Swiftwater Rescue Travel Information

Travel Tips and hints from our experiences Traveling

You can go kayaking in almost every country in the world, even Morocco has whitewater when it rains. Given the choice I try to go to warm countries to go kayaking. You don't need to take so much equipment which generally means easier traveling. However in most places it gets cold from time to time (even in Australia) so a lightweight down jacket is always a good idea and a dry top is better if the water turns out to be colder than you thought.

Vaccinations

When traveling to exotic destinations don't forget to get your shots far enough in advance. I would caution the use of Malaria tablets, as in my experience it is not as widespread in kayaking destinations as you would think. The exception to this is Uganda where most people who don't take malaria tablets end up contracting it.

Preparation

This includes all sorts of things from sorting out your travel insurance, booking flights and getting copies of all your documents. A few things I do now that I'm older and wiser:

Have a back up plan for everything, especially for money.
Find a bit out about where you are going. This helps to avoid getting ripped off or ending up in jail for doing something that's very not allowed.
If you are flying with kayaks, go with a kayak friendly airline from a big airport.
Find out if anyone will be speaking your language (or you their's) and if not get someone to meet you at the airport.
Find out where your embassy or consulate is. In some country's you might want to registered there on your first day in country.

Caz-evac

If the river you are planning on paddling is really in the middle of nowhere then it is a good idea to work out how you would get and badly injured or ill paddler to help. At the very least find out where "help" is, as a lot of the time it might not be where you think. I find a broken leg and/or appendicitis are two easy to imagine medical conditions which would make you wish you'd done a bit more planning in this department.

This is also where having a couple of the team with wilderness medical training really helps.

Medical Kit

A small first aid kit in each boat will be much better than one kit in the one boat that gets lost in that mega swim where someone gets injured. In 3rd world countries tablets can be much cheaper than at home but beware you have to know the generic name for them, not just your local brand. I have never found duct tape available in a 3rd world country, ever.