Rafting track attracts thousands every year

BURSA

The one-of-its-kind rafting track situated in Orhaneli, a mountainous district of the northwestern province of Bursa, attracts a multitude of domestic and foreign visitors.

Lately, Orhaneli is attracting attention with its rafting course, the only one in the Marmara region, established in Kocasu Creek.

Orhaneli Mayor Ali Akyurt stated that rafting has provided a great increase in the number of local and foreign tourists coming to the district.

Stating that Kocasu is ideal for rafting, Akyurt said they built bungalows and social facilities in the forests next to the rafting area to host foreign tourists who come to enjoy this sport.

“The largest river of the Marmara Region passes through our district. We opened our rafting track here in June 2021. In the last two years, our district has hosted about 15,000 guests and athletes coming for rafting from many countries such as Belgium, Germany and mainly Kuwait. We host 1,500 foreign tourists annually,” Akyurt said.

The German Shepherd dog living in the rafting area named “Leo,” accompanies the tours and attracts the attention of visitors, so much so that there are families coming from Belgium to do rafting with him.

Hasan Kılıç, Leo’s owner, stated that before the rafting facility was established, he used to come to the Creek to fish and brought Leo with him to cool off.

“I realized that he loved the water very much while swimming together. Later, when rafting facilities were established, I started to work as a guide here. Leo rafted with me. When his images were shared on social media, Leo became the center of attention. He sometimes jumps into the stream and swims with the boats during rafting.”

Enes Ankıt, the manager of the facilities, stated that rafting is done with either six-person or two-person boats on the seven-kilometer track and the hourly rate is about 1,500 Turkish liras per boat.

“We had 15 guides in our facility, which were put into service with the devoted work of our mayor. Later we increased this number to 30, and most of the guides are students,” Ankıt added.