I didn't think I would find something that was more fun then zip lining, but rafting totally was! We woke up very early on Thursday to make our way back to San Jose. Before going to San Jose we stopped at Poas. We were supposed to go to Poas our first week in Costa Rica, but the road was blocked due to the earthquake. Unfortunately it was very wet and rainy while we were there. Poas is a dormant volcano that has crater lakes full of sulfur. Apparently seeing the lakes of Poas can be quite difficult. Some people have been many times and have never been able to see the lakes due the mist and clouds. Luckily we got to the lake just as the clouds parted and we were able to see the lake for a short time. It smelled like rotten eggs.
After Poas we did something amazing...ate McDonalds!! I know, this sounds horrible, but if you have been deprived of fast food for a month it tastes sooo good! After that we checked into Hotel Aranjuez, our home way from home. The next morning we got up extremely early to head out on our rafting adventure! The rafting company picked us up and we met one of our river guides, Daniel. He was a young Costa Rican who called us friends all the time! He was very nice. We drove about three hours to their base and had a delicious breakfast there. After that we packed up our stuff and drove another hour to the Pacuare. Once we got down to the river we got out life jackets, helmet and paddles and divided up into two boats. Daniel was the guide in my boat, and my team consisted of Erin, Wyatt, Kate and Ashley. Daniel gave us a brief introduction to rafting. Basically there are three simple commands, forward, stop, and get down!! These commands are pretty self explanatory. Daniel would call out one of them and we would do as he said! Get down was actually kind of scary, he would yell get down and all of us would have to jump into the bottom of the reft and huddle, and then be ready to get back up on the sides as soon as he said get up. This was for when we were in big rapids or big waves, scary but lots of fun. I felt like I was gonna fall out of the raft a million times, but luckily never did, until Daniel pushed me in! More about that later though.
So the first day we were only in Class 1 and 2 rapids. We rafted about 6 or 8 miles, so about an hour or so. We started off and rafted for about 20 minutes or so and then we stopped at a side river. We hiked up (and in) the small river to a small pool where we were able to swim and relax. We got back in our rafts and then rafted for another 30 minutes or so till we got to camp. I guess I should mention that the Pacuare is one of the top 5 rivers to raft in the world. It is perfect for rafting because it has great rapids, but after each rapid there is a calm pool area that makes it very safe. The camp was really cool! It was just off the river up a high hill. The camp had 12 little cabins that had two beds in each. The Cabins were basically like screened porches that all had amazing views of the river. There was also an outdoor common area that had an outdoor kitchen, tables, and hammocks! It was amazingly beautiful. We had about 4 or 5 guides with us on the trip, each were young and adventurous. They made us a wonderful lunch, basically build your own burrito. After lunch, we thought we would be tired, but we weren't! One do the guides, Michael, asked us if we wanted to hike to a near by waterfall, and of course we did! What we thought was gonna be a short hike turned out to be a crazy river hike! basically we had to ford a small but deep river, before we knew it we were up to our chests in the river! It was sooo much fun. Unfortunately all the girls who went, (Kate, Ashley, Erin, Allison and myself) ended up falling except Allison. I had the worst fall though. I was climbing up a large rock and slipped and wacked myself pretty hard on the knee and under my arm, got the bruises to prove it! The waterfall was small but gorgeous and there was a small pool we all got to swim in.
Dinner that night was also amazing, fresh fish and veggies. We also got to have ourselves quite a fun time dancing late into the night. Oh and I forgot, Wyatt got stung by a scorpion! It was in his bed. He was a trooper though.
The next morning we started out on the river at 9am. It was rainy the second day, but you get soaked rafting regardless so it wasnt too bad. We had class 3 and 4 rapids that day, and it was pretty crazy! A lot of getting down and screaming! We stopped at one point and hiked to a beautiful waterfall. We went through several calm parts of the river as well. At one point we were going through a canyon and Daniel was telling us about an earthquake when he suddenly pushed me into the river. He then proceeded to push everyone else in. We all floated down the river for awhile, and it was amazing. We got done rafting about 1pm and had lunch back at the base camp. This truly was one of the most exciting and amazing parts of my time in Costa Rica. I was extremely scared, but I loved every minute of it. I can't wait to go rafting again, next stop, the grand canyon!
