Expedition Africa 2014

Expedition Africa is Underway

Rob Howard / 25.05.2014

Expedition Africa is underway and began with a paddle (or swim) out into the surf to set teams on their way. What a great way to start the race and show this is the big time of World Series expedition racing ... those more used to paddling sit-on-tops on rivers may have literally been a bit out of their depth!

There were no real surprises in which teams handled the start best and got out into an early lead, Seagate, Haglofs Silva and Merrell Adventure Addicts, but that were joined by Painted Wolf was a statement of intent.

Teams won’t receive their next set of maps until TA2, but the full route is on the race website and it is clear there are some very exciting and challenging times ahead.

For now though, here is a summary of how the race starts from Lisa at www.ar.co.za;

At 07h00 the teams take to the sea for a short 11 kilometre paddle. Low tide is around 06h00 – this won’t really affect them. They paddle South, down the coast to the mouth of the Umtamvuna River. They have CP1 to locate here. They’ll then proceed up the river. The mouth is shallow but open. Up the river they’ll find T1.

At T1 they transition on to foot for a 12km trek within the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve. They have been instructed to stay on the hiking paths. The last 5km of this section will be a bit of canyoning – scrambling over rocks and river crossings. This will take them back to their kayaks at T1.

And then it is a 5km paddle downstream, back towards the river mouth, to T2, which is located at the Wild Coast Sun Resort. I had dinner there tonight – with other media and crew (thank you Wild Coast Sun). It’s a lovely venue but unfortunately the teams won’t be able to stop to enjoy it – nor will they get a chance to play on the water slides at WaterWorld.

At T2 they receive maps for Leg 4 – an 80km hike that many of the teams are dreading. For them this is the first big crunch of the race.

Remember to tune into the LIVE TRACKING on the KineticGear website.

You can also follow the race via Twitter. Use the #expafrica hashtag.

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