The Czarna Hanza is a sweet little river with crystal clear water. There are very few farms here as it winds it's way through marshlands. We caught the passing interest of only one solitary workhorse.
This section of the river was not without it's difficulties as we encountered numerous fallen trees and clogged up bends in the river which required clearing as well as make-shift bridges some of which we could drag the canoe over while others needed portaging around. A tired pair of paddlers reached Wigry Lake only to find that camping here was impossible as the shoreline was buried in reeds. After a 4 kms crossing of the lake we managed to set up camp by the park headquarters at 1930. A trying and tiring 9.5 hours of river travel.
The following glorious sunny day saw us on the "kayak route" by 0800 and the Czarna Hanza once again became a sweet river now with a slightly increased flow but still very safe and flat water conditions. This section which continues for the next 100 kms. is a very popular kayaking route for summer water adventure for river lovers from all over Europe. The river quality is definetely one reason; another is the support along the river in the form of many camping areas, picnicing areas as well as motel/cabins, stores and even riverside vendors which are all plentiful and inexpensive. Typically a small makeshift dock will appear along the shore and a 'camping field' with a shelter, eating table and benches as well as an outhouse and refuse can then becomes accessable. Somewhere around the dinner hour the landowner will appear, remove the garbage and ask for the camping fee of 5 or 6 zloty per person which is somewhere just under 2 C$ each.
This woman had set herself up deep in the reeds with some fresh homemade blueberry scones and despite our lack of understanding was not going to let us pass without a sale. We were, of course, amenable and we paddled away with 3 warm scones for the grand sum of, once again, 5 zlotys. They were delicious.
The river was gorgeous throughout this section and very relaxing. We were surprised not to find much in the way of wildlife at all but we enjoyed sharing the river with the various ducks and swans. The absence of biting insects was perhaps more enjoyable.
Three days of paddling brought us to the end of the river and into the Augustowski Canal. This canal dates from the early 19th century and was built to transport goods from the Visla river in Poland to the Neman river in Belarus and Lithuania. It is unique in it's still functioning hand-operated locks and gates. This canal will make it possible for us to travel by water to Warsaw. A series of 7 locks and connected canals and lakes lead to Augustow but unfortunately the first 3 locks were being repaired while we were there so it was time for a portage. In the second photo you can see my Canadian roots are showing as I am wearing my canoe as a hat.
In this photo we are following a kayak into a double lock with the attendant looking on and in the last photo 6 paddle craft are being dropped at another lock. The experience was enchanting in it's simple low tech yet highly functional engineering.
Augustow is a summer holiday destination for Poles and others looking to flee the heat and cool off in the many lakes in the area. It is replete with every modern holiday toy that can be found in most beach resort cities anywhere including a carnival. We did see one new attraction on the water. A series of metal towers erected in the lake which have a suspended pulley system hooked up to a motor which pulls up to 8 water skiers at one time in single file around a course!
We have paddled 100 kms. in 5 days and are resting in a very nice hotel here in Augustow with it's own private marina for a night. We are back on the water tomorrow for the final 30 kms. of the canal section and then back onto moving water on the Biebrza river.
We paddled away from the Netta Hotel in Augustow the following morning in glorious sunshine and continued south along the canal.
The holiday atmosphere ended immediately as the next 30 kms. were not suitable for vacation-type recreation and exist only as the final link of the historic canal between Belarus and Poland. Sections of the canal are weed filled and seemed to be cleared only by the occassional paddler. There are 4 locks in this part of the canal and apparently travel along here is rare as we had to search out the lock attendants in their homes. Luckily maps of where to find them were provided at the lock stations. After signing the lock log we could see that only 2 other kayakers had used these locks in a week. A long 27 kms. of paddling on still water finally found us camping on the side of the canal bank where Diana got this sunset photo.
One more lock in the morning brought us into the waters of the Biebrza river. This river gives it's name to the national park through which it flows. This is Poland's largest park and is an important migratory bird staging area. This is also Europe's largest remaining wilderness area. These marshlands have significant populations of moose, which are called elk here, as well as beaver, deer, otter, wolf and something called a racoondog. Thousands of geese pass through this area travelling between their summer breeding grounds on the arctic coast and their Mediterranean wintering areas during the spring and fall. We were able to see a few early family groups of Greylag geese resting here on their way south. These greylags are as large as swans and are the origin of all domesticated geese.
