Umzimvubu River – Welsh Bridge to Dikela
Umzimvubu River – Welsh Bridge to Dikela · transkei
Grade
V
Length
85km
About
Serious committing run: continuous class 4-5 with several unrunnable sections between. Gorge climbs hundreds of metres — walking out is not an option. Once in, the only way is down. Many rapids must be scouted but scouting is difficult. Watch water-level fluctuations. Mzimvubu Falls is about halfway. Take out on the far left and either abseil or do the long portage around. Mzintlava confluence is a few km below the falls. Further down: expect chaos at the Tina/Tsitsa confluence when high. Take-out is ~20km after that confluence with no road access — river bends sharply right (the second large right bend after the confluence), steep cliffs left, gentler slope right. The slope is deceptive: a steep 6km hike up to Dikela. Continuing downstream is often preferable since the hardest sections are behind by then.
Access
Put-in
Take-out
Permits
None
Recent sessions
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