Two people with bad backs go Kayaking in Patagonia
Paralysed from the chest down, Karen Darke tackles an epic kayaking expedition with her partner, mountaineer Andy Kirkpatrick. In a remote region of Patagonia they face dangerous currents and tides in their quest to get to Laguna San Rafael and its famous glacier. In one of the world’s remote places, with little hope of rescue should things go wrong and with few places to camp en route, this turns out to be the most committing journey Karen has ever attempted.
Filmed in Chile in 2009 for BBC 2 Scotland, this films shows a short - be eventful - trip through an area of the Patagonian archipelago. With no support (the film crew wanted it to be as real as possible, so they left us too it), tough conditions, and both of us not being able to walk (you’ll have to see the film to find out why). A typical Kirkpatrick fuck up!
"It squeezed us dry of every last drop of energy, and then demanded more...Each night, I dragged myself through barnacles and crabs towards bivvy spots that might keep us safe from the unpredictable tide, and Andy crawled around, chopping small logs to roll the kayak up the beach...Any comfort we’d taken in our adventure being safe, given the proximity of the film crew on their boat, the ‘Natuiluca’, disappeared on day one, when they lost us, our white double kayak just a speck amongst the expanses of breaking waves. We felt vulnerable, all too aware that under ‘non-filming’ circumstances we would never come to such a remote man-eating place without other kayakers, believing some safety in numbers."Karen Darke