“The season comes and nervousness comes. Earlier than each swim sure. A way of accountability. Now that you recognize these surrounding rivers, it is simpler. And also you need one thing new. However with the brand new one, it is the identical. As soon as we hit Virinta, then the ladies laughed that that they had not gone for a kayaking journey, however for a mountain climbing journey: you swim 100 meters and the gate is such that you simply can not overcome it, you solely must go round it. The river itself may be very stunning, however nobody takes care of it,” says Egidijus.
– Since when have you ever been organizing kayak journeys?
– Once I used to work with youngsters’s camps, these journeys weren’t all about kayaking. We used to go biking and mountain climbing. And we began kayaking journeys with the Rokiškis Area Tourism Society, with Leonard Šablinskas. That they had kayaks, I helped set up the hikes. Perhaps from 2006-2007.
– And when did you purchase your kayak?
– 5 years in the past. Assist for rural improvement from the Ministry of Agriculture. For the creation of jobs within the countryside. We established positions, opened an organization, wrote a venture and began swimming.
– What number of hikes do you set up in the course of the season?
– Quite a bit. It’s a must to have a look at the lists. Final 12 months in the course of the season we had sooner or later off after we didn’t sail wherever. There are hikes that we set up and select the route ourselves, and there are chartered sailings the place purchasers purchase our companies. The season begins in mid-Could, though we begin earlier. And all the things goes on till the center of September, however we regularly end our hikes on the finish of October, starting of November. We work for about 4 months, after which the exercise stops. Throughout the season, you might want to earn sufficient to maintain the positions. That is the enterprise.
– Do you even have a variety of constitution journeys?
– Quite a bit. We don’t promote a lot, however we obtain orders from Vilnius, Kaunas, Panevėžys. Virtually every single day in the course of the season.
– Are there every other attention-grabbing rivers that you have not sailed?
– Oh! Quite a bit. We sailed primarily in Aukštaitia. Central Lithuania, a part of Dzūkija. I would love to cowl the opposite aspect as effectively – Žemaitija. However these are greater prices, and the value goes up for folks. Latvia’s Latgala appears to be proper right here, and virtually nowhere to swim, though there are superb rivers. This 12 months we are going to attempt to see Kriaunas from Latvia to Obeli. A river that nobody has tried, though it’s utterly distant. We often swim in Kriauna from Obelija. What about Apples? It’s a must to attempt. Yearly, we clear and set up to make the river attention-grabbing and engaging. Once we fastened the monitor a bit final 12 months, those that got here from different locations appreciated it very effectively. It has already turn into engaging for water tourism. You need not pull the kayaks alongside the shore, however give it some thought if you end up swimming. There is no such thing as a time to smoke, as we are saying.
Photograph of the non-public archive of Egidijus Galvydis.
Extra in “Native…”
2024-05-18 10:00:18