Blog - The Naked Kayaker

Dinant Evasion: What happens when you combine a log flume, bumper cars, 7000 kayakers, and a sinking kayak on the River Lesse in Belgium.

9/13/2016

The magical town of Dinant, on the Lesse River in southern Belgium. The kayaking route does not take you past here, so make sure to include a visit to the city in your itinerary! Photo by Rob.

Before you read this post, I want you to know that Dinant and the surrounding areas are really lovely - I've visited twice and had some great biking and hiking experiences. But kayaking was a different flavor, and I feel it should be documented as a warning to any kayakers thinking about paddling here...

As we passed under the big welcome signs at Dinant Evasion, I couldn't help but feel like I was entering an amusement park. We obediently zigzagged through the queue lines to one of the (many) ticket offices. "Do you have your confirmation letter?" asked the ticket lady in broken Dutch (Dinant is in the French-speaking part of Belgium). I fumbled for my phone, hoping the confirmation email was still cached (I still use my US smartphone, so no cellular data for me). Phew, there it was. I've never arrived for a reserved kayak rental and been told that my last name was insufficient for accessing the reservation... Warning Sign #1. Okay, the super commercial website could also have tipped me off (Warning Sign #0)...

How to motivate in a torrential downpour? Pancakes in Utrecht

8/22/2016

This picture best captures the torrential downpour we experienced in the Utrecht countryside.

My friends are real troopers. The forecast warned of intense rain, and that's exactly what we got. But we persevered! From downtown Utrecht to a pancake house about 6.5 km southeast of the city, Sander, Bonnie, and I paddled through almost continuous rain. But the "pancakes," if you can even call them that, were worth the soaking.

Celebrating Belgian independence in the Ardennen: Kayaking in Durbuy

8/2/2016

Durbuy Castle from the Ourthe River

July 21st is Belgium National Day, when the Belgians celebrate gaining their independence from the Netherlands in 1831 (right around the time the Oregon Trail was picking up speed over in the US). Apparently the mostly-Catholic Belgians were not happy with the protestant-favoring rule of King William the 1st and decided to rebel. Luckily for modern-day residents of Belgium, this means we have a day off every July. This year it fell on a Thursday, resulting in a 4-day weekend opportunity for 4 Dutchies and 1 American to head to the Belgian Ardennes and partake in celebratory Belgian activities like beer drinking, card playing, chocolate eating, walking in fields with cows, and, most importantly, kayaking past castles.

Colleagues-turned-canoeists go for a paddle in Lokeren

7/7/2016

The Antea Group kayaking crew sporting our newly earned t-shirts. Jan, Nena, Raquel, Anna, and Inma.

Last weekend, five enthusiastic Antea Group employees embarked on a Sunday morning canoe trip in Lokeren. The company I work for, Antea Group, has an internal organization called Antea Group Sport that supports employees in organizing "sporting" events. Since I started a year ago, they've organized runs, triathlons, volleyball, soccer, mountain biking, cycling, and even badminton. I decided that some more watery events were necessary*, so I went about organizing a kayaking trip, destination: Lokeren. It's a convenient location for people living in Antwerp and Gent. First, I did a scouting trip to check out the conditions.

*Disclaimer: I was also motivated by a need to find/develop paddling buddies here in Belgium, and the awesome t-shirt you get the first time you participate in an Antea sporting event (see above). :)

Lokeren: The most accessible kayak rental in Belgium

5/23/2016

Kayaking tends to be a logistically-intensive sport, requiring expensive equipment, a vehicle, and a lot of time. Since moving to Europe almost 2 years ago, I've tried not to let being car-less and boat-less stop me from taking part in my all-time favorite activity. It hasn't been easy! There's nothing I miss more than throwing Big Purple on the roof of my car and going for a spontaneous weeknight sunset paddle or exploring a remote stretch of coast.

Last December I made an inventory of all the kayak rental shops in Belgium (excluding whitewater, of which there are quite a few in the south). So far, I've visited two shops that are difficult to reach by public transit and don't offer more than a linear out-and-back trip along a river.

Yesterday we visited an outfitter in Lokeren. I can't say I've found a complete solution yet, but I have finally found a shop just a short train ride away that offers quite a range of paddling routes. And it might just be the most convenient kayak rental ever... exciting, huh? ;) Read on!

A short day paddle near Kasterlee, Belgium

11/23/2015

I've been pretty bad at maintaining the blog lately. On the bright side, you haven't missed much. This summer I had big goals about kayaking in each country that Emily and I traveled to, but in the end we just kayaked once in France (stay tuned!) and once in Belgium (this post).

In August, Emily and I met up with my Belgian-American kayaking friend, Stijn (from San Francisco), for a day trip in Kasterlee, Belgium.

There were endless raspberries and blackberries on the river banks!

Trondheim, Norway: A city with Vikings, whale burgers, and many bridges

6/12/2015

Downtown Trondheim

A short paddling trip through the city of Trondheim, Norway (spoiler alert: we did not see any Vikings but we did ear whale..).

"Wildwater" Kayaking in the Belgian Ardennes

11/19/2014

This weekend, Elizabeth and I joined the Windhappers kayak club on a whitewater ("wildwater" in Dutch) excursion. Elly, Annette, Paul, Jan, Han, Cees + and his girlfriend, Jacques, Elizabeth, and I piled into three cars (stacked high with whitewater boats) and road tripped to the Ardennes, a densely forested region in the south of Belgium. Two days of chilly but adventurous paddling, Belgian beers and other strange drinks, pepernoten, and glamping ("glamorous camping") ensued.

The Ardennes is a region of rolling hills, forests, rivers, and natural terrain. Most of the region falls in Belgium and Luxembourg, but parts are also in France and Germany. The highest point, Signal de Botrange, is 2,277 feet, so were not talking about huge mountains, but anything's huge compared to the Netherlands! The region was passed back and forth between European powers throughout its history, and was the site of three major battles during the World Wars, including the Battle of the Bulge. Today, it's mainly a region for forestry and tourism. All the villages look the same (I kept getting them confused), with a small stone church in the...

Rotte River: 20 km Bike, 20 km Kayak, 20 km Bike

9/22/2014

Obligatory windmill photo.

A couple months ago, while searching for Dutch kayaking info, I discovered Johan's Kano Route website, which describes kayaking routes in the Netherlands and a few in other countries. I clicked around for the routes within biking distance of Delft, and there are quite a few. He always lists the nearest kayak rental shops, which is helpful for a car-less boat-less person like me. Elizabeth and I decided to embark on the Rotterdam route (which only takes you to the center of Rotterdam if you paddle ~16 miles).

Day 14: Floating the Missouri River and a Tour of Bismarck

8/1/2014

After a quick bagel breakfast with Devin and Ginny, during which Devin attempted to make espresso with a broken machine (no luck, resulting in another steamer), I hopped in the car and headed east: destination Bismarck. I only made a brief stop in the Badlands (Medora, ND), where the gas station attendants were amused by my inability to operate an old-fashioned gas pump.