And today was the day that Norm and Barb have been looking forward to (with a hint of trepidation, perhaps). We had pre-booked the Grade 2 White Water Rafting tour with some understanding from our side of what Grade 2 meant - rapids, a few rocks here and there, but no flying off small waterfalls like we did in New Zealand. So we figured it would be safe enough.
After an hour’s bus ride into the interior where there are many rivers coming down out of the central mountains (and volcanoes) we reached the ‘base camp’ where the tour company has showers, change rooms and a lunch buffet for afterwards. Since the requirements for the tour were bathing suits or clothes that can get soaked and rubber-soled water shoes (we all have Tevas), once everyone got changed we were off again to the launch point, where we were fitted with the rest of our gear - helmets, life jackets and paddles.
The worst part of the trip was actually getting to the rafts. The riverbed is quite rocky and we had to trek about 50 yards, across small boulders and a branch of the river, to the boats. This required a little ‘fancy footwork’ over wet, slick and often submerged rocks. And did we mention the water wasn’t exactly warm?
Once that was done and everyone had taken places in the rafts, the fun really began. We hadn’t gone more than 100 yards downstream, in a fairly swift current, before our guide sent us into the first three-foot waves and we were soaked! At least it gave us all a chance to get over our initial uncertainty about the water and the waves and get settled into the rhythm of taking paddling orders. It’s hard to be nervous when there is water flying in every direction at the same time!! Yes, we have video that includes Barb, she of the ‘non-stop giggles’, and Norm, ‘I know we’re heading for a big wave when everybody screams’. While not as intense as the Grade 5 rapids from our New Zealand experience a couple of years ago, there were enough bumps and twists and unexpected turns, not to mention soakings too numerous to mention, to keep us all busy! And very wet! Unfortunately, we don’t have any video of the raft-to-raft waterfights - we were too busy spraying the other guys!
We traveled about 7 miles down the river, hitting a few more rapids with crashing 3-foot waves (hey, they look even bigger from a small boat!) and even doing a 360 in one spot! Of course, each time we heard new rapids up ahead, Larry would tell the rest of the team that it was the sound of the 15, or 20, or 30, or 40, or 50 foot waterfall coming up. That had a couple of the older ladies in our raft giving him the evil eye the first couple of times until they caught on. Then it became the running joke of the trip.
All too quickly for Norm and Barb (well, Barb at least), we soon reached the landing point and the trek back through “the jungle” to our waiting bus. Once we got back to the base camp to change, we were served a typical Costa Rican lunch which was very tasty. Then we had the ride back to the ship, where we had to stop at the port building to buy that staple for our kitchen - Costa Rican Britt Coffee. We had just opened up our last package from last time not long before we left on this cruise. Now we’re good for another couple of years! Once back onboard Barb couldn’t wait to get to a computer to e-mail “her boys” that they had actually done it and had the pictures to prove it!
All in all a great day and another new adventure to add to the list.
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