is fun...

The kids enjoyed the course greatly and so did we as it was a nice family day out.... we might come back for some shooting practise as Jerry has a lot of guns and I would love to do target shooting! I kind of fancy the outdoor cooking too....

and once again

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDS!!!!!!

Today we met up with Simon and the kids and Moit and Angelee for our 5 days rafting on the Lower Gandaki section....
For the trip we have 2 people rafts and 1 gear raft, with a total of 6 guides.... who will be 2 in the safety kayaks (go ahead of the group to see if there are issues with rapids ), 1 on the gear raft, 2 on 1 people raft and the last one in the last people raft.
We set off from the hotel and picked up Angelee and Mohit who just flew in from Khatmandu... and then set off on our 4 hours bus trip to the start of the raft.
There we got all the rafts ready and the kids were playing by the river...

This section is not frequently paddled so the trip is custom made. One guide had been there about 2 years ago, and Mohit about 10!!!
We are going to camp every night on the beach and the guides will be doing the snacks and diner and breakfast and lunch... we only have to do our own tents and wash our plates... easy!!!!
The section is a grade 3....well only on day 4 we will be seeing some grade 3 rapids, the rest of the time it is grade 1 and 2...
So we set off on our journey... the guide on my raft is Bruce and I am with Teo, William, Angelee and Moit. Simon is on the other raft with Anna, Hayden, Ed and 2 guides.
The views are awesome and the paddling pretty easy until the grade 3 rapids.. the guides are mega hot on safety so each of the 3 rapids we come across on day 4 they stop and check it out before taking us through it...
The camping is great even though I would have preferred a nice soft bed.. but the sand is not too bad.. we ended up only putting the top cover of the tent as it was too hot and the kids slept outside one night too...

Every day we had a nice hour lunch.. and then stopped at the camp at around 4... the kids would play around and we had tea and pop corn .. then diner at about 7ish and then bedtime for 8....
We saw a massive snake crawl on the bank so we assumed it must have crossed the river .. which filled the kids with dread as they kept jumping in and out all the time....
We saw monkeys and kingfishers and more monkeys...
Every night we had the visit of the local people and it was nice to see them ... we were like attraction to them .. we got them to try pop corn and would give them the leftovers after the meals...

We had lots of fun on the raft ... jumping in, back flips, front flips balance games and all... just very good fun...
We also had a fire every might and played card games non stop... we learnt 3 more games, bullshit and noses and high jack.... very fun!
I have attached some photos but the camera ran out after 2 days so I am awaiting for Simon and Mohit photos....