1. How does the trip start from Frankivsk?
We will rendezvous at the vokzal at about 0700 on Friday morning, meeting the group coming on the train from Kyiv. We will spend endless unnecessary time shopping for things we remember that we forgot. A small group will go down to the bus area and try to find a bus to Petriv, then will return and spend too much time trying to get the group back together. We will have several head counts. Someone will be missing and a search party will leave to find them. The missing person will return and the search party will disappear. Finally, we will get on a bus and travel 2 hours due east to a spot near the village of Petriv on the Dnister River.
2. What will we see at Petriv?
We will call Serhiy, the Golden Fleece tour operator, several times and try to find him hiding in the brush somewhere near the river. Once we find him, we will meet our tour crew and see their jeep and trailer. Please note: there is plenty of bottled water and not enough beer stocked in the trailer. We will throw our gear into the trailer and hike down to the river where the crew will present us with breakfast, probably considered lunch by now. The meal will include only the freshest tasty locally bought ingredients, home-made specialties of Ukrainian cuisine. We will understand that we will be well-fed on the trip. Serhiy will give a compact presentation on water safety where the main message is "use common sense". For example, don't clean your fingernails with a sharp knife while smoking on the raft. Anyway, no smoking or hard liquor allowed on the raft; beer goes down very well.
Everybody will go test the water and some people will want to swim a bit while the crew packs up. We will be issued a paddle and a life jacket. The children will put on their life jackets and the adults will sit on theirs so that their skin does not meld with the raft. Some people will put on sunscreen. Others will want to soak up the full force of the sun and will suffer sunburn on the 1st day, forcing them to wear heavy clothing for the rest of the trip. We will spend time repacking our gear. It will take another eternity to organize 20 people into three rafts. Finally we will push off. With little effort, our natural instincts will have us paddling in rhythm. We will quickly realize that singing helps us get our paddling groove. Some of us will not know the words and be slightly miffed, then will decide to play percussion on our life jacket/seat cushions.
3. What about rafting on the first day?
We will be awed by the pristine beauty of the Dnister Canyon. Some people will fall into silent meditation on our smallness before the splendor of nature. Other people will become competitive and will push their teams into strenuous paddling to beat the other rafts. We will notice an amazing array of birds and struggle to name them in our various languages. After a couple of hours of paddling/floating, we will reach a debarkation point to climb a treacherously slippery goat path up the side of the canyon to a small but charming waterfall. The competitors will try to beat each other to the top. The risk averse will not climb the slippery goat path, will reapply sun screen and have a little swim in their life jackets. We will re-embark and paddle for a couple more hours to our evening camp. Teams will change to reflect consolidation of paddling styles and preferred sing-along songs.
4. What's camping like?
When we arrive to our evening camp, it will be not too soon. We will feel the tightness in our under-used upper body muscles. However, we will feel that we are worshipping the temples of our bodies with this natural healthy vacation. We will be glad to see that our tents have been pitched, a fire has been built, food is cooking and there is more beer in the trailer. We will receive foam mattresses, sheets and sleeping bags. We will find our gear and set up our personal camp sites, not close to the path to the natural toilet. We will have a splendid dinner and goof around until it becomes utterly dark. We will rely on flashlights to find the peeing spot and to snuggle into our tents for a good night's sleep. We will hear the mystic hooting of owls as we drift off.
5. What is the second day like?
We will awake exhilarated and slightly tipsy from so much fresh air. We will hear that some fitness nuts jogged 10 kilometers at sunrise. We will take cold baths in the river. We will have breakfast. We will break camp. We will reevaluate what to take in the raft and what to stow in the jeep. We will board the rafts again, noting a final reorganization of rafting teams. The competitors will consolidate into a dream paddling team and will exhaust themselves, but never get too far ahead. Those communing with nature will likewise consolidate and use the force of their meditative unity to stay on the heels of the competitors.
The second day is the longest day with the most paddling/floating. We will paddle/float 2 hours to the 1st stop at the sparse remains of an ancient fortress. We will paddle again, falling into a harmony of rhythmic physical chant. We will continue to spot birds on the water and soaring overhead. We will hardly see another human or human artifact. We will rendezvous with the advance crew for lunch and will be quite hungry. After lunch, we will begin the longest stretch of paddling, 3-4 hours to our camp site. This part includes about 15 minutes of mild white water where we will pick up enough speed to feel a breeze. We will change sides to relieve our paddling muscles. We will sing songs and take it easy. We will begin to run out of beer and will barter with other rafts. By the time we reach the evening camp, we will be looking forward to the pinnacle evening of shashlyk, wine and Karpatsky Balzam. (Last year, Serhiy was amazed that our group of 16 did not finish one bottle of Balzam. We had more Americans, youths and fitness nuts.) After dinner, some people will immediately fall into deep slumber brought on by a day of physical activity and a full stomach. Others will stay up late telling bad jokes while finishing the Balzam. Since the camp site has a covered table and electrical lighting, we will play cards, gambling for each other's camp gear.
6. And the last day?
The third day is the shortest since the Kyiv people have to make it back to IF to catch the train. We will paddle for a couple of hours to "Red Mountain", a high plateau on the canyon. It is a steep, slippery and long climb for a person who lacks top physical fitness and has an aversion to injury. Ah, what the heck, it was pretty and I made it back alive. If we are good and fast, we will visit a real, authentic Ukrainian village and go to the produkty store to buy more beer and snacks. After another three hours of regular paddling, we will have our last meal at our final debarkation near large mud flats. We will take pictures of the scary rusting bridge over the canyon and the children diving from giant concrete and rebar chunks in the river. Some way that is not clear, we will find transportation back to IF, ending our trip healthy and happy with lots of new friends.
7. What should I bring?
Pack a backpack with all your gear and a medium-sized waterproof bag to take on the raft (*things to take on the raft)
A few changes of light clothes (shorts, t-shirts) for three days and considering you might want to change out of wet clothes during the day
A bag for wet clothes and towels
A light jacket for evening
Jammies
*Swimwear
Towels including small hand towel for bathing
All purpose soap
*Sunscreen
Lotion for those wanting to maintain supple skin
Toothbrush/paste
Bug repellant
Flashlights and plenty of batteries (hand crank type very cool)
Money and passport (I just took a copy of my passport)
*Shoes and socks for hiking, waterproof sandals for rafting and for camp
*Sun hat and cool dark glasses
Serhiy's instructions ask for a mess kit (cutlery, plate and cup), but we didn't need it last year as it was all supplied
*Snacks for rafting aren't a bad idea. I brought a bag of cereal (Cheerios-type) last year which we were able to trade for a six-pack with the competitive raft
*Rain gear, like a poncho
Bandages for blisters
Charged up cell phone
*Camera in waterproof bag
Useful luxury: a bungee cord or rope for hanging wet clothes and towels
For more information on the rafting trip, see http://www.tourist.org.ua
Valerie Wright
