DO IT CANOE TOUR

The time has come. DO IT on tour! We set off today around 12 noon at the Danube source in Donaueschingen. Due to the prolonged heat wave, the water level only allows us to use the kayaks from Riedlingen onwards. We'll cycle the route from the source of the Danube to Riedlingen in two day stages. The kayak will be launched there at 8 a.m. on Monday.

As planned, we were able to launch our kayak, named "Alb Gold Spätzle," this morning and complete the first leg of the day. The low water level means we have to repeatedly walk alongside our boat instead of paddling.

The day's total: 48 km, 8 weirs in just under 11 hours. The sun is burning, and so are our biceps. Exhausted but happy, we reach Dillingen.

The Danube has now grown in width and depth. Due to the many barrages, the river is still barely noticeable. Therefore, we spend between 10 and 12 hours on the water to reach our daily stops.

Danube Gorge, Main-Danube Canal, Regensburg – the Danube has now become a waterway. Freighters and motorboats, instead of ducks and frogs, are now part of everyday life. Strong headwinds made our final leg considerably more difficult. Perseverance is the order of the day – for the Rainbow Children.

We've reached Passau. The German part of our long adventure is coming to an end. Tomorrow it's goodbye Germany - hello Austria. The 500 km mark is already behind us, and we're slowly getting used to the strain.

Our daily routine: Wake up at 5 a.m., then have breakfast, pack up the tent, prepare the boat, etc., until 7 a.m. From then on, we paddle until 18-20 p.m., depending on whether we can find a spot for the tent. Then we cook, eat, rebuild the tent, wash, get things ready, and fall asleep exhausted at 22 p.m. We take a lunch break of about 30 minutes, depending on the day's stage. We portage through an average of three locks a day.

Now a different wind is blowing. In terms of communication, because we've now left the German-speaking area upon entering Slovakia, but also because we're now regularly feeling the strong east wind. It will likely accompany us for long stretches on our journey to the Black Sea and, on some days, will be a fierce opponent.

When we set off from Bratislava in the morning, we had no idea that three severe thunderstorms would await us that day. Then, in the afternoon, we set off. Black clouds, rain, lightning, and thunder. Every storm front meant we had to head to the shore, get out of the water, and take shelter until the storm passed. After so much waiting and paddling in the rain, we were very happy to have a dry and warm sleeping bag in the tent.

No, Martin hasn't become a storyteller—even if it looks like it. He's reading our Danube book, which lists the river's course and special features in detail. Excellent preparation for the next leg. Tomorrow we'll reach Budapest and hopefully have dry ground beneath our feet again!

Zdravovo Serbia! After border formalities in Hungary upon leaving the country and registering in Serbia, which involved more contact with the authorities and formalities, we can not only sing a toast to the Schengen Agreement but also to the friendliness with which we have been welcomed here. Anglers, boaters, and walkers wave to us, and when a storm brewed last night, Diana and Sascha quickly extended their invitation for food and schnapps to include a dry place to sleep in a friend's tent. Simply world-class! With all the hospitality, we almost forgot: we're halfway there! 1400 kilometers of paddling are already behind us. We are now looking forward to the upcoming 1400 kilometers to the Black Sea with anticipation and excitement!

Message in a bottle found! Unexpectedly, while landing for lunch, we discovered a message in a bottle. Curious, we discovered that we couldn't understand anything except the date (January 2018). So we simply took a photo of the text, sent an "interpretation request," and then returned it to the Danube.

The Iron Gate! One of the most scenic stretches of the Danube. The river shrinks from several kilometers wide to just a few hundred meters and winds through high, mighty cliffs. Strong winds whistle through the channels, creating high waves.

For some time now we have been observing that increasing amounts of garbage - especially in the form of plastic - are polluting the Danube and its beaches.

We're finally in the triple-digit mileage range! We've been looking forward to this milestone for a long time. The falling hundreds will now be like a countdown to reaching the Danube Delta. Hopefully, the weather cooperates and we'll be largely spared from the headwind, which would easily slow us down by half and also take a lot of energy. We're in good health, apart from some minor strains.

We're just before the Bulgarian border and look back on a wonderful time in Serbia, filled with hospitality and friendly people. It's simply wonderful to meet such lovely people on hard and tiring days. The landscape was also wonderful for long stretches. We say thank you, Serbia, and look forward to the next part of our adventure. This evening, we send greetings from a very simple, self-built shelter that was offered to us as a place to stay for the night.

Upon reaching Bulgaria, we find ourselves in a pure camping paradise. The exit from the water is flat, and from sandy beaches to dry forest floor, we find everything we need for a great campsite. What a luxury! However, you have to be very careful where you set up camp. In Bulgaria, anglers find their way to their fishing spot on the Danube by car, even on the bumpiest roads through forests and sandy beaches. When you hear cracking in the bushes as if a grizzly bear were forcing its way through the woods, it's usually a fisherman in a car. The howling of a jackal is now part of the evening ritual.

All the birds are already gone...or at least almost all of them. In this case, the Danube served as a gathering place and takeoff point for countless seagulls, who weren't deterred by our paddling through the middle. Fortunately, none of them landed a single hit on our ALB Gold Spätzle.

We continue tirelessly toward the Danube Delta! But first, we're looking forward to our penultimate major destination, "Ruse." There, we'll once again focus on transporting the kayak back.

Finally in Russe! Another 500 kilometers and a day of rest (the last one was three weeks ago) lie ahead of us. But where will we store the kayak? We're actually allowed to store it at the Grand Hotel Russe, right on the Danube – a deluxe parking space in the underground garage. It's always fantastic to meet helpful, open-minded people (or, in this case, doormen)!

When a huge sandbank appears in the middle of the Danube, boats are sometimes towed. It's hard to believe how large these sandbanks can be!

Last border crossing! Today, customs formalities were again on the agenda. Checking out of Bulgaria and checking in in Romania. These processes often take a long time, and the difficulty lies in finding the right police station. We climbed up to the Bulgarian customs station in the super-mud, knee-deep in mud, and then waited for almost two hours for the border guards to come by. So we sat at the dry, completely crooked customs station and were given coffee by the police officer on duty, who even drove us to the supermarket at the end, perfectly passing the time.

Romania welcomed us with summer temperatures, expansive landscapes, and hospitable people. We encountered sheep, goats, cows, and the occasional horse-drawn cart packed to the brim with wood along the Danube. We thoroughly enjoyed the peace and vastness here on the water. At the same time, we had arrived in the last country of our tour, and the final stretch had begun.

On the final major leg, we'll face another real challenge. The storm sweeping through Europe has also reached us as a headwind. To somewhat avoid the insurmountable gusts, we've increasingly postponed our day trips until the calmer nights. During the daytime gusts, we sometimes pull the kayaks by wading through the water along the shore. It's now about 160 km to our destination. We expect to arrive Friday evening or Saturday afternoon. We're excited for the final sprint!

It's done. After more than 2800 km and 56 days, we've reached our destination. At around 17:30 p.m. local time, we passed the mouth of the Danube. We have thus completed the Danube from source to mouth, in aid of the Rainbow Children's Center—a center specifically for physically disabled children in Kenya.