Film: Kayak the Kwanza

Hi! From, hopefully, one of the safer areas of Western Europe - I'm much happier to be back in Ireland, for once. Far fewer people, and far fewer cases of coronavirus than London.. and let's hope it keeps away from me, and in particular from my elderly mother. People over 70 have been advised to stay completely indoors.. and to avoid infection, so am I. Apart from walking the dog.

Now, I spend the evenings watching telly with her, and daytimes during the week are spent working from home. All of which means, unfortunately, that I can't make the midweek virtual Meetups that have started to spring up. Weekends, however, I do have a bit more time.. and today (well, tonight), I decided to start actually doing something that was neither purely practical - nor quite as passive as watching telly. So, I turned to the section of my film spreadsheet that, since I began, has listed films available on YouTube. And once I curated that long-neglected list, I discovered that the most appealing film at the top was a documentary called Kayak the Kwanza. Streaming for free. So, I watched that.

At under an hour long, it's not a massive time commitment - and yes, it is interesting. Very much so, in fact - and to those of us less interested in kayaking itself, don't worry, they don't dwell overmuch on the technicalities of it. The Kwanza is one of the longest rivers in Angola, and this trip was undertaken in aid of the Halo Trust, whose mission is to remove landmines in former war zones around the world - including Angola. Two English blokes do the kayaking - in fact, one of the few criticisms I have of the film is that we come nowhere near anyone else for the duration, nor hear them speak - although we do see them, helping to carry luggage or mend the boat. In fact, one of the kayakers does the bulk of the narration, and it's a considerable way through the film before we hear from the other guy at all! or really get a good look at him..

I found the narrator's delivery very dry - although he patently has a sense of humour, and the film is well edited and entertaining. Mainly, I watched it for a feel of what Angola is like, as I've never been there. Mind you, most of it is seen from the river (of course) - still, there are snatches of views of elsewhere, and we do get a potted history of the country, mainly to explain the purpose of the trip. Later, there's mention of a world record attempt as well - for what, I don't know, as it's never specified.

But for travel lovers, I do recommend this - they manage to capture that sense of excitement at the start of the trip, and it is full of adventure (I won't spoil the surprise). And as I say, not too long. Dunno about the high rating though - probably inflated due to its worthy nature.

For tomorrow - Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) are organising a virtual communal watching of Cypress Avenue, with Stephen Rea, which ran at the Royal Court: who are currently screening it for free on their YouTube channel. Posted on Friday, apparently, and available for 30 days. It's a bit late in the day for me - and their Meetup is full anyway; they restrict the numbers so as not to compromise bandwidth. But hey, I remember being unable to get a ticket when it was running, and would love to see this - so I fancy watching it, a bit earlier in the day!

On Monday, the organiser of London Literary Walks is to release the answers to the quiz he posted us last week. Well, he already has.. just in random order.. which helped me to some of the answers..

Next Saturday, UITCS is hosting another virtual meetup - this time, of a half-hour rock concert at the Albert Hall! Actually snippets of different concerts, all broadcast for free by the venue. Again, the communal experience is a bit late for me - but the Meetup is full anyway, and there's nothing to stop me watching it earlier.

And on the 5th, Anthony's Cultural Events and Walking Activities Group is heading on a virtual tour of Mount Everest, on Google Maps! So I'll tag along.