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The British Universities Kayaking Expeditions (BUKE) are a biennial event in which a team of experienced student kayakers from across the UK are selected, with the goal of researching, planning and undertaking a successful whitewater kayaking expedition to a destination that remains largely unexplored by kayakers. An expedition has taken place every other year since their inception in 2005.

Concept
The original concept behind BUKE stemmed from the observation that in every university kayaking club there appeared to be one or two highly skilled kayakers who were responsible for looking after beginners or intermediate kayakers on club trips. As a result, the more experienced members of each club often didn't have the opportunity to push themselves on difficult whitewater and develop their own skills. The BUKE platform put these like minded individuals in touch with one another allowed for a team to be formed with a common passion and an ambitious goal. Since the original trip, social media has served to connect people more than ever before, but the purpose of the expeditions still remains; to travel to a far-flung corner of the earth, explore new rivers, discover first descents and make some life-long friendships in the process.

Whilst the selection process is run by previous team members, the ethos of the British Universities Kayaking Expeditions has always been that the expedition should be researched, planned and executed by the selected team. This extends from the selection of the destination, right through to completing any proposed lectures and fulfilling promised media obligations after the event. Whilst the BUKE alumni are always on-hand to ask advice, the idea is that you get out of the trip what you put in. There are a number of commercial providers who provide guided trips to exotic locations, but being master of your own destiny is a far more rewarding way to travel.

Selection Process
The selection process opens the October before the expedition will take place, and consists of two rounds. The first is a paper application, in which applicants summarise their kayaking and travel experience along with any rescue, first aid and media skills which would be of benefit to the expedition team. The BUKE alumni then shortlist the top 20 candidates, who are invited to 3 day "selection weekend", which takes place in North Wales .

At the end of the weekend, the candidates are presented with a list of the names of everyone in attendance, and in a silent ballot, asked to pick the 6 people they think would be most suited to going on an expedition. The votes are counted and the top 6-8 people announced as that years British Universities Kayaking Expedition Team.

More information is available to anyone interested via the | British Universities Kayaking Expedition Facebook page.

Eligibility
The requirements which each aspiring team member must fulfill, are:
 * be a full-time student in the academic year preceding the trip, at an institution registered as a university within the UK.
 * have not participated in any previous "British Universities Kayaking Expeditions".
 * be over 18 years of age at the time of departure of the expedition.

Destination
As part of the selection process, each candidate is asked to research a destination if they get through to the selection weekend. This research is presented to others in the group by way of a 5 minute presentation during the selection weekend. The proposed destinations are then whittled down amidst much discussion via a semi democratic process, often led by Dave Manby with contributions from BUKE alumni and candidates alike. A shortlist, sometimes including a favourite, is usually taken away by the team for further research before a final decision is made on the destination a few weeks later.

History
The idea was conceived back in 2004, when Phil Carrivick had a chance meeting with Dave Manby, who mentioned that there may have been a British Universities Kayaking Expedition back in the early 80's. Phil posted on the two main message boards of the time (UK Rivers Guidebook and Thames Weirs Project ) with a request for applications to take part in a whitewater kayaking expedition in Summer 2005. Of the applications he received, 12 individuals were invited to participate in a "selection weekend" in North Wales. 9 people showed up, and the first BUKE team was born.

The following year Tim Burne, one of the members of the first expedition decided that as that expedition was such a success - both for the team members involved and the interest generated among the wider kayaking community - that the concept should be continued. With the assistance of the inaugural expedition team members, a more formal selection weekend was held a new team selected and the biennial expedition cycle began.

1983 British Universities Kayaking Expedition
A number of years after the first of the existing series of expeditions had taken place, Chris Oliver contacted the organisers saying that he had led the original BUKE trip in 1983. This expedition was to Kurdistan/Turkey. An article looking back at this expedition was published in the (now defunct) Canoe & Kayak UK magazine in October 2012.

Funding & Sponsorship
The responsibility of funding each expedition falls to the team members. Travel grants are often available from universities, and where they aren't some success has been had by writing directly to the university. Previous trips have also received generous funding from organisations such as; the British Canoeing Expedition Fund, the | Lord Mayors 800th Anniversary Award and others. Previous team members have generated awareness of the expedition using interviews in the local press to make contact local business in their home towns who may be interested in offering sponsorship .

Whilst these grants go some of the way to funding the trip, they do not cover the whole cost, which is made up by the participants in that years expedition.

Additionally, major kayak equipment manufacturers provide discounted kit to the teams.

