Whitewater Rafting

Yesterday I had a great adventure--I went whitewater rafting! I have been twice before (in the States), but I think this was the most intense. First of all, it's the rainy season, so the river was pretty rough in some places. We rafted down 18 miles of the Pacuare River with class III and IV rapids. I went with nine other exchange students, and it was a blast!

We met at 5 am at the University--it was VERY early, and still dark. From there we took a bus to San José, and then took cabs to the bus station, where we bought tickets to Turrialba, which was about an hour and twenty minutes away. There, the people from Costa Rica Adventures picked us up and we drove about 40 minutes to the launch site. We put on our life jackets and helmets and divided into two boats: six of us in one, four in the other with a couple from Mexico. I was in the first boat with five other girls (Ashli, Lauren, Caitlin, Corrylee, and Abby) and our guide, Mario. We stopped about two-thirds of the way for lunch, which was sandwiches and fruit (we were all super excited for "American"-type sandwiches on wheat bread).

The river itself was goreous: surrounded by huge trees, green plants, vines, and mountains, it felt like something out of a movie. We saw birds and several butterflies, including the Blue Morpho butterfly, which is black and bright blue. The water was chilly, but it felt good in the heat, which was a good thing because we were all soaked in minutes. Huge rocks that looked like they'd been there forever lined the banks of some parts of the river, and some were worn into smooth curves by the water. We saw dozens of little cascadas, or waterfalls, some trickling down along the rocks and some pouring out of the forest.

Paddling was hard work, and sometimes nearly impossible in a rapid. I'd reach my paddle forward, only to not find any water as we went over a wave, or to have it pushed back by a crash of water. Sometimes I would look and see a drop that was a good couple feet, and down we would go, then have a huge wave douse us with water. It was kind of scary sometimes, though really fun. I was amazed by our guide, Mario: how he knew exactly when we should paddle, when we should stop, and when we should "get down," which means slide off the side and hunch down on the floor of the raft. It was also amazing how the river would carry us in exactly the right direction: we'd be about to run into a rock, but then a wave of water would carry us forward and out of danger.

We did pretty well until one class IV rapid (named the "Indian Cemetery," as we found out later). Mario told us to get down as we rode down this rapid, and water was splashing us like crazy. I had my eyes closed because of the water, and then the next thing I knew I was in the water! Apparently our boat had kind of flipped, and all of us were dumped out, even our guide. One of the kids in the other boat said he looked back to watch us and there was just nobody in the boat. I could tell I wasn't in the raft anymore, and the current was really strong. It was kind of disorienting, and I know now what people mean when they say they couldn't tell which direction was up! I made it to the surface, but since I hadn't taken a breath before going under, my lungs were full of water and I had to try to get the water out so I could breathe. I don't remember being all that scared of being in the water; I knew that I was just supposed to float down, feet first, until I got to a place where I could get near the raft. The scariest part was just not being able to breathe. I think I went under at least once more before we got to a calmer part of the river. By then our guide was back in the raft, and he told us to swim towards it. I grabbed on to the rope and held on as we continued to float downriver, until he could pull me up into the boat. Three of the girls had floated way ahead of the raft and had been rescued by the other group, and the rest of us made it back into our boat. So in the end, nobody was hurt, (thank you Jesus!) and we even managed to pick up our lost paddle when it came floating down the river. They say that it's not rafting if you don't fall in, so I guess we had a pretty authentic experience! Nevertheless, I think we all were a bit more nervous after that. The next time we went through a rough rapid and had to "get down," we all cheered when we made it through.

The rest of the ride was uneventful compared to that, though still exciting enough, and fun. We got out of the river around 3, took a bus back to San José, and then four of us shared a taxi back to Heredia. I got back around 5:20, and I was exhausted. Today I woke up really sore from paddling and everything, but I'm still glad I went. If anyone ever comes to Costa Rica, I would definitely recommend going whitewater rafting.

Our raft (from left): Mario, Lauren, Me, Ashli, Abby, Corrylee, Caitlin

Going down a rapid!