Far from bloody Normal: White Water Rafting

Today we travelled about an hour through the winding, narrow, congested streets of San Jose and through the largest national park of Costa Rica to the river Cerro Chirripó. This river was a murky color and tasted strange (like sulfur) which our guide told us was from volcanos at the river's source. After the safety instructions we broke up into groups of six people. Our guide, Victor took us down the seven mile stretch. There were five commands: forward, backward, stop, get in and get down. He added a high five pura vida in there as well. This man was amazing at navigating the river. Victor used a whistle to communicate with the other guides, it was a seamless operation. He told us that two of the rapids (widow maker and another which I don't remember the name) were 3+ rapids. This means that rafters have a 20 percent chance of falling out of the boat. Rafters who tackle a 4 have an 80 percent chance of falling out! Geez that is a jump in percentage.

I wasn't sure that I was going to like rafting just because the safety instructions scared me a bit, but I put on my big girl pants and talked myself through it. It was so much fun!!! I am so glad that we got to experience it. At the end, I was sad to get out of the boat. Justin said that if we ever white water raft again it will probably be hard to match this experience. I think that I agree with him.

There was a point when two rivers became one. There was a divide in the water where the murky brown of the Cerro Chirripo and clearer water from another river lined up side by side. It was really interesting to see.

After the rapids we ate lunch at a restaurant and headed back to the hotel. We are waiting now until the bus leaves for soccer game number 2.

We have pictures of the rafting but we have to get them from Ryan, we will post them when we get them! I have a feeling there will be some good ones!!