Monday afternoon at the start of March, I got a message from my Palm Groms mentor Joe Rea-Dickins about a week-long trip to Portugal with Palm paddlers Andy Kettlewell (Chips), Oli Cooper and their friend Sam Merritt, chasing the rain and aiming to hit some of the classics. Five days later, I was standing in the airport ready to fly to Porto, excited, nervous, and not entirely sure what I’d signed up for. I’ve challenged myself both on and off the water and learned a lot, including that sometimes the best adventures are the ones you never see coming. This trip was exactly that: spontaneous, exciting, and just a little bit crazy…
Landing in Portugal, I had no idea what to expect, especially since it was my first time meeting the guys, as well as my first creeking trip abroad. Stepping outside the airport, juggling my bag, kayak and paddle, I spotted a car pulling up with three kayaks. Before I knew it, the four of us were crammed into our rental car, buried in luggage, while the kayaks and paddles were (mostly) secured to the roof. With the car packed to the brim and a rough plan in mind, we hit the road: straight to the river. As we drove, it hit me that we were all here for the same reason: having a good time kayaking beautiful rivers with great people. That thought helped calm my nerves and got me excited for the week ahead.
The first day we got a couple laps on the Garganta section of the Rio Paiva, and got off just as it got dark and found a nice sheltered spot at the take-out. We shared a big pot of Bolognese (not knowing the left overs would haunt us for days, as it was too good to throw away but too soggy to eat) and huddled up in our sleeping bags under the roof. Except for Chips, who was sleeping in the car, which I think was best for everyone as I later found out he’s a big snorer. Starting the trip under a roof was nice as we would now move on to mostly wild camping, mostly in the rain.
The next day, we packed up and hit the road again, this time with even less space in the car as we turned it into a makeshift roof rack, which resulted in the roof sinking a few centimetres.
Our next river on the agenda was the Rio Cavado (Aqua Park), which was the perfect playground and slide paradise. The river lived up to its name, and going down was pure joy. Even better was watching Chips and Oli having sick lines on the big slide. After leaving Cavado and heading towards the Castro, Chips showed us something else we could all share love for: hot springs. Nothing beats sitting in a warm pool relaxing after kayaking. I would recommend this to anyone visiting Galicia/Portugal. And as a bonus, we finally got to wash up, which might have helped the car smell a little better.
The next day we had a look at the famous triple drop on the Rio Castro Laboreiro before heading up and kayaking the upper section. My initial thought looking at the drops was that it was some of the most beautiful piece of river I had ever seen, but I couldn’t imagine myself running them. Still, I couldn’t get the temptation out of my head. It would be a step up for me as I don’t have much waterfall experience, and once you go down the first drop you have to go down all of them. This scared me, as the last drop was the most intimidating.
Over the next day I gained more confidence and from the moment we scouted the falls until the day we planned to hit the waterfall section, I bet my thoughts were ninety-percent occupied by the triple drop, and imagining possible lines. After a lot of back and forth I decided I wanted to join the guys and run the drops.
We decided to paddle both the upper and lower sections. Everyone was stoked as we all knew we had a day of great whitewater, weather and people ahead. Seeing the other guys stoked at the put in made me fired up for the day, and especially the triple drops. Some good kayaking, a fair bit of choss and loads of muesli bars later we found ourselves looking at the triple drops. Honestly, still fifty-fifty excited and nervous. Chips and I were in charge of filming as Oli and Sam went first. Watching their lines and stoke while talking to Chips calmed my nerves and I felt ready to jump on. Walking back up I convinced myself to put the stress away(ish) as I would be paddling down whether I was stressed or not, and I would rather enjoy the ride.
Kayaking down was like a dream, going down one drop after the other and pausing in the pool before the next one. Sitting in the bottom pool was especially surreal to me. I felt a sense of accomplishment and happiness especially since the pool was filled with smiles and joy. I’ve always loved being able to look up at something i just kayaked, and sitting in your boat with a good feeling deep down in your stomach.
We wrapped up the trip with a surf session at the beach, where Oli somehow made kickflips look way too easy. It was the perfect way to end an incredible week, and I’m super grateful to have been a part of it. I’d 100% recommend saying yes to those spontaneous adventures. Especially if it’s a week in Portugal with Chips, Oli, and Sam!
