Osumi by canoe and kayak

 My two favourite rivers are both turquoise and Balkan. One of them is Osumi and it flows through Albania.

After I rafted it and Marcel kayaked it twice (in June 2015 and in April 2016), we were looking forward to paddling its waters again in May 2021. Again in the company of our dear friend Rati, born on the same day as me! His best friend Ardi – and our new friend – helped us with the logistics and with the beautiful pictures. It was cloudy and it started raining right before we started our trip through the canyon but the sun came out while we stopped by the Love Waterfall and guided us until we reached the endpoint near Çorovodë. The grandeur of the gorge and the wonders noticed while floating by made me feel bliss again. I was grateful and lucky to be there again, on the azure couloir framed by the fairytale walls.

 

Some technicalities?

The road to the start of the route from Berat takes about an hour and a half and is doable by any passenger car.  

We always savour a packed lunch about halfway down the river route and take our water bottles with us.

The waterfalls are beautiful and – if the water level is right –, all 8 of them can be spotted.

Allow about 6 hours for the river adventure if based in Berat. 

Go with a guide; it can get tricky if you are not familiar with the route and conditions can change pretty fast inside the canyon. You can contact Ardi.

 

It felt extraordinary to canoe down Osumi in the company of Rati – who was so happy to see his home again! – and be so close to Marcel! We left in our crowded car (4 paddles, PFDs, spray skirts, water shoes, helmets…), the same way we came and stopped to look at a beautiful squirrel.

From Berat, ‘the city of a thousand windows’ that we had enjoyed by day and by night (having trileqe with a view from Berat Castle with wonderful Sara, Rati’s girlfriend, Rati, and their friend Ricky), we headed east and felt the end to our trip through Albania (started in Lin) near.

I didn’t want it to end… and I’ll let the pictures tell you the story of our beautiful water adventure—