Right after I finished the post and turned in for bed, the skies opened up and it just poured. Absolute torrential downpour. This continued for about an hour, took a rest, then continued at almost hour intervals throughout the evening. It was nice to listen to the rain hit the tin roof and to drift in and out of sleep. A very nice night after a very long day.
We woke up to foggy skies, but no rain, for breakfast at 7:30. It was still humid, but it seemed to be much cooler this morning. The plan was to eat then prepare to leave for rafting at 8:15. We talked about how it can get hot and be sunny on the river, but it was hard to plan for what could happen when the sky looked so dreary. If we didn't get soaked by the rain, we would definitely get soaked in the boat, so we planned for a little of everything. Many of us were cold on the bus ride and it started to rain once again. I was a little worried that we would be miserable- cold and wet- on the river all day. Then I heard that some groups were cancelled the week before because the water level was too high and I got really worried that we wouldn't get to go at all... but since we continued to drive, I became hopeful that we would still be able to raft.
After about an hour drive, Jorge reached the turn off for the rafting headwaters. This man drives the bus like it is a Fiat. It was unreal how well he could navigate a narrow road, complete with hairpin turns and steep sections. Just driving into the valley and to the river took about 30 minutes. Don Jorge kept us safe and got us there on time. He is wonderful!
We were met by our rafting guides, safety kayakers, and photographer at the bottom. They gave us our helmets, lifevests, and paddles. We had a safety lesson on what to do if you fall out of the boat, what happens if the boat flips, how you pull someone back on the boat, etc. Then they split up our group of 25 into 4 boats. I had the good fortune of going with Rem, Alex, Lou, Katy, Mrs. Wooden, and our guide, Johnny.
The Pacuare is the best rafting in Costa Rica and it is the #4 rafting river in the world. It ranges from Class I to IV rapids- and when the water level is high enough, several Class V rapids. There were sections of the river that had beautiful rope bridges roughly 50 feet over our head- Johnny said that sometimes the water gets high enough that the river is very close to the bridges. Hard to believe at first, but when you take into account rainy season and how fast the river flows... it would be a scary sight. There were beautiful places between steep cliffs were the water was calm and we could swim. There were also waterfalls in several locations that our guides would point out. Our boat had the opportunity to go into a "cave," which really only fit half of our boat. But it was great because we got to see nests made by black phoebe birds and carvings in the rock wall. Johnny explained a lot of the different plants and birds on the river. He also told us the names for the different rapids in English and Spanish, including "Rodeo," "Double Dip," and, our personal favorite, "Cemetery," a Class IV rapid.
About two hours into our trip, we pulled the rafts off on a sandbar for a rafting lunch. Each raft carried a waterproof barrel filled with supplies. One of the rafts gets overturned as a table, then the guides go to work setting up lunch. You don't realize how hungry or tired you are until the raft stops. The guides prepared all the necessities for a great sandwich, made fresh guacamole, cut up pineapples and watermelons, mixed up an orange drink, and had Cremas, a Costa Rican cookie, for dessert. Many students went back for seconds- they made impressive and creative sandwiches. All of the trash gets put back into the barrels and it's like we were never there. We headed back out into the river for a few more rapids, but all of the Class IV rapids were behind us for the last part of the trip.
Our raft was very quiet, but great to work with! We didn't have a single person fall out of our boat the entire time. Morgan took the honors of being the first person to fall in and Patrick was the only person to fall in twice. The rain stopped for the entire day and the only time the sun really came out was around lunch- it didn't look like there were many sunburns. Jorge picked us up at the end of our run and he already had trashbags down on all the seats so we wouldn't get them soaking wet. Our bus smelled awful! We thought it was bad after the cave, but it was really bad after all the river water. A vote was taken and we drove with the windows open, instead of the AC on, back to the Rios Tropicales rafting headquarters in Siquirres, where we could shower and change. Students cleaned up, purchased some souvenirs and photos, enjoyed the complimentary juices and coffee, then we made the long drive back into Turrialba. The timing couldn't have been better because the torrential rain started all over again.
We stopped at Maxipali on the way into town. It's basically a combination between Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. The students asked Edguardo if we could stop because they wanted more snacks. The guides have marveled at how much this group has spent on junk food. I'm just glad that we're transitioning away from Milanos and Oreos and the students are branching out to try the Costa Rican snacks. They've been eating plenty of fruits and vegetables at meals- no worries. I took advantage of the stop so I could pick up a flashdrive to save all of Yendrey's photos- there are far too many for the capacity of the Chromebook. I'm REALLY excited for everyone to finally get to see them!
Jorge brought us back to the house around 5 and it was still raining pretty hard- it didn't deter the boys and Pearson from playing a game of water polo in the pool! It was fun to watch- they get fired up :) Other students took naps or showered before dinner at 6. We had a chicken lasagna with salad and rice pudding for dessert. None of the cookies ruined our dinner- all of them must have been really hungry after a day of rafting...
It was refreshing to hear the students' reactions after a day on the river. For most of the trip, they haven't interacted with the adults much and most of what we've heard has been all of their dislikes. Parents- you'll have to pump them for information when they get home! Anyway, I was so happy to hear that they had fun on the river. Each reaction and answer was genuine when they were asked about the rafting. It ended up being a nice adventure to wrap up the trip.
Tomorrow we'll eat breakfast at 8, then go into town to watch the soccer game at 10. The Rustic Pathways country director owns a restaurant in Turrialba and they are shutting it down just for our group and the language immersion trip so we can watch the game. I'm glad that we'll get to watch it in town AND it won't be super chaotic with all the locals. In the afternoon we'll have the opportunity to explore some different shops around the town square.
Bug bites and bruises are at an all-time high. Sunburns are either peeling or fresh from the river. Pura vida!
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