Kayak The Kwanza

Two friends paddle, hike and wade 1300km along Angola's longest river in support of The HALO Trust's demining work.

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In June 2016, Oscar Scafidi and Alfy Weston set out to complete the first ever source-to-sea expedition along Angola’s longest river, the Kwanza. Paddling and carrying a forty-year-old collapsible wooden kayak, they embarked on a journey of 1,300km in support of The HALO Trust, the oldest and largest humanitarian landmine clearance organisation in the world.

Over thirty-two days the pair kayaked, hiked and waded towards the Atlantic Ocean, meeting a whole host of interesting people – from security forces, to diamond miners, to farmers and fishermen. Things didn’t always go smoothly. They were attacked by hippos and bitten by insects. They sank in rapids, picked up nasty injuries, and were arrested then threatened with deportation.

Oscar and Alfy’s expedition raised $25,000 for The HALO Trust. The documentary film they made of the journey was aired in film festivals in the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia and Cyprus, and their journey is currently being reviewed by Guinness World Records. This is the story of how they did it.

The author will be donating 25% of this book’s profits to The HALO Trust, to help make Angola landmine free by 2025.