River Rafting in Dandeli – Drive over the rapids of Kali

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Rafting is one of the many adventurous activities that sets your adrenaline rush at the highest level. It provides a high level of thrilling experience. It takes out all fear of the water. You take roller coaster ride not in a Fun Park but on the rapids of untamed river… just for the sheer thrill of conquering them. At the same time you enjoy the unbeatable views of Maiden River that can’t be seen being on its banks. Go face to face with the fear of getting struck to big stones lying at the start of the rapids. Water flows with such a thrilling speed that after getting struck to the raft, water waves splash on your face. Overall you will love each and every moment of being in the middle of an uncontrollable river.

Rafting is the sport that has caught much needed attention in India. It was believed that most of the Indians love to play safe in their life but now most of them are eager to taste the thrill of the rapids of a wild river. Take the name of rafting and first name comes in mind is Rishikesh but I was lucky enough to discover a place in Karnataka itself which is exactly on the border of Karnataka and Goa. The name is Dandeli having river Kali to provide the adventure enthusiasts the fun of rafting.

Dandeli is a small town in North Karnataka in Western Ghats region. It lies at the border of Karnataka and Goa. Natural beauty that lies here can’t be defined in words. It itself lies amongst dense forests which surrounds it from across all sides. It is surrounded by Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary that is the second biggest sanctuary in Karnataka and Anshi National Park. Kali is the river which is the lifeline of Dandeli. It flows with its full glory making the people spellbound. Also offers a number of activities for the people who come here like boating, crocodile watch, natural Jacuzzi etc.. amongst which rafting is the major one.

First Half of the Day

We stayed at Kamat Hotel in Dandeli, reached late in the last evening from Goa after a 200km ride on our bikes. We were so tired that went to sleep very early so that we can restore our energy back which is the main requisite for this kind of an adventure sport. Before even having the dinner did an important task... gathered all the information about rafting as was having no idea from where we would start the next day. The Hotel staff was very cool and explained each and every detail with patience and tried to answer all the queries.

Kali Adventure Camp is the place where we need to go to got ourselves registered and start our day which was full of adventure. We left the hotel at 8:30AM for Kali Adventure Camp which was around 2 kms from the hotel so we reached within 10 mins. We got ourselves registered and started to wait for jeeps which were about to come to pick us to the spot from where rafting need to be started. This pick and drop by the jeep is all included in the money that you pay for rafting. One point I got to know there is - rafting has been taken care by the govt in Dandeli so charges are same at all the camps and agents.

We noticed a very good thing that is not so common in India. Apart from our group one more group was also present. You will be thinking that what the big deal is if another group was there. But this group consisted of only females and most of them were in their late 40s and few were in their 50s. I was really amazed after watching that group which was there not for the sightseeing(the most common activity) but for one of the adventure sport we youngsters thrive for... Hats off to them.

A bumpy ride for about 20kms in the jeep through the picturesque beauty of Dandeli took us to the point where we need to mark our entry again. While other group was doing it I was busy in scanning the place which was having a bridge... on one side of that bridge a dam has been constructed which was making the view awestruck. It was a very huge dam, also very closeby. No snaps are there for the route or dam because we were not allowed to take anything with us L.

The point to start rafting was not very far away. Air was blowing in a different way filling each and every nerve with enthusiasm. Three rafts were already there with lot of life jackets, helmets, paddles of different colors. The trainer told us the basic things necessary to know... before going for this kind of adventurous sport . We were in real hurry to go for rafting but still listened to him very patiently considering that safety has the highest priority to complete our trip successfully. They also made us read and sign a document which basically contained that we are going for this sport as per our will and no one else is responsible for the individual in case something happens.

Thrill for the Day

We were a group of 6 along with us they accommodate a couple in the same raft. Gradually we got friendly with them and then they were also the part of our group only. Kishan who was the trainer for our raft told us some more commands to follow. After a while we were in the middle of the river and he asked us to jump into it. We all were like we were dreaming in the sunny day in the middle of a river and gazing him with our mouth wide open… that we even don’t know basic swimming and he is asking us to jump into this kind of wild river. But his face was telling us that he is not joking and he again said “JUMP”… nothing will happen. Then suddenly that couple jumped and went down in the water… we were staring at that point continuously and after few seconds they came up. Then Kishan explained us that in this way you will come out of your fear and it will be easy to float if you will fell by chance in the river. Then we all jumped in one-by-one.

The feeling of jumping into the lap of an untamed river is not so common not easily describable. There is no base where we could stand. We were simply floating on the water with the help of life jackets. Initially we were scared because never done this kind of thing in life before. But after some time we were enjoying it like a private river ;). Kishan was the only person who was in the raft and then he took all of us back on it.

Each moment of the rafting was full of thrill. Our raft was jumping over the waves of Kali like a racing bike goes on the rough terrain. Paddles in all of our hands were moving in the clean water of Kali in sync as  Kishan was commanding us. Sometimes he said to move it to Move Backward then we all were dragging it back and other time to Move Forward. Water was so clear that we could see very deep in the water. There were big stones and very big stones on which water was getting struck and splashing on our face. Also too many trees and plants were standing in the middle of the river making the way for raft to move in between.

At some places speed of the water was getting increased like waves of sea while at other it was flowing so calm. At one of such point suddenly Kishan shouted "See Crocodile", we all saw to that side and tried to spot it but got to know he was playing prank with us. He again pointed to one of the Hornbill but it was not prank this time :) . It was a beautiful Hornbill sitting on the branch of the tree like she was also waving "HI" to us.

There were 9 rapids of various strength… 2 or 3 very strong... out of which last one was wonderful. Kishan made two of us to sit at the front end of the raft on our knees one by one. He took us to the rapid and raft got down in the river and we two were completely wet with the huge wave of water which was created due to big stones lying there. I honestly do not have any words for that feeling.

At last I can say that to feel the thrill of rafting.. jump into the middle of water and you will have an unforgettable experience for the life time.

Note:- There is much more in Dandeli to do. Please check some of the activities that I did in rest of the day in the following blogs.