The White Drin Canyon SUP Adventure

Kosovo

Nov 16

Fshajt Bridge, White Drin Canyon, Kosovo.

Sitting at home one evening, randomly browsing the internet, I stumbled across a story about kayaking through the White Drin Canyon in Kosovo. The canyon looked so majestic that I immediately felt compelled to SUP the White Drin Canyon.

But what a lengthy, stressful and, at times, dangerous journey it was to get there!

An early morning Easyjet flight from Manchester

Taking an early morning flight from Manchester, I was in Sofia, Bulgaria by early morning. But it would take me all day to travel the 450 km journey through Bulgaria and Macedonia and into Kosovo. It was dark when I arrived in Prizren, at the first of a number of ‘Ghost Hotels’ I would overnight in during my SUP the Balkans Tour 2018.

The roads in Bulgaria were OK apart from a stressful experience at the Bulgaria-Macedonia border when I was unable to open the glove compartment in my hire car to access the documents I needed to cross the border. I had visions of spending the rest of my life sitting there, but eventually, I was able to break the lock open, find my docs and get on my way. A few hours later I was at the hotel in Prizren. Sadly, the hotel restaurant was closed but I was offered a complimentary glass of wine to stave off the hunger. You’ve got to love a hotel that has its own wine!

Instead, I dined at a small bar-restaurant inside a petrol station and retired early, ready for my trip to the White Drin Canyon the following day.

The White Drin runs for 122 km through Kosovo before crossing the border into Albania and then travelling a further 18 km, where it meets the River Buna. The Buna then continues all the way to the Adriatic.

The canyon itself is not much more than a kilometre in length.

At 2.60 km for the return trip, this wasn’t the longest paddle I have ever undertaken, and I travelled a long way to get there, but I would do it all again in an instant. Stand-up paddleboarding through the White Drin Canyon was a dream come true for me. Although there was white water at either end of the canyon, the water inside was as flat as a sheet of glass and absolutely perfect to paddle on. I did try to paddle further upstream after exiting the canyon, but the conditions were too challenging for me. Many rocks were jutting through the white water, and I had no desire to injure myself, especially as I hadn’t thought to wear a helmet.

G0031425 (2).JPG — Fshajt Bridge, Kosovo.

G0031573 (2).JPG — The White Drin Canyon

In the summer months, they hold free-jumping competitions here, where competitors leap off the bridge or from specially constructed platforms into the deep water below. Happily, I was there in autumn, and no one jumped off and landed on my head, especially as I hadn’t thought to wear a helmet!