A New SuperHero flies into Ecuador!

Team Jackson Kayak members Marty Cronin and Brian"Frenchie" Gardel get their boof on with Endless Adventure International.


After a whirlwind travel from across the continent JK Team members arrived at our base camp in beautiful Borja. As my driver pulled up with the boyz I noticed a shinny new red SuperHero in the back waiting to be boofed. Marty and Frenchie seemed stoked to get going and the going we would get as our first run on the three day agenda was the Upper Jondachi! After suiting up Frenchie with a new Villain S I grabbed a Villain for myself and we were on our way to the river at the crack of noon. We arrived around 1:30 and met up with one of our guides Abraham Herrara, his girlfriend Natalie on crutches, and a little Chihuahua named “Snakebait”. Actually, the dogs name is Henry but given where we were and the size of the dog, Marty coined him a new name. We decided to put in on the Urcusiqui, a tributary to the Upper Jondachi that bypasses a gruelling hike through steep mud after all paddlers present chose kayaking over walking; big surprise there.
The trib was not exactly a warm up as we were faced with endless three to six foot angled boofs into tiny pools right from the start. The low volume creek was enclosed by a canopy of bamboo, and other crazy jungle greenery that made the creek seem even smaller. Small to medium sized round boulders were scattered about with water channels smoothing over them offering up the chance to boof our butts off literally. What a trip it was for the boyz, just paddling the trib would be enough to fill their paddling booties but we had more to come with the infamous Upper Jondachi.
Marty lining up a boof
Abraham getting a facefull
Frenchie on the Jondachi
Marty smiling for the camera!


As we entered the Jondachi from the trib the volume difference was substantial not only that, the water colour changed from clear to slightly muddy, always a good sign in a jungle river that can flash flood in seconds. If the first drop was any indication of our day we were up for a beauty, a seven foot boof with two channel options into a pool before another four foot drop. After seal launching the first rapid below the normal put in we were full on no looking back. We had one more portage just more than half way down due to a couple badly placed logs that ixnayed one of my favourite drops. As we were finishing the portage we put our boats down on a gravel bar on the river left to asses our next move. A few seconds later we noticed our boats floating and the gravel bar quickly disappearing, it was unanimous decision to get the heck in the river as fast as we would. It was not the first time this river has spiked on me and we were all very fortunate that it did when we were on the bottom half of it. The high water was a blessing after putting in so late we actually pulled out at the bridge before dark. The adventure did not end there as most don't in Ecuador. Abraham's girl did not make the take out to pick him up and the possibilities of a non spanish speaking woman in Ecuador with bait for a dog on crutches no less, were swimming in our minds. We decided to drive to Tena and with phone service start making the desperate calls to solve the mystery. Luckily, Natalie was able contact my dear wife Andrea with her last call on a low battery phone. She was stranded at the put in with a dead battery phone and car as well Abe was on on route to save the day with the Bomberos (firefighters) to find brave Natalie crutching her way along the highway with little dog by her side. What a wild warm up for the jungle overnighter on the Hollin River we were to experience the next day.
The Spiders that guard the entrance to the Hollin.
Seal launching the IK
Frenchie stylin the entrance waterfall
Me giviner

The Hollin River is one of my favs in Ecuador. First of all it starts with a twenty footer and numerous class IV-V drops, one of them into a cave. The scenery is fantastic with tonnes of waterfalls cascading into the river on both sides, colourful butterflies and birds and the best campsite I have ever been to. I arranged for an Inflatable Kayak to support the trip with camping equipment and of course party favours for a night around the campfire. EAI guide and cook Abby Dent came along to guide the IK and prepare meals with Andy Nowatski in the front paddling his heart out. I could write a blog on the adventures of the IK alone. Since the run starts out pretty gnarly the swims were stacking up as Abby and Andy were trying to figure out how to manoeuvre the class III craft through class IV+. I noticed Andy looking upstream after a the first swims contemplating the jungle hike out. Andy is one tough mother and I has been dragged through many adventures with a positive survival rating so he stuck with the mission. We were all pretty excited to see we were at camp after what seemed to be a long day of paddling. After about an hour of setting up camp and getting the fire going we were ready to relax and exchange stories of which were mostly kayaking dominated.

me and Abby preparing Pasta with pepperoni sauce and garlic bread on one of the finest kayak tables around!

Camp at the Hollin

We sat circled around a fire and gazed at the stars with one of three fine drink options to warm our hearts and prepare us for a night of sleeping in the jungle. The next morning Marty enjoyed some fly fishing while we all relaxed in the picturesque scenery of camp. A class V rapid pounding into a wall that leads into a sieve, a hundred foot waterfall, lush jungle in the background, and a sandy beach to sleep on and chill. It was a hard place to leave but we were set for a long day of paddling.
One of the many waterfalls pouring into the Hollin
Team IK getting some downtime!
Another beauty IK drop

one of the may boofs on the Hollin

The following day was perfect, great weather, great lines, with great friends. We saw Morpho butterflies, kingfishers, and even fish on our low stress meander through the jungle. After getting off the river at sixish we ended the day properly with a gigantic steak at The Marquis Restaurante (Pee-wees). Marty and Frenchie were on there way for more adventures and I was counting my last days in this spectacular country of Ecuador.

See you on the river,
Chris Ryman