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Published: September 15th 2008
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RAF rio suarez 002
Lesson #1: How to pull someone back into the raft! Wow! I loved this experience! I got to white water raft just outside of San Gil, Colombia in the Rio Suarez...which at the moment has class 3, 4, and 5 rapids...major white water....and it was my first time! Such an adrenaline rush and mental challenge...along with a serious physical challenge. I don't remember the last time I worked both my mind and body so
I went with a new friend from the hostel...another solo backpacker from Montreal...really cool guy. He and I both wanted to go rafting, but didn't think we could go because we didn't have the 4 people required to make a group. That is until 3 Colombian girls and a Swiss couple showed up that morning also wanting to go...so off we went! Our hostel owner arranges the trip through a local adventure sports company. It must be the best rafting company in the area because our 3 rafting guides for the day are all on the Colombian national competative team for river rafting and kayaking..one of them, Cesar, is the captain of the team and also the best kayaker in the country...we were in good hands.
So we began at the company's office in town so we
could pay the $60 and sign our lives away! Then we all jumped into the VW van, with the raft and kayaks in tow, and took off down the canyon to the river...a very fun and energizing hour of dancing and singing it up to lots of salsa, reggaeton, and of course...vallenato, inside the van as the driver skillfully swerved her way down and around the crazy drivers and skinny road to our point of entry up river. The mountain setting was gorgeous...green mountain sides dotted by random farms, birds sailing abover our heads, the river rushing right through and continuing to carve out the canyon. Locals and farmers, young and old, were all going about their daily routine all around us on the road, river, and hillsides as we zoomed by them in our music blaring, tourist filled van towing a bright blue raft and yellow kayaks from behind...quite a sight I am sure.
We arrived and unloaded the equipment...slathered on the sun screen, secured our shoes, got our helmets, life jackets, and oars. The guys gave us a half hour, speedy lesson on "what to do if" you fall out of the raft, if someone else falls out,
if more than one falls out, if we all fall out, if the boat flips over, if you are stuck under the raft, if you are stuck inside a rapid under the water between the rocks, if you need to be rescued by one of the guys in the safety kayaks in the middle of the river...etc etc...As they made their way down the checklists of the possible ''ifs'' our faces all got more and more serious and scared...crap, what were we doing? It only made it worse that none of us had any experience in this type of river with such major rapids, and only 2 of the 7 had even been rafting ever before...we were all rafting virgins and were jumping on a river with some of the biggest rapids possible! Woo Woo!
So after verbally teaching us the commands and what to do while on the river to prevent falling out, the guys got us in the boat in the water and we practiced the commands in a slow part of the river before attempting an actual rapid...commands like "Adelante!" or "Alto!" or "Atras"or "Fuerte!" or "Izquierda atras y Derecha adelante!" or "Todos adentro!"or "Todos a la
derecha/izquierda!"...all being yelled aggressively and quickly, one after the other...requiring us to hussle, in sync, paddling as hard as possible, jumping to each side of the raft, jumping from our side positions off into the center of the raft, always being careful to hold onto our oar with a fist so as to not knock out a fellow rafter with it in the mad scuffle, and hold onto the side rope just in case we got tossed out, and keep our feet securely tucked under the "inflated feet holders" (which was the only thing keeping us in the boat), all while completely concentrating on our guides commands so as not to mess up and cause the whole raft to flip. What a mental and physical challenge! We also practiced how to rescue each other in case one of us or all of us falls in...basically grab the person by the life jacket and pull them with all your might up out of the water and back into the boat...very unglamorous and physically exhausting...then jump back into position and rejoin the team! Thank goodness we practiced for no reason...after a 3 hour ride through several 3s, 4s, and a couple 5s...no
one fell out! We were a great team of almost all girls! woo woo After each successfully completed rapid, we all saluted each other with a team cheer...oars in the air! Great team spirit and energy among us in spite of the fact that we were all strangers just minutes earlier...very goood times. I highly recommend it...why have I not white water rafted before? I loved it! The feeling of attacking a wave as it pummels you and floods the boat, almost being thrown out of the boat, not being able to see or breath as you powerfully push through the wave that is surrounding you with water...such an adrenaline rush! love it
P.S I posted a video of the rafting on my facebook too.
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Jodee
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Hooray!!!
Grrr.....I'm so jealous!! I've always wanted to go white water rafting!! Looks like so much fun! Rock on girl!! xoxo