Back in the beginning of July, I posted a story about Belgian Adventurer Louis-Philippe Loncke and his plans for a summer adventure. At the time, Lou-Phi was preparing to set out on his BelgiKayak expedition, which would see him paddling more than 600km of waterways between Brussels and Ostend. He hoped to document the beauty of the countryside, as seen from the river, as well as spread the word on why it is so important to protect Belgium's natural water sources.
I received a note from Loncke earlier today providing an update on his progress. He says that while the weather hasn't been great for his expedition thus far, he scenery has lived up to it's billing and has been quite beautiful at times. He is passing through areas that seldom are paddled, and the experience has been a good one thus far.
Despite the often spectacular scenery however, Lou-Phi reports coming across several "trash islands," and has he has often collected some of the junk himself for disposal at the end of the day. His list of unexpected junk has included: "plastic bottles, liquor bottles, cans, a condoms, a pamper, dead fishes, dead birds, food, a thermos, a baby trolley and a dead deer." The last of those he removed from the river while avoiding capsizing his kayak.
As of last week, Loncke was halfway through his journey, which will ultimately culminate at the Black Sea. He'll resume the trip tomorrow, and thus far he's been averaging about 15 miles per day, which is pretty solid mileage considering he's had only one lesson before setting off on his route. Because of his relatively small amount of experience, he has sometimes had issues dealing with rough waters or the wakes of much larger vessels, but so far Loncke has managed to avoid any major issues, and is enjoying the paddling experience.
Follow along Lou-Phi's website for more updates and photos. It seems he's found a great summer adventure and he's doing a great job of sharing the experience with the rest of us.