2005 - Kyrgysztan
The 2005 expedition ran from 20th Aug to 20th September. The team rented two 6 wheel ZIL-131 trucks through a company called Turkestan, based in Karakol, and focused their exploration on the north east of the country, successfully descending most of the major tributaries feeding Lake Issyk-Kul, aswell as sections of the Naryn and Sary-Jaz rivers, claiming potential first descents on some small tributaries to the Sary-Jaz and the river flowing out of Song Kol Lake.

Media: During the expedition the team maintained a | running blog on their | website. Upon their return, the team conducted a | lecture tour with highlights including the | Tyne Tour, Wet West Paddlefest and the | Gene 17 Adventure Paddlers weekend. The team also had articles published in the Canoe Focus, Paddles, Playboating UK and | Action Asia magazines. Additionally, river notes were published online.

Grants Received from: British Canoe Union Expedition Grant, Strathclyde University, Teesside University

Equipment Sponsors: | Desperate Measures, | Palm Equipment Europe, | Sweet, Elephant, | Nike ACG, | Seaspecs, Boulder Adventures, Halina Imaging.

2007 - Four Borders (Altai Mountains Russia/Mongolia/Kazakhstan)
The "four borders" of the expedition name, refers to the region around which the expedition was based, where Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia all meet. Whilst most of the expedition was conducted in Russia, 10 days were spent searching for whitewater in the deserts of Mongolia (during what they were told locally was the worst drought in ~20 years). They eventually found success in the form of the Khoroo river. Plans to kayak in Kazakhstan didn't materialise for most of the team due to issues with import licenses for the kayaks, however Graham and Ben did manage to kayak the xxxx river.

The team's main source of river information in Russia and Kazakhstan was from the website: http://kayaking.su/en/rivers/

Media: The team maintained a running |blog on their website for the duration of the expedition. They conducted a | lecture tour upon their return. As part of a deal with ???ITV/Granada? news???, they were lent a Mini DV camera with which to film the expedition and Graham, the trip leader, was interviewed for a slot on the local news before and | after the trip had taken place. A | short highlight reel of the expedition was also created.

Grants: | Imperial College Exploration Board, Aberystwyth University Guild, Nottingham University Athletic union

Sponsors: | Pyranha, | Palm Equipment, Medi UK, STD Pharmaceutical, | Splash Whitewater Rafting, | Alpkit, | Lyon Equipment, | Vango, | Blacks

2009 - Vietnam
Back when I was in 'nam...

Rivers: Around Sapa: Ngoi Dum, Suoi Cat, Song Ta Van (2 day multiday). Around Da Lat: Srepock (including Đray Sáp Waterfall (12.5377, 107.8902))

Media: A trip report was submitted to the Imperial College Exploration Board as a conditions for receipt of one of the grants. A series of blog posts from a sponsor following the trip: https://globetrottersos.wordpress.com/category/british-universities-kayaking-expedition/. Expedition Blog https://web.archive.org/web/20100413010734/http://www.kayaknam.com/expedition-blog

River Guides: https://web.archive.org/web/20100414101616/http://www.kayaknam.com/river-guides

Website: https://web.archive.org/web/20100116064135/http://www.kayaknam.com/

Grants: BCU Expeditions Grant, | Imperial College Exploration Board, University of Leeds, University of Southampton, University of Sterling.

Sponsors: Dagger Europe, Palm Equipment, Teva, Absolute Paddling, Globetrotter SOS.

2011 - Venezuela
A trip billed during the selection weekend as an expedition where beer is cheaper than water, and fuel is cheaper than beer. http://www.kayakvenezuela.co.uk/team.html

Rivers:

Media: A magazine article published in "The Paddler" Magazine A magazine article published in Canoe & Kayak UK Magazine "Canoe & Kayak UK" Magazine

Sponsors: | Pyranha

| Alpkit

| Canoe & Kayak Store

| Cotswold Outdoor

| DD Hammocks

Core Paddles

2013 - Ethiopia
Originally planned to be Pakistan, with a last minute change of destination following the 2013 Nanga Parbat massacre which occurred in the same region the team had researched and had targeted foreign adventure tourists.

Rivers:

Media: The team maintained a blog: https://kayakoram.wordpress.com/ and their footage forms the first segment in in the kayaking film | Too High.

Grants: Broadland Properties, Old Sedberghian Club

Sponsors: Alpkit, Immersion Research, Zet, Select, Fire it Up

2015 - Madagascar
http://www.kayakmadagascar.co.uk/

Rivers:

Media: During the expedition the team maintained a | blog on their | website detailing their adventures. A magazine article published in "The Paddler" Magazine. A | series of short films documenting each of their major descents on the expedition. Additionally, Matt Brook wrote and published an e-book documenting their adventures )

Grants: Bangor University, University of Bath Alumni Fund, University of Strathclyde (Engineering Faculty), Aberdeen University.

