Ies Godwaldt, Team Fokiwa founder

Hi, my name is Ies Godwaldt and I come from the Netherlands. I amthe guy who started Team Fokiwa 3 years ago. Why? that's a question people ask me often. more about it now...

Ies. Photo by °hf

First of all I was tired of going to rodeo's alone or when I called a lot of my kayak friends, to hear from the most of them: "eeeuuh no sorry, have to go to.. or my wife... or whatever."

I also saw, that the image of kayak rodeo was not the way it should be. The people I spoke to always think that rodeo kayaking is only about winning the game, and if you're not number one on the list, that you've lost. WRONG, I think that being there with a lot of kayak friends, is 2x 24 hours FUN and PARTY time.

You don't have to win to have a great weekend wherever in the world, and if you want, there's always a lot to learn from people who are better than you and like to tell you what you did wrong.

So I started up the Fokiwa page, and started to tell everybody about the fun and where I was going during the weekends. Then I started to put the pictures off the weekends on the page and the beginning of Team Fokiwa was born.

I didn't had to call anybody anymore, people started to mail me, and the internet did a great job for the Team. The Fokiwa Van came a few months later and from that moment on, we were on the run. On the most European rodeo's these day's, you will find Fokiwa members and we are also organizing a Fokiwa Tour every year.

We have been paddling a lot off rivers and play spots the last few years, and for the Tour 2001 we think about going to Nepal or the Sambezi.

Everytime we go on tour, we make one video that is cutted by a real pro editor (thanx Ron), so if you ever want to see or buy one of our video's, check your local dealer or mail ies@fokiwa.com.

For the rest I must say, when I started Team Fokiwa all alone, I had a lot off people around me, helping me with the page and organizing the Tours. A special thanx is for Erik (bonobo) who is not only my right, but even my left hand sometimes.

If you ever want to join a tour or paddle with us just give me a mail and we are on a paddling tour with lots off fun together. O yeah one last thing, don't forget to fill in the Paddlers Data Base on my site because that's the place where you can find the people you are looking for or where people can find you.

Ies email: Ies@fokiwa.com

Ies page: www.fokiwa.com

Ciao CU soon somewhere, Ies