Two days of paddling got us as far as Osowiec-Twierdza, where the park has it's headquarters, and we camped at a campground there on the river for the next couple of days.
The villages and towns, which are the only places where camping is allowed within the park, are very small farm-based communities. Horses, bicycles and tractors are as common a method of transportation as automobiles. The farms are, of course, where the ground is higher and raising dairy cattle and growing hay is the main economy. Everyone along the river has a local-made wooden boat as the marshland can completely flood in the spring thaw.
At particularly important sites the park has created elevated wildlife viewing stations. Local entrepreneurs have also built floating covered platforms which are transported into the marshes by poleing them along the many meandering waterways to get a closer look at the various migrating birds. Here is a picture of a viewing station which we camped under with some other local river travellers as well as a couple of cyclists from Germany. The photo following that is from the viewing platform.
We were in the Biebzra National Park for five days and were unaware of leaving the park. The Narew river, where the park ended looked very much like any other of the dozens of other waterways that flowed into the Biebzra. It was only after passing under a bridge that we could positively identify our position as being out of the park at Wisna, a long 42km. day. We had endured this extended paddling day because we were unsatisfied with the later camping options. The last couple of designated campsites were, in our minds, a little too rough being nothing more than cow pastures with a dilapidated outhouse so we continued. We found a good site as the sun went down on a high bank across from the town of Wisna and congratulated ourselves for finding a camping spot which we needn't share with cattle.
As the sun came up the following morning we were greeted by, you guessed it, a herd of cattle which was sent swimming across the river to their pastures just beyond our camp. There were no problems at all and only the one cow was curious enough to check out our canoe.
We set off down the remaining 225 kms. of the Narew river under variable skies and occasional windy days enjoying the views offered by the larger river. Food supplies were never an issue as a town or village would appear every 40 or 50 kms.
Camping on any of the riverbanks of Poland is never a problem as this land is not private property. This section of our trip was providing some high and dry grass banks unlike the marshes and sites were good and readily available.
The weather was beginning to get colder and we were wondering if summer had ended. To add to the colder temperatures we began to get some heavy rain. One particularily rainy day we called it quits after only 8 kms., built ourselves a shelter and had our only fire thusfar of the 4 month trip to try to dry out.
We paddled 200 kms. of the Narew to see it become a large reservoir and unfortunately were stopped by a strong wind blowing across it that made canoeing impossible. We had to make due with an uncomfortable camp as the wind did not let up all day. As you can see in the photo it was a good day for windsurfing.
The following morning the wind let up, albiet only slightly and we braved the wind and waves knowing there were only 25 kms. left to Warsaw. We were paddling at 0630 and with great effort and even style we crossed the reservoir by 0730 and entered the canal which joins the Narew with the Visla river.
This canal is 18kms. long and ends at a large shipyard which services the Visla river boats and barges. There is a lock here which allows the passage of this traffic into the fast flowing Visla river from the canal. The lock is a large industrial-sized one and we were lucky to arrive with a barge and tug which we shared the passage with. The cost of 6.45 zloty or about 2C$ was another Polish bargain.
We had now arrived at the Visla river and needed only to paddle 5 kms. upriver to Warsaw. As our apartment reservation in Warsaw was for the next day we paddled only about a 1/2 km. and set up our last river camp.
With all the recent rains the Visla was rising and gaining strength very quickly and the next morning we steeled ourselves to our task and with hurculean effort made a successful landing in Warsaw at 1400. A 5 kms. paddle in a mere 4 hours!
Poland is a fantastic place to paddle. The rivers are safe and camping along the rivers is plentiful. The locals are friendly and not at all surprised to see campers. Resupplying is easy and the water is relatively clean needing only the usual pretreating before use. Fish are also plentiful and with a fishing license and a grill resupplying becomes even easier.
As for couples travelling in a canoe together for 850 kms. we recommend coming to some sort of agreement as we did. I was able to remain Captain "Bri" of the Manatee, aka the "Bounty", as long as Diana remained " Queen of the Universe". When everyone has a title, everyone gets to feel important!
Here is our route map. The southern section of 400 kms. from Przemysl to Warsaw took 26 days. The northern section of 450 kms. from Suwalki to Warsaw also took 26 days.
