Home

10%

Samana River Festival

A True Life Adventure - By Barry Barr

By KAVU

July 2^nd, 2024

I love when you get those calls.... the call from a friend who asks you if you want to come on an unique adventure with them.

I've always genuinely tried to respond with an immediate commitment, knowing these opportunities are rare and not to be taken for granted.

“My ticket is already purchased, Amigo!”.

This is exactly what happened to me when I received a call from Tyler Bradt, who was finishing up a first-descent expedition with his good friend Jules Domine in Colombia. They had just finished paddling the bottom half of the Caqueta river, which would complete their first-descent goal of running the river from its source, to the Amazonian plane.

If you want to check out their first expedition..... it was epic, to say the least. And, if you don’t know what Leishmaniasis is..... then you will after this movie.

So, I packed my bag.... and set off from Seattle to arrive Medellin Colombia. Being that this was my first time to Colombia, I was pretty excited for the KAVU days ahead.

Flying over the gulf of Mexico and into Colombia really made it "real". Looking out the window, it was like a foreshadowing for what was to come. Blue skies allowed views of amazing blue coastal waters, and finally the sight of "big rivers", for which much of South America are known for, that empty from the high mountains to the south.

Once I arrived Medellín, I had a friend of Tyler’s pick me up and drive me the 2 and half hours to Cocorna.

Cocoran is an adventure hub of a town, which sits in the middle of a valley bordered by towering mountains and some of the best whitewater kayaking in all of Colombia.

Our mission:

To attend the 2024 Samana Festival.

The event is the "dream child" of Jules Domine, owner of Expedition Colombia, to bring a world-class kayak Race.... organized in parallel to be a popular public event with the goal to raise awareness to protect the last free-flowing river of Antioquia region.

The paddlers came from all around the world: Untied States, Spain, France, Switzerland, Bolivia, Germany and Colombia. The group of 40 paddlers were all athletes who have achieved the highest level within the sport of whitewater kayaking, and who'd traveled the distance to compete and help raise awareness for these amazing rivers.

The first day was basically a day to scout the Samana river. 6:30 am made for an early morning when we began to load the Chivas. Chivas are the backbone of transportation in Colombia and I've come to learn that these trucks can go pretty much anywhere.

I would have to say.... that most of the roads we traveled were dirt roads, which would be hard for even a "normal" 4x4 to navigate.

Super colorful, packed to the brim, and super impressive!

Once we were actually on the river, it was an amazing to watch the paddlers "noodle" their way through the continually approaching class 4and 5 rapids all day long.

All in all, we did 40 kilometers that first day, paddling through the incredibly diverse ecosystem of the Samana River. Jules explained how there are 13 unique plant species only found in this river drainage.

Full context: I did not kayak..... but instead rafted the Samana with an excellent team. When we reached the take out, everyone was stoked, and pretty wiped out physically. It was about as KAVU a day as I can imagine!

As we loaded the Chiva’s, I didn’t realize that it would be an 8(+) hour, bouncy and rough ride back to our camping spot, through some of the most rugged roads I have ever been on!

Over the following 2 days, a kayak slalom race.... and a timed, down-river race, which were held on two different rivers, took place. The competitors were stoked every day, and each unique day took us to another amazing place for another memorable adventure.

The final day of the event was the first ever down-river marathon race, consisting of 42 kilometers of paddling, with a mass start of 30 paddlers. Tyler and Eric were head to head with the water recorded as being at a level that was considered pretty high.

The race ended with the winner only being 1 minute, and 30 seconds in front of the top 2, second place finishers, who were Tyler and Jules, paddling in to the finish line together. It was so cool that after the race, the entire town came out and celebrated with a great parade and good vibes.

As well as an awesome award ceremony!

The following day, the "Samana Fest" culminated in San Luis, with an "out-of-this-world" music festival featuring a bunch of amazing bands. All of the bands who played were there to raise awareness to prevent the damming of the last free-flowing river within the Antioquia region.

For sure, it was time to celebrate with System Solar a well known Colombian band. All I can say.... is I will return to Colombia, and spend more time in the beautifully rich nature that this country has to offer.

Until next time keep having KAVU days!

Barry Barr - Inspector of Fun

Footnotes

Barry Barr is our fearless leader, who has always been the benchmark that the rest of us try to live up to. He has always led by example, and is truly one of the world's rare human beings.

Button Label

FootNotes

Barry Barr is our fearless leader, who has always been the benchmark that the rest of us try to live up to. He has always led by example, and is truly one of the world's rare human beings.

Havasupai 2025

Samana River Festival

A True Life Adventure - By Barry Barr

FootNotes

By: Julia Botelho Morgan

Hartman Rector

By: Neil Amonson

By: Neil Amonson

By: Felicia Sturgeon

By Nick Greece