The Tradouw River lies dry and asleep for much of the year just outside of the quaint little town of Barrydale. The region nestles between the semi-arid Klein Karoo and the beautiful and fertile valley of the Tradouw. Daily summer temperatures of above 40 degrees Celsius and an annual rainfall of less than 300mm per annum means this river almost never flows. To make matters slightly more complex is the fact that it sits about 270km away from Cape Town, so driving there after some rain is a gamble. Luckily it comes to life every now and then. (There were so many good photos I had to condense them somewhat, but have split the remainder over two parts – enjoy.)
The days leading up to our Saturday of paddling saw a lot of rain fall. Over 100mm within 24 hours on the Wednesday I think it was. Then I believe the Thursday also got a little action with nothing on the Friday. This made us a little worried but Leon called up a spot outside of Barrydale and they said a lot of water was still around, and we also knew that the one road had been closed for a bit, something which could impact our drive. In the end the road opened up on the Friday at midday and Saturday morning early we were on our way. Stefano Sessa and Leon Pieters met up at my house and off we went, hooking up in Worcester with Corné van Daalen who would drive home later that evening, whereas the rest of us would be staying at the backpackers. More than 100mm of rain, over one third of the entire annual rainfall within 2 days! The section is 6.5km long, and drops 126m, giving an average gradient of 19.4 m/km, quite decent.
We left Stefano’s car somewhere near the bottom and Corné’s at the top. The river looked like a decent flow, a touch higher than most of the photos I’d seen. We were stoked, higher could be potentially problematic, as none of us had run the section before and we knew there was one mandatory portage of a decent sized waterfall landing into the back of a rock, and the rock has a large siphon underneath it too – nasty.
View at the top of the gorge. 
Stefano Sessa (left) and Leon Pieters (right) doing some real life foam boating. 
Adrian Tregoning (me) on the first drop. Photo by Leon Pieters. 
Leon Pieters checking out the left line of the top drop as well.
After a 10 minute walk we arrived at the first drop, a clean one of about 3m, with a small shelf below. Everything went off smoothly, and Leon also fired up the line river left of it, which looked pretty cool. Downstream was a narrow rapid and then small stuff before a decent horizon line, which we scouted. An interesting rapid ending in a very bad hole, which was followed by more rapids directly below. The river looked really good! The drop with the hole seemed fine except for the hole. There was a huge amount of foam around the hole, which could hide a swim… The hole itself was sucking back from more than 3m out and even under good conditions it would be tricky to punch, maybe with less water, or more balls? We left it alone and did the rapid below, which turned out to be a lot wilder than what it looked. Next up (which we didn’t photograph) was another excellent rapid. Again, because we were scouting from high up you cannot appreciate the gradient until you drop in. It was really good, I had a super smooth line and was stoked.
The very next rapid is the ‘supertube’ slide drop against the river left wall. I had seen photos from Peter Ridgway and knew it looked great, and good to go. Leon was out the boat scouting and it was decided we wouldn’t scout (to save time) while he’d get some photos of us. I went first, good rush! The kind of rapid I’d usually scout looking back. Needless to say we all loved that one, with no incidents. Immediately below (you have to paddle hard to even make the eddy) is another drop, then a short pool and yet another ledge drop. That top section is action packed with a good number of rapids dropping a fair distance – something similar to the top part of the Dwars. I must mention that the river contains a fair amount of wood and even if you know the river well you’d be advised to scout for any strainers which could come and go.
Myself on one of the top rapids. Photos by Corné van Daalen. 
Myself on the supertube rapid. Photos by Leon Pieters.
Stefano Sessa flying through the same drop. Photo by Leon Pieters.
The ledge was very fun, Leon and I ran it twice. This marked the end of the steep top section. Downstream was a short section between cliffs entirely covered in thick foam and the river took a right bend. From here the river also begins to drop away from the road but if you’ve survived the top rapids you’ll probably make the rest of the run. But be aware that the river drops into a gorge with steep sides, so getting out would be quite horrendous should you decide not to continue.
