Kääpa River, Estonia.
Mrs Bananaboat is from Estonia so the school holidays are usually spent there. The kids go to stay with their dad and we have a holiday. Being concerned about my needs Mrs Bananaboat usually tries to organise a day of canoeing into the schedule. Estonia is basically flat and heavily forested. It has a lot of coastline, lakes and rivers, with a good canoeing culture. On arrival at Tallinn airport one is greeted by a large advertising stand for Tahe Marine, an Estonian company, featuring a sea kayak. The tourist information has a series of leaflets about canoeing opportunities in Estonia and Latvia. Estonia is said to have five seasons, the usual four plus the flood season which happens when the snow melts. Apparently this is a good time to see things like elk, bears, lynx and wolves as dry ground is limited and they are all hungry.
In previous years we have paddled sections of the Ahja and the Võhandu. The Ahja has a lovely long, narrow reservoir followed by some moving water through great rock scenery. Curiously there is a plan to remove the dam and allow the area to restore itself. The section of the Võhandu we visited has seven weirs, each backing up water for a mill pond. The weirs get bigger as you go down with the last being a good grade 2 rapid. We did it in summer and it was all very civilised, but if you like a challenge then Google Võhandu Marathon. 100km of springtime paddling in some big water with a ski/kayak option as well!
But back to this year and the Kääpa. The river is in the east of the country and winds through gentle rolling terrain to feed Lake Peipsi. This occupies much of Estonias eastern border and continues south into Poland as more lakes and marshes, accounting for the countrys long history of occupation by stronger neighbours due to it being a cross roads between Russia and northern and eastern Europe.
We had arranged to camp at Kebeli Talu (Kebeli Farm) where our hosts were providing the canoe and guiding us around the area. It is not a formal campsite but has everything; clean water tap, dry toilet, pond for swimming, fire pit and a shelter.
The paddle began at an RMK (State Forestry Organisation) campsite next to a lake. These are free sites that tend to get abused though this one looked tidy and just had a couple of camper vans in residence. Our hosts obviously knew the place well as we saw when they reversed the laden canoe trailer between two trees that looked closer together than the car was wide. The canoe was a typical rental boat, solid and heavy but at least it was yellow. Soon we were on the water and under way. It was quite breezy but this helped to keep the insects at bay.
The entrance to the river is difficult to find and our hosts had driven around to the far end of the lake to replace the sign that had disappeared. It was very visible, which was just as well!
Heres the river.
Ruth and her husband had arranged to meet us at each bridge. This seemed excessive to me at first but they used the meetings not only to tell us about the next set of hazards (there were a few) but also to talk about the areas history and mythology. The original Estonian national hero is Kalev and his son Kalevipoeg and they had many adventures in this area. Kalev has retired and now runs a large chocolate business in Tallinn, his son had a more grisly end, losing his magic sword in the river and managing to cut both his legs off while searching for it.
Heres Ruth waiting for us. They make a living running team building type activities, creative workshops and guiding people like us. The farm is idyllic and they grow most of their food.
The river was alive with flowers and insects. Fortunately the mosquitoes were having a day off.
There were a few obstructions that required some tactical brute force. In the morning we encountered a couple of places where islands of dead vegetation had created blocks. These could be crossed with a bit of vigorous pushing with paddles but later on we had to deal with more serious submerged timber.
In places the river was almost completely overgrown with reeds.
It was interesting to discover that Kalevipoegs sword is still there creating an unusual river hazard.
Shortly after this the river enters a more forested area, with accompanying timber obstacles. There was some signs of beaver activity including a couple of lodges and we disturbed a very big animal, probably an elk but the reeds were so high and dense that all we could see was the disturbance.
After a few tricky obstacles we had some more open and moving water then came out of the trees onto a lake. This was the end of our journey that day. It is another ten kilometres to Lake Peipsi and we would have had to walk most of it. Earlier or later in the year it could be an exciting paddle though!
