Day 47: From Sea to Sea Maliuc to The Black Sea (50km) A couple of months ago, the thought of kayaking 40km would’ve sent me into an uncontrollable panic that would’ve required medical attention. Today, the final stretch to the Black Sea is so appetizing that I almost forwent breakfast so that I could reach quicker. I […]
Day 46: Follow, follow the sun Isaccea to Maliuc (60km) I had been told to meet the police back down at the river at 8am to “make sure I left Isaccea”. I arrived shortly before them, but when they did, they opened the station and helped carry the kayak down to the river. The benefit of keeping the […]
Day 45: What a difference a day makes Bralai to Isaccea (68km) Checking out of the hotel, I was accused of having four beers the night before. Initially, I was adamant that I didn’t have them, but as the receptionist kept asking, I began to doubt myself. Perhaps in my zombiefied state, I had ordered, consumed and […]
Day 44: Wake me up when it’s all over Macasu to Braila (59km) Let’s start with the positives from today; dinner was pretty good. That is all. Yesterday’s weather wasn’t actually as bad as I’d feared it would be, today’s certainly was. It was a real struggle to leave the lodge and head back to the river, the […]
Day 43: Drenched, drained and dreaming of home Fetesti to Macasu (70km) The forecast for today was awful. High winds and rain were predicted for the entire day, although tomorrow is predicted to be even worse, so we ploughed on. Our first task was to get back to the river, for this, we would need a taxi. […]
Day 42: There’s a storm coming, Mr Brenkel Silistra to Fetesti (75km) Despite the left hand side of the river being Romania since day 29, I was still yet to spend a night in country. With Bulgaria fading away, the river became completely surrounded by Romania and my policy of avoiding the country would have to change. […]
Day 41: About a mile, mile and a half Tutrakan to Silistra (57km) I wasn’t entirely sure if breakfast was included with the hotel or not, but keen to get going early, I decided to forgo it and instead ate some of my supplies. The breakfasts since leaving the UK have been substandard anyway, so I wasn’t […]
Day 40: Another sunny day Ruse to Tutrakan (63km) After a very tough stretch and without a day off, the guys decided to take it easy this morning. I was feeling good and keen to make progress while the weather was good, so again, I was off on my own. Silistra, the last stop in Bulgaria, […]
Day 39: 500km of River Svishtov to Ruse (55km) We awoke at sunrise, my second least favourite time of day to wake up (second only to before sunrise) and were on the river shortly afterwards. I joked to the guys that it was getting increasingly easier to pack the kayak each morning, that I was sure someone must […]
Day 38: The real low point Marker 620 to Svishtov (70km) The aim for today was to reach the town of Shishtov around 70km away, leaving only 55km into Ruse tomorrow. It was another early start on the river. Our routine tends to be, Hugo and Toby wake up around sunrise, start to pack up and after a […]