First day of the tenth expedition

I ask Mārtiņš – why Mapo? “It’s simpler, there are many Mārtiņš in Latvia, even my mom sometimes calls me Mapo”. Mapo is a first timer in our expeditions and admits that he has waited for this trip and he is a bit stressed.

We start from a Vasargelišku watch tower, it’s located close to the Slutišku Old Believers village, what we visited in our last trip.  Our plan is to try the famous Daugavas circle with a raft. There is a breathtaking view from the watch tower. Mapo says, despite the fact that he has huge experience traveling around the world, it’s very beautiful right here and he doesn’t understand why he hasn’t come here before. We see that the raft is already waiting for us. 

We ride our motorcycles on the raft. It’s incredibly stable, and there is no need to secure them. I have a spinning with myself, I will try to catch some fish for the dinner. A short instruction in rowing and we start our trip!

We row to the middle of river, where the current is stronger. After 5 minutes of the trip, Mapo sees camping on the right side of the river. He thinks, he has seen this place in a photo. Mapo phones Matīss and it really is his property. We stop at the shore and we are witnesses to a emotional meeting. Matīss visits us on the raft, we say good bye and continue our voyage. At the same time, Renārs has let loose his drone, the current is strong and the drone has to do some catchup. The battery runs out, Renārs loses control of it and the drone lands in Matīss’ camping. We call Matīss and agree to meet after the next circle.

As my second biggest hobby is fishing, I try to remember everything I know about spinning in Daugava and what was written in fishing books. A commentary from the rafter that rarely someone catches something from the raft doesn’t lower my enthusiasm. After hard work, I am saved and from a hopeless fisherman I have become a true hero! A beautiful pike has caught my hook.

We stop at the shore and see Matīss once again. He brings us our drone so we can keep filming. After some hours, Mapo has an idea that internal combustion engine has been researched centuries ago. He proposes to put the back wheel of our huskies in water and use it as an engine so we can speed up. We like the idea! The effect is fantastic, Mapo is in his element – accelerates and shifts gears, the raft speeds up. After some time, we take out the motorcycle from the water and continue enjoying the rhythm of river, quietness and sunset.

Right before dawn, we finish at our guest house. We just need to climb the steep shore. There is no path. Looks like an enduro challenge. Mapo admits that he is not experienced with an enduro bike, and possibly he doesn’t know how to ride uphill. Despite numerous failed attempts, he succeeds at last.