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DNIEPER FLOODPLAINS
Kayaks, mangroves and fields of flowering lilies
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We made our next "foray" into the Kherson region in June 2020. Thanks to such trips, we are developing our "Green Tourism in Ukraine" , collecting fresh material while traveling around the country, and inviting new members to the group who love to explore Ukraine.
Today's report will be about the Dnieper floodplains. This is the name of the places where the Dnieper spreads into several "branches", creating unique landscapes of islands and straits. The ecosphere of the marshes is represented by a huge number of emerging and underwater plants, and is also very comfortable for all kinds of birds. It so happened historically that due to the construction of a cascade of hydroelectric power plants, the main territories of the Dnieper floodplains went under water, but in some places their fragments remained, which, fortunately, the human hand did not reach.
A few hours on the bus from Kiev and we ended up at the "Kozak" green tourism base.
At the entrance, a serious controller remotely measured the temperature of everyone and issued entrance bracelets. We looked with sleepy eyes at the river in the distance. An inexperienced traveler would consider it a part of the Dnieper, but we knew that this was the Kozak river, which deserved to have its own name.
Of the services that we managed to find out about: to put up a tent under a special canopy (look at the photo) cost 100 hryvnia. Showers, toilets and a cafe-bar on site are included.
But we came to the Dnieper floodplain not for the sake of bars and cafes (but this is not exactly 😂), but in order to "walk" along the floodplains on kayaks. Multicolored boats were already waiting for us on the shore.
Since this was the first experience of our contact with a kayak, we happily jumped into it and sat down, not even paying attention to the fact that it was not launched. And so we sat until the instructor called us to get acquainted with the "Safety on the water".
The briefing has been passed, the oars have been received, it is time to pull your yellow boat to the water.
Thanks to a few light strokes and a tailwind in the back, we very quickly went out into the big water, where we peacefully enjoyed the surrounding landscapes.
Several other proud ships were sailing in parallel, driven by brave sailors and sailors.
And here's the final photo of our entire team. Don't be confused by the barbed wire above the fence - it's just a small symbol of the "Savetsky" service that sometimes greets tourists in Skadovsk...
While the front half of our team was rowing hard, the other half from behind enthusiastically “sawed” selfies against the background of nature, trying to make sure that the paddle was in the frame 😊😊😊.
And then the fun began. The instructor in front of the kayak turned sharply to the left. We rushed after him and found ourselves in a beautiful channel, which gradually narrowed.
So that readers can feel at least a little the atmosphere of this mini-hike, we have recorded a short video.
Then beauty went: water lilies surrounded our boat and looked at us curiously. The most timid of them did it from afar, hiding under a canopy of "mangrove" trees.
Our path narrowed to a canal about a meter wide. As instructed by the senior instructor, it was time to parse the fun in order to be able to get through this narrow corridor.
In the next photo, the captain of our kayak reports about his readiness to professionally turn one big paddle into two small ones 💪💪💪.
And now the oars were disassembled and we continue on our way, paddling with short oars, like on a classic kayak.
Suddenly, the walls of reeds parted and we found ourselves in a huge floodplain of the river, where several huge islands of flowering lilies were located.
Yellow water lilies and white lilies were rightful owners in this part of the river. We sailed along these beauties, breathless with admiration.
It was even a little scary that we could accidentally hook and damage one of the flowers or petals, so we moved through these natural flower beds at a speed close to zero 😊😊😊.
The time of admiration was coming to an end, but we still could not part with this place, which gives travelers so much beauty and spiritual peace.
On the way back, the unexpected happened. When we left the canal back into the big water, it turned out that a strong headwind had risen, which absolutely did not allow us to move back to the camp. Several kayaks, which had sailed much earlier from the lily meadows, floundered helplessly near the exit from the canal. The wind turned the rowers' efforts into futile efforts. We decided to prove to the wind that we were "not weaklings" and at the expense of "one-two-one-two" we began our struggle with the flow of oncoming air. And he gave up. We walked around several kayaks and finished near the campsite. On other kayaks, some of the rowers went so far as to row against the wind that a motorboat was sent for them. A couple of minutes passed and a river train from a motor boat and kayaks brought the rest of the expedition to the camp.
After everyone disembarked, we were able to explore the richness of fauna and birds on the Kozak River.
Even now, several days after this kayaking trip along the Dnieper floodplains, we recall with pleasure both the beauty and difficulties that the Kozak River has endowed us with. While the blisters we get from fighting the wind give us a sense of pride, we still recommend taking gloves on this trip. And throw more water into the kayak - it won't be superfluous there!
We hope you were interested in our adventures in the Dnieper floodplains.
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