Ben - Late Afternoon July 28

July 28, 4:30 PM
El Sesteo Apartotel
San Jose Costa Rica

Hola! Como estas? Well, we’re back in the hotel, and it’s a pretty quiet atmosphere because we’re all pretty tired from earlier today. This is because today we went whitewater rafting with the Rio Tropicales rafting company earlier today. Our day started with us waking up at about 6:00, hastily getting ready, and then meeting the Rio Tropicales bus outside our hotel. The person who met us was a small, bright, happy Costa Rican guy in his early twenties with a mohawk and earring. I didn’t quite catch his name. It might have been Diego….In any case, we picked up four more people – a grandmother and her young grandson, who was about seven who we learned were from Arizona, a young woman in her early twenties who turned out to be from North Carolina and an older Costa Rican man who was to be our raft guide. It was a 2 hour trip from San Jose to the operation center of Rio Tropicales, during which most of us got in some extra sleep. The ride however, was quite nice. We started out in the Central Valley of Costa Rica and went through a mountainous national park that had great views and lush scenery. Once over the mountains, we were on the Caribbean side of the country and near the operations center. Once there, we had about 30 minutes for breakfast, the options for which included fruit, an egg dish, beans and corn flakes. We then set out for the 15-minute ride to the point on the river in which we were going to enter.

It was a beautiful day – warm weather and blue skies, in contrast to the heavy thunderstorm that is raging as I write this. The river itself was a damn-controlled river that was fairly wide, fast running and completely brown. We were informed this was because it was carrying a great deal of silt and sediment. We got our safety orientation, our gear, and after another group, we set off. I was surprised to learn that we would not be sitting IN the raft, but rather on the edge, so we could paddle better. The rapids were class II and III, meaning they were significant and big enough to cause some serious waves and swells, but not so fierce and heavy that it was dangerous. The rafting was extremely fun and I had a great time. There were 4 people on each edge, with mohawk man (Diego?) and another young guy who had joined us at the site at the front and our older guide named Tory was in the back with a pair of oars steering, with the small boy sitting inside the raft in the front. The conditions were perfect. We got absolutely soaked, but weren’t in any real danger of being thrown off the raft. After a while, they gave Rachel and I a chance to row in the front, which was fun because we were in the very forefront of the action. During some of the calmer sections, we got to float down the river for a bit in our lifejackets, which was a lot of fun

Finally, after about 2 hours on the river, we rode back to the operations center to get changed and get some lunch (spaghetti, rice, beans, fruit and salad). We got to see a slideshow of pictures that one of the staffers took along the river. They offered a CD of the pictures along with some other Costa Rican pictures, but my parents decided to forgo the $30 price tag. So after a good day of rafting, we got back on the bus and took the 2 hour ride back to the city, during which I, probably not alone, was dozing most of the ride. So after a good day of rafting we’re back at the hotel, listening to the thunderstorm rage outside, or else taking a nap. Tomorrow, it’s off to the church of Mom’s friend Heidi Michelson for a celebration of a Costa Rican holiday. Adios!