A bunch of us oldies from Bristol Canoe Club decided to try an unusual place to paddle some white-water this year. We decided to try paddling in the mountains in north-western Greece.
After trying over many months to find out about rivers, grades, water levels, and seasons, we discovered that it isn’t very easy to get any information! Our very ancient German guidebook does describe some of the rivers, but it is 30 years out of date, so many of the rivers will have changed significantly. The access points were vague, and we were informed that many of the local roads might be closed. You can’t really follow Google Maps; you need local knowledge.
Ultimately, we decided to book a commercial guide, both for the rivers, and for the shuttles. We chose “Love it Live it”, who are Polish, based in Krakow, but who run commercial paddling trips all over the world, including to Greece. Their website has some nice videos of friendly rivers in the sun! Instead of booking on to one of their commercial group trips, the ten of us booked them privately for a week. They are based in Plaka, in the Tzoumerka national park, north-west Greece. Apparently all the rivers are grade 2 and grade 3/3+.
The river season in this part of Greece is very short; essentially mid-March to mid-April. We booked to go in the first week of April, for 9 days paddling. There would be some snow-melt, but also rain-fed rivers, but hopefully the weather will be sunny.
We arrived at Preveza airport (on the Ionian coast of Greece), and were met by the Adam (our river guide) and Didi (one of the drivers). We had brought four kayaks with us from Gatwick. The boats went into their van. After a meal, and a couple of hours drive through winding mountain roads, in heavy rain, in the dark, we arrived at the small hotel around midnight; Hotel Teloneio, in Plaka.
Next morning, what do the rivers look like? We would be paddling the Arachthos river starting in the village, just outside the hotel. Six of us had rented Jackson kayaks from Love it Live it. We picked these up here; the hotel owner also runs a local rafting & kayaking centre & campsite just on the river bank.
It was raining, and had been raining all night. The river was running fast and grey, no longer a trivial grade 2; not really the ideal warm-up, as most of us had done almost zero paddling over the British winter. We survived the trip, with only one swim that day, and were met by Didi and Konrad, and driven the winding roads back to the hotel. Not quite the sunny and warm experience, with clear blue water, that we were hoping for. Later, we were told that the river level was 1m higher than the day before… Beers back at the hotel, food too, and we also managed to visit one of the other bars in the small village.
There were other kayakers at the hotel too; they were on the Love it Live it “Half slice” course, and some had been on their “Creeking II/III” course the previous week also. They had not had good weather; lots of rain, even some snow. However, the weather forecast was improving, so we were hopeful…
Over the next few days, the weather improved; some rain overnight, but generally dry in the day, and the river levels dropped to something sensible. We paddled various sections of the Arachthos, then the Kalaritikos, everything now grade 3, 3+, and perhaps touching 4-. Also the Acheloos, and the Venetikos. All easier than the Upper Dart. The sun was coming out; though the water was cold, so we were still in dry-suits. For the second half of our trip, the sun came out properly, the weather warmed up, the views in the mountains were spectacular! Our guide, Adam, was fabulous, taking care that those who needed guiding were helped, and those who were more confident could more-or-less do their own thing. Adam is a Polish national freestyle kayaking champion, so needless to say, he is a very very good paddler.
Some of us had a couple of rest days, not really wanting to paddle for nine consecutive days. We hired a car, and visited a small old monastery, and a show-cave. We walked to some waterfalls, awkwardly, with the paths washed away by the winter floods. We had lazy lunches in local cafes.
One particular paddling day, on the Venetikos river, it was very warm, and only grade 2; a play-river really. So the shortie-cags came out!
Each day we were driven to a river by Adam, Didi, and Konrad. The drivers, Didi and Konrad, would later be waiting for us nicely at the end point (or at the half-way point), making our logistics very easy; some of the drives were two hours, and some of the shuttle trips would have been over an hour each way! The mountains here are very steep; quite high (some over 2,000m). The roads are very winding; they get washed away and/or land-slipped often, and there are road repairs everywhere. The ‘main’ road from Plaka to the nearest main town (Ioannina) is closed for 3 years, for a complete rebuild! That road closure has unfortunately also closed one of the nearby river sections, as the road builders drop boulders down into the valley… From the geology, you might expect all of the rivers in this region to be extremely steep and difficult, but in fact they were reasonably friendly, and wonderful to paddle.
Eventually, after nine paddling days, we finished; generally exhausted. No major incidents; though a scattering of swims & rolls. No serious injuries, though perhaps a few strained muscles.
It was an absolutely fabulous trip. Adam and the drivers were extremely helpful, and professional. We would definitely recommend them, and the hotel also.
I attach my set of photos, here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5G4hnWb1NjsxMnbS6.
Love it Live it’s Greece page: https://loveitliveit.co.uk/whitewater-kayaking-holidays-trips/greece-kayaking-and-ancient-culture/
A summary of the rivers:
Day 1. Lower Arachthos, from Plaka. Grade 3(?) High water.
Day 2. Upper Upper Arachthos, grade 2/3+.
Day 3. Upper Kalaritikos, grade 3+/4-, down to grade 2. Lower Kalaritikos, grade 3/3+.
Day 4. Upper Arachthos (‘milky way’ section). Grade 3/3+.
Day 5. Lower Acheloos, from Mesochora dam. Grade 3. Then further down, to Terpna, grade 3+.
Day 6. Lower Venetikos, sunny grade 2.
Day 7. Upper Arachthos (‘milky way’ section). Grade 3/3+.
Day 8. Lower Acheloos, from Mesochora dam. Grade 3. Then further down, to Terpna, grade 3+.
Day 9. Upper Kalaritikos, grade 3+/4-, down to grade 2. Lower Kalaritikos, grade 3/3+.
Paddlers: Conor, Lisa, Rich, Mike, Nick, Jezza, Robin, Badger, Bill, Tim.