Sponsors: Waka Kayaks, Immersion Research Europe, Dewerstone, Manchester Canoes, Garmin

2017 - Philippines
The team spent 7 weeks exploring the rivers of the largest island of the Philippine archipelago, Luzon.

Intro bumf

Rivers:

Media: In addition to posts on the Palm Equipment blog  and the Philipino website Esquiremag, a trip report was submitted to the Imperial College Exploration Board as a conditions for receipt of one of the grants. Extensive river notes can be found on their blog.

Grants: | Imperial College Exploration Board, | Lord Mayors 800th Anniversary Awards.

Sponsors: Palm Equipment, VE Paddles, River Legacy, Radical Riders, Dewerstone, Five TGareten, Alpkit, Tunnock's.

2019 - Russia "Far East" Expedition
This six week expedition from mid June to the end of July, and originally planned to explore the "Far East" area of Russia, using some contacts that Adam Francis had made as a result of his university work. Following more research, it was decided that there might not be enough quality/accessible whitewater to make this destination feasible, so it was changed to explore some of the remote rivers within the mountain ranges surrounding Lake Baikal in eastern Russia. Based in Irkutsk, the largest city in the region, the team paddled four major rivers: one in the Khamar Daban mountains (the Selenginka) and three in the Eastern Sayan mountains (the famous Kitoy, along with the Zhombolok and Urik). Each of these rivers required a many days to complete (the most being 12 days) and during the descent of each major river the team also hiked in to and paddled tributaries, three of which were first descents. Throughout the majority of the trip the team experienced high water levels due to the unseasonable amount of rainfall and remaining snow pack high in the mountains. This added a little extra spice to many of the river descents! All of these rivers were very remote with long drives (or hikes with kayaks) to the put in. Kayaks were loaded with multiple days of supplies making them very heavy. The best way to paddle as many rivers as you can in this region is to have lots of money and hire helicopters to drop you off! Obviously, due this being a student expedition the heli costs made this unfeasible, but so many new rivers can be explored here if you have a little extra cash to spend! The rivers listed here are ones you can do on a (relative) budget, without insane walk ins over mountains.

Rivers:

Media: Video documentary series on Facebook page, | Instagram posts, Blog posts for Palm covering preparation for the trip, mid trip update and post trip reflection.

Sponsors: | Palm Equipment, | Radical Rider (Waka Kayaks), | Dewerstone, | River Legacy, | Vivo Life, | Redpoint Worcester.

2022 - Indonesian Borneo / Kalimantan Expedition
Following a COVID induced 3 year break, rather than the traditional 2 year, the team eschewed the destinations shortlisted at the selection weekend (Cameroon, Kyrgystan/Tajikistan and Azerbaijan) in favour of one of the destinations researched and proposed by team member Aaron White - the Indonesian side of the island of Borneo. The trip initially looked at a second (and possibly last - due to a proposed hydro scheme) descent of the Sungai Kayan in Northern Kalimantan, before focussing their efforts further south in the Sungai Barito catchment based out of the village Muara Joloi. Whilst previous BUKE members have explored the rivers of the Malaysian side of the island (on a non-BUKE trip), they did very little on the Indonesian side, which is significantly bigger and has significantly less well developed infrastructure.

Rivers:

Media: Members of the trip posted updates on their personal Instagram and Facebook pages whilst the expedition was in progress, and also on the Uniyaker | Facebook, and | Instagram accounts. Upon their return they produced a 40 minute film of the expedition, with which they toured the country showing at multiple venues before uploading it to Youtube. Jonah Morgan was interviewed by the | World Extreme Medicine podcast, which is available on youtube. Pretam authored a summary of the trip which appeared in the form of a blog post on the NRS website.

Grants: | The RDC Foundation

Sponsors: | NRS, | Pyranha, | Dewerstone, | Radical Rider, | Expedition Foods, | River Legacy, | National White Water Centre.

2024 - Guatemala Expedition
The team chose Guatemala from the shortlist decided on the selection weekend.

Rivers:

Media: Members of the trip have been posting updates on their personal Instagram and Facebook pages during the preparation, as well as on the Uniyaker | Facebook, and | Instagram accounts. A website was also created to link all of the social media channels into one place. Prior to leaving, Patrick made series of blog posts looking at the preparation for the trip.

Grants: Lord Mayor’s 800th Anniversary Awards, Now On Earth grant, Young Explorer’s Trust grant, RDC Foundation grant.

Sponsors: | NRS, | Pyranha, | Radical Rider, | River Legacy, | National White Water Centre.

The expedition begin on 9th July 2024.