The following day we did continue our journey by car and got to Lake Peipsi. Apparently there are places where you have to wade out about a mile if you want to swim.
Each of my Estonian river trips have been very different in character. This one was made for me by the sense of exploring some of Estonias history and mythology. In the future I would like to do some more out of season, i.e. not in the middle of summer, trips and have my eye on Emajogi (Mother River) as a multi-day trip...
Thanks for reading.
Mike
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
In previous years we have paddled sections of the Ahja and the Võhandu. The Ahja has a lovely long, narrow reservoir followed by some moving water through great rock scenery. Curiously there is a plan to remove the dam and allow the area to restore itself. The section of the Võhandu we visited has seven weirs, each backing up water for a mill pond. The weirs get bigger as you go down with the last being a good grade 2 rapid. We did it in summer and it was all very civilised, but if you like a challenge then Google Võhandu Marathon. 100km of springtime paddling in some big water with a ski/kayak option as well!
But back to this year and the Kääpa. The river is in the east of the country and winds through gentle rolling terrain to feed Lake Peipsi. This occupies much of Estonias eastern border and continues south into Poland as more lakes and marshes, accounting for the countrys long history of occupation by stronger neighbours due to it being a cross roads between Russia and northern and eastern Europe.
We had arranged to camp at Kebeli Talu (Kebeli Farm) where our hosts were providing the canoe and guiding us around the area. It is not a formal campsite but has everything; clean water tap, dry toilet, pond for swimming, fire pit and a shelter.
The paddle began at an RMK (State Forestry Organisation) campsite next to a lake. These are free sites that tend to get abused though this one looked tidy and just had a couple of camper vans in residence. Our hosts obviously knew the place well as we saw when they reversed the laden canoe trailer between two trees that looked closer together than the car was wide. The canoe was a typical rental boat, solid and heavy but at least it was yellow. Soon we were on the water and under way. It was quite breezy but this helped to keep the insects at bay.
The entrance to the river is difficult to find and our hosts had driven around to the far end of the lake to replace the sign that had disappeared. It was very visible, which was just as well!
Heres the river.
Ruth and her husband had arranged to meet us at each bridge. This seemed excessive to me at first but they used the meetings not only to tell us about the next set of hazards (there were a few) but also to talk about the areas history and mythology. The original Estonian national hero is Kalev and his son Kalevipoeg and they had many adventures in this area. Kalev has retired and now runs a large chocolate business in Tallinn, his son had a more grisly end, losing his magic sword in the river and managing to cut both his legs off while searching for it.
Heres Ruth waiting for us. They make a living running team building type activities, creative workshops and guiding people like us. The farm is idyllic and they grow most of their food.
The river was alive with flowers and insects. Fortunately the mosquitoes were having a day off.
There were a few obstructions that required some tactical brute force. In the morning we encountered a couple of places where islands of dead vegetation had created blocks. These could be crossed with a bit of vigorous pushing with paddles but later on we had to deal with more serious submerged timber.
In places the river was almost completely overgrown with reeds.
It was interesting to discover that Kalevipoegs sword is still there creating an unusual river hazard.
Shortly after this the river enters a more forested area, with accompanying timber obstacles. There was some signs of beaver activity including a couple of lodges and we disturbed a very big animal, probably an elk but the reeds were so high and dense that all we could see was the disturbance.
After a few tricky obstacles we had some more open and moving water then came out of the trees onto a lake. This was the end of our journey that day. It is another ten kilometres to Lake Peipsi and we would have had to walk most of it. Earlier or later in the year it could be an exciting paddle though!
The following day we did continue our journey by car and got to Lake Peipsi. Apparently there are places where you have to wade out about a mile if you want to swim.
Each of my Estonian river trips have been very different in character. This one was made for me by the sense of exploring some of Estonias history and mythology. In the future I would like to do some more out of season, i.e. not in the middle of summer, trips and have my eye on Emajogi (Mother River) as a multi-day trip...
Thanks for reading.
Mike
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk