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What to expect
Our sit-on-top canoes are stable and easy to paddle. They
can carry 2 adults and a small child, but can even be
paddled by just
 one
adult or teenager. We provide lifejackets and paddles, along
with a safety talk. You will get a wet rear end and wet
feet. The river is placid but not entirely calm, and at some
points we will paddle with or against currents. On the
islands, we get out and walk. We can end the day with
sundowners on the deck
overlooking the river.
River routes include:
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The very popular 11/2-2hr
Malachite Trail
among the islands. Very scenic and peaceful.
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There-N-Back paddle to
the Parys bridge (strenuous), 11/2-2hr. This
involves a bit of portaging and some hard paddling
upstream on side channels, but is well worth it when we
return on fast currents in the main channel!
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Downriver run (rapids)
accompanied by inflatables with guides. This is
whitewater, using single
sit-on-tops for the truly adventurous. 3hours.
Information and
leadership
Graeme
& Karen
Addison, your hosts, know the area and its ecology
intimately. You may ask for refreshments or cocktails to be
catered.
About
Vaal ecology
 Some 300 islands exist in
the Vaal valley between where the river enters the Dome
crater to where it exits. The unique riverbed configuration
and development of the Vaal, filled with channels and
rapids, attracts visitors and researchers from all over the
world. The complex ecology of the riverine habitat offers
santuary to a vast variety of birds and wildlife, from fish
eagles and vervet monkeys to the rare green-backed heron and
the elusive jenet. Paddling among the islands is a not-to-be
missed wilderness experience. It's best to go with a guide
because getting lost among the islands can mean spending
hours looking for the way out!
Exploring the islands by canoe and on foot is a
fascinating activity. Not only are they rich in wildlife and
birdlife, but their history tells the story of central South
Africa and its peoples and ecology. Graeme
Addison, your host, is an author and authority on the
world's rivers, as well as a a highly experienced riverman.
The mighty Vaal River
 The Vaal and its many
ancestors have drained the central portions of what is now
Southern Africa for billions of years. Before the Vredefort
blast occurred, rivers were carrying gold dust into the
central Witwatersrand basin. The gold was concentrated by
hydrothermal action (heated water permeating the rock
layers) thus creating the rich gold-bearing ores that are
mined today at tremendous depths down to more than 4km.
Billions of years passed, and a new, vast lake formed in the
centre of the supercontinent of Gondwanaland.
 Like the Wits
basin before it, the Karoo basin was an inland sea, formed
by rivers carrying sediments from higher ground. The
sediments solidified, some 10km thick, and the Vaal/Orange
basin began to take shape. Between 150 million and 100
million years ago, Gondwanaland broke up into South America,
Africa, Antarctica, Australia, Madagascar and India. The
Vaal and Orange now found their way to the sea.
The Vaal
today is smaller than it was, its headwaters having been
steadily captured by the Orange. The Parys area of the Vaal
is remarkable, as the river is following old meanders while
cutting down like a young river into the strata and rings of
the Vredefort Dome. It is known as a “superimposed” river, a
feature it shares with the Colorado River in the Grand
Canyon of America.
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