For a while we boat scouted and enjoyed the rapids, avoiding trees in between the action. This is probably the longest section which is quite mellow. Some distance down was a fun 1 metre boof on the left. Unfortunately this is where Stefano managed to go over and lose his GoPro HD camera… Yep, some bad luck, but he also didn’t have it attached with a rope. Ugly lesson to learn :-( Directly after this drop is an interesting section. I think it could potentially be quite terrifying with double the water volume but Leon checked out one channel and then directed me into another as I went in without scouting. Excellent times and the four of us worked together nicely – making fairly decent time whilst still getting photos and maintaining safety. Just no photos here, next time. There was another ledge type drop with a sliding option on the right. Leon was feeling particularly on form and made it look easy. I decided to probe the meat which looked serious but easier than the slide, but I pretty much missed my boof and the Fluid Big Bang I was paddling disappeared totally into the aeration, taking me with it. Somehow I popped out the other side upright and stroking, with a huge grin on my face – oops. The Big Bang operated nicely. I’m still impressed with how well it handles, I love it!
A few more rapids and we came to an exciting looking horizon line. A technical rapid twisting and turning with a few rocks which could upset a smooth ride. Corné portaged immediately and be safety downstream, while Leon decided to take it on. He almost came short at the top but then held on to make the rest of it look quite easy. Leon was definitely paddling very well that day! After his run Stefano and I portaged. Rather safe than sorry, that’s always my motto.
The big waterfall which lands into the back of a big rock comes up next. We portaged on river left, although discussed that it could potentially be run, perhaps with a little more water. No doubt it’d be a difficult run and one with extreme consequences. From the photos it looks quite runnable but in reality the water is moving quickly and to get far enough river left would be very hard, if not impossible. My guess is that one day someone will fire it up, in the right conditions. I’m pretty sure it won’t be me.
Next drop looked dubious. A low one of about a metre and a half, sucking back nicely, kicking hard left and also lined up with foam on that left side. We set up some decent rescue and I fired it up first. My run was perfect but unfortunately Corné forgot to turn the camera on and missed it, I was also not that keen on running it twice in one day :) Leon went next and this time it was captured. Strange rapid - I wouldn’t want to mess it up to see what happens.
Corné van Daalen on another drop at the end of the steep top section. 
Myself on a simple boof later on. Photo by Leon Pieters. 
Leon Pieters probing another long and technical one. 
The Waterfall with the siphon directly after it. 
Leon Pieters on a dodgy drop. 
Myself finishing one of the final rapids. Big Bang performed very nicely indeed! Photo by Corné van Daalen.
We enjoyed a few more, and at this stage I must say that there are a lot more rapids which we simply did not have the time to capture for the camera. Really cool rapids, many of them quite technical. Again, scout for trees at any steep horizon lines, not all lines go. The last rapid we photographed was quite a beefy one. I felt I had paddled reasonably well that day and decided to go first. Maybe I was too confident and went in paddling a bit too slow. I thought this would work but underestimated how shallow the lip would be. It was quite important to head left on the first drop, as you’d then be pushed straight and thus avoid the river right side which looked like a good place to be pushed upside down. My lazy boof twisted my boat more than it should have and I pitoned into the rock I was trying to just go right of. It twisted me around and the rest of the rapid I somehow, smoothly (I might add) managed to survive! Oops! Leon went next and creamed it, making it look easy. Stefano came down, going a bit far right but managed to hang on and complete it nicely. Corné went right too, the funny water got him over but a blistering roll and he was back in action.
A few more rapids awaited, but we hurried along as we were running out of light, with no more photos being taken. There is one evil rapid and then the final one has a nice run left, ending in a technical boulder garden on the right. Within 400 metres we were probably at the end, I think it took us around 8 hours to paddle it, I can’t quite remember. Taking decent photos always takes longer, but it’s worthwhile. I don’t see the point in rushing a trip.
The river was better than I expected, with some really incredible rapids. Some of them are fairly difficult and because of the bony nature it’s advisable to remain upright at all times. The rapids were also more powerful than what we anticipated and generally just bloody awesome. A top run to do in South Africa if you’re fortunate enough to get the correct conditions! We had an excellent group and as soon as we got to the top the celebrations began. Corné took the lonely drive back on his own while Stefano, Leon and I started dominating some old brown sherry and got into the swing of things. Maybe celebrating a bit too much even! An excellent day on the river! With such low rainfall and a small window you can only hope a paddleable day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, so who knows when we will be able to return. Hopefully next season. Paddle safe.
Photography by: Adrian Tregoning. Unless otherwise stated.
Words by: Adrian Tregoning.
Ugly Sisters Wave
Fluid Paddler Paulo Babi running the Left line on Buj at full volume.
Bujagali on the 8th
Back Wave
Blade Runner still filling up.
Bujagali Filling Up.
Top wave at Bujagali
