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After an exhausting but exhilarating night hike through a clouded (rain) forest the evening before, we were ready to begin the day at 7:30 AM. We had breakfast at a local spot, featuring cheese on buns, scrambled eggs, papayas, and juices of pineapple, “tomato de arbol”, and papaya. After refilling our energy tanks, we were ready to begin our adventure for the day: white water rafting.
Less than half the group had
participated in this team sport previously, so it was a new
experience for the majority of us. We divided our group into four
rafts, with either five or six individuals per raft. Each raft had
their own personality, as each guide had their own unique style.
Some avoided all the “holes” and obstacles, while others aimed right
for the treacherous spots. The rivers we rode on were rated a 3+ on
a scale of 6, with 6 being “unrunnable”. Every raft exemplified
teamwork, for only one raft flipped over. However, it was an
intentional flip orchestrated by their guide. In the middle of the
run, we paused beneath a cable bridge that was suspended over the
river about five meters (around 16 ft) up. Five of us decided we
would walk across the bridge, swing by one of the cables, jump into
the
After the ride, we had a picnic by the river. There was an amazing selection of food, including apples, pineapples, papayas, carrots, tomatoes, celery, zapote fruit, peanut butter, yucca chips, plantain chips, Chips-A-Hoy cookies, Nestles Chocolate Kisses, caramel, nutella, cheese, and hot sauce. The meal could not be entirely enjoyed by all members of the group, for a large majority discovered that their legs had been used as a feast, but there was debate as to whether the bugs were sand flies or chiggers. All the same, I felt everybody overall had an enjoyable day and another great experience during this educating and stimulating workshop. |
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running
river, and then swim to the shore with the current pushing viciously
downstream. After taking my initial steps, I knew there was no
heading back. So after taking what seemed an eternity to reach the
dropping point, I hung above the rushing waters and dropped into the
river. Most of the five group members had touched the bottom of the
river even though they were wearing life vests, but due to my
“vertically challenged” body, I failed to do so. When I dropped the
current took over and propelled me downstream and it was a minor
struggle reaching the shore with my life vest and heavy wet hiking
boots holding me back. After reaching the shore, we continued our
journey down the river. On the way, one thing the members of our
raft learned was that pineapples grow underground, as we saw a patch
of them growing along the side of the river.