Canoe Journeys in Dalsland, SwedenWith their combined 30 years detailed knowledge of the semi wilderness of the Dalsland Lakes, Paul Lethebee and Jim Davis will be able to take you to places (missed by those who don't have their experience) where you will have the chance to see Ospreys, Moose, Beaver and other rarely seen wildlife. Join one of our fully guided and/or catered trips and explore this unspoilt semi wilderness.
Canoeing in Comfort
Read this trip log to get a taste of what there is to do and see.
View Video (3.5 minutes/8.7Mb), pictures from our scrapbook or, if you want to have a family trip, see Family pics
Paul and Jim place great emphasis on canoeing
in comfort.
They will show you all sorts of ways to make yourselves more and more
comfortable
while you canoe, camp, relax or whatever. You will be looked after, cooked
for, coached in
and supported in learning all sorts of skills and most importantly will be
encouraged to
relax and enjoy yourselves on these beautiful lakes. The number of people we
sight
typically during a journey ranges from 6 to 20 and most of these are in the
distance!
Skills: It is not necessary for you
to have any
water skills prior to a journey. However, it is important that you will be
able to be
comfortable sitting in a canoe for up to an hour and a half at a time, as
well as be calm
in the event of an involuntary swim. If you have any doubts
about this, you
should reconsider the appropriateness of a journey. Canoeing
uses more
coordination than strength so there will be no need for you to have anything
other than a
reasonable level of fitness. There are many skills that will be demonstrated
and used
throughout a journey, some of which are canoeing skills while others are
related to living
with nature. A key objective for a journey is to see how comfortable we can
be and we
shall be exploring skills that contribute to this.
Sample Cost Example: 6 day/5
night journey starting
and ending at Dals-Ed, Dalsland, Sweden. - from GB Pound Sterling
1175-00 - inclusive of canoe, barrel, buoyancy
aid, paddle, and tent hire, food, safety cover, instruction, National Park
fees, canoe
shuttle service, but exclusive of personal insurance, alcoholic drinks &
travel to
Dals-Ed,
Sweden.
Travel: You would normally use your
own
arrangements to travel to Sweden. We suggest a flight from the UK to
Göteborg and then a transfer to Dals-Ed (@180km due north of Göteborg) by
train/bus. A minibus option for groups
may be available, but would need to be specified at the time of booking. You
may choose to
extend your stay in Sweden either with a stay in Dals-Ed or with a visit to
Göteborg or Stockholm at the beginning or end.
Documents: You should ensure you
have a valid
passport (and visa, if applicable for non-EU citizens) for the period of the
journey + six months or onger as required. If you are an EU citizen, you are
advised to have an E111 card.
Health: Covid legislation in the UK,
the EU and Sweden must be followed. A confidential medical questionnaire
must
be completed, returned and received prior to a booking being accepted.
Insurance is NOT
covered in the cost. If you do not already have relevant cover, you may want
to look at
SNOWCARD or other providers who can offer a range of options. Whilst there
will be a first aid kit on the trip, we would recommend that
you pack any personal medication that you may require. There will be NO
opportunities to
purchase anything once afloat.
Safety and Emergency Procedures
relevant to our activities have been identified, are available prior to
booking, and will
be introduced and/or practised at the relevant times.
Itinerary: Any proposed itinerary is
an outline
which will be followed subject to environmental factors, the most obvious of
which is the
weather. Your safety is paramount. Within this outline, we can be flexible
and adapt each
day's activities according to personal and group decisions. You will be
encouraged to
paddle with different partners and in different canoe positions, and may
have the
option to split into two groups. The Dalsland Lakes provide an integrated
opportunity to
journey on water and explore the forests and landscapes as well as indulge
in bird
watching, fishing, geology, botany, sketching/painting, photography, and
other country
interests according to people's preferences. Identifying your interests on
our
journey questionnaire will assist us in making your journey more
interesting. The campsites we
stay at are not at all like conventional sites you might find in the UK.
They are mostly on large wooded islands and it is very rare to have
neighbours.
Example Itinerary
The itinerary depends on how and when people arrive and their route, so the following gets adjusted to suit.
Day 1: Once you have arrived at Ed, you will be met and be able to relax after your journey and have tea and cake whilst being introduced to your guides and fellow paddlers. You will be given your own waterproof barrel in which to pack your personal kit and a smaller waterproof barrel for each canoe for 'Day Kit' - windproofs, sun hats, personal stuff. We will then finish packing the canoes, have a general safety briefing and then set off to our first camp site. On arrival, there will be more refreshments and you can choose nice sites for your tents (help available). Meanwhile your guides will be getting the rest of the camp set up and be preparing dinner. After dinner which will be served when you want it, you can relax and chat by the fire. We will outline options for day 2 and you can decide what you would like to do.
| Day 2: 0730 Tea/coffee will be delivered to your tent, after which you can have breakfast on lake shore. 0900 More about safety. Looking out for each other, emergency notes, personal equipment, buoyancy aids, embark check list, rafting up, capsize drills, ecological toilets, the forest environment, fires, whistles 0930 The day's plan- 1200'ish Stop for lunch, stretch, explore 1330'ish Resume journey 1530 Locate camp site, put up your tents (help available). Tea and Cake o'clock 1630'ish Treat o'clock Option to relax, snooze, read, draw, fish, gain paddling skills, take photos, explore, swim, camp craft, tree hugging, etc. 1900 Dinner: make your plans for Day 3; time you want to get up, your route to next campsite, etc., etc. 2030 Camp games, night paddle, relax and chat by the fire. Discuss possible plans for day 3. Start rehearsing your epic stories of daring adventure for the folks back home. We will take the earliest opportunity with as many of you as wish to go on a night or dawn paddle. |
 |
 |
Day 3, 4, 5, ..... last night
camping:
Timings are your choice. Tea/coffee will be delivered to you. Breakfast- confirm day's itinerary De-camp, Resume your journey, Stop for drink/snacks and topical background info Stop for lunch, etc. Resume journey Locate camp site, put up your tents, Tea and Cake o'clock Treat o'clock- something you have brought to share. Dinner: make your plans for next day; Relax and chat by the fire. You may notice some sculptures on your journey, and you can, if you wish, take the opportunity to express your artistic bent and produce a masterpiece of your own. Last Day: Day +: Jim and Paul will happily provide you with a
light breakfast, before you depart for Göteborg or another destination of
your choice. |
Your Guides
Paul and Jim enjoy the pleasures that travelling on water brings. They have
many years of experience of living and working in the countryside and live
in the
Yorkshire Dales. They hold coaching qualifications awarded by the British
Canoe Union
covering the skills required for journeying on open water in canoes.
Individually they
also have other skills in mountaineering, caving, kayaking, sea kayaking and
sailing as
well as a reasonable knowledge of plants, birds, fish and rocks, etc. With
more than one guide, you
have the option to split the group some days depending on the weather and
have more
flexibility and variety in a journey. Your guide(s) will be on hand to coach
you in canoeing
skills, pass on country skills and respond to your questions and
suggestions, without
being intrusive.
This guided canoe venture has been developed with our host in Sweden- Bertil
Anderson of Canodal. A journey begins at
Ed at the Canodal base. There is every possibility
that we will travel partly through Norway as the border is quite close. We
will be
collected from whichever destination is most appropriate and return by road
to Ed.
To make an enquiry, please send us
a message
and we will reply to you.
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