My Adventures in Central America: Arenal III

May 23, 2012

Today we went whitewater rafting on the Pacuare which is supposedly Costa Rica's best river. After all of the rain we had yesterday I was a little concerned that it would be another full day of being wet and cold. Leaving Arenal it was overcast, but as we neared the outfitters' warehouse (about 2 and a half hours away) the sun came out and it got quite warm. They provided breakfast, and by the way, I love that almost all of the places we have eaten have had a variety of fresh fruit to go with your meal. We had a fruit salad of papaya, pineapple, and banana along with toast and pineapple jam and loads of coffee. Once everyone had finished eating and changing into appropriate clothing we were assigned a bus to take us up a mountain where we would be putting in. Along the 40 minute ride one of our guides, Andreas, showed us which commands they would be using during the day using a mini raft, and joked around about some of his past rafters who did not follow said commands and got into a bit of trouble.
When we arrived at the spot we would put in we were outfitted with life vests, helmets, and rafts and assigned a guide. Ours would be Leo, who road up in the bus with us. Laura and I were in a boat with a mother and daughter from Houston, TX and a honeymooning couple from DC. Leo had us all take seats (L and I were in the front) and practice our commands with our paddles and all. After a few minutes of practice we were off and running.
Leo said that this river was great because all of the Class II's were at the beginning so that people could get the hang of it before the III's and IV's. The entire trip would be an estimated 18 kilometers, and we would be stopping about halfway to break for lunch. The top part of the river was pretty wide open with hills on either side. In a few places there were cables hanging across the river with a basket on one side. Leo explained that some of the families living in the area had put those in so that they could cross the river without having to walk a long way to a bridge or road. They can fit two people in the basket at a time and then pull themselves across. However, some families have to wait hours or even days to cross if the basket is on the opposite side.
Further down the river the hills changed into steeper cliffs which was nice because it provided some shade and there were several waterfalls to be seen. In some of the more open areas Leo let a couple of people sit on the front of the raft going through some rapids - no one was able to stay on, all came crashing back into the boat with a wave, but it was still fun to see.
Evidently each of the larger outfitters has a camp on the riverside where they serve lunch. After a couple of hours of rafting we pulled up to ours and were able to strip off our life vests and helmets. Each boat had a giant blue plastic bucket on it, which is apparently where they keep all of the provisions, and we were able to walk around and take pictures while the staff prepared the food. Lunch consisted of tortillas and bread which could be stuffed with refried beans, chicken (if so inclined), cheese, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, etc. along with chips and salsa, trail mix, and cookies topped with guava jelly and cream cheese (sounds gross, was delicious). For dessert they cut up a bunch of fresh pineapples and served lemonade. After eating and talking for about 45 minutes, everything was packed back up and brought back down to the boats.
The second half of the trip was very similar to the first, though now that everyone had gotten the hang of what they were doing things went pretty smoothly. Our guide even let Laura lead for a bit since she had done it in Alaska and had asked if she could try. The honeymooning couple was now up front and were more focused on taking pictures than on paddling, so we got hung up on a rock for a few minutes, but she did a great job! There were a few places where the water was very flat and calm and Leo had us all jump in for a chance to swim around. One of these was in a canyon which was really cool to see - I wish I had a camera with me because the view up river while floating down was amazing. Unfortunately, the couple had brought a waterproof camera with them and were in the water with it. On the man's way back up into the boat it came loose from its strap and they weren't able to find it :(.
In no time we were back at the warehouse, and pulled over to unload the boats. Some local kids were there to give us a hand, and in exchange our guides gave them our leftover food. After returning to the warehouse we were able to shower and change which was great after a full day of being soaking wet. There were cold drinks, t-shirts, pictures and other souvenirs to purchase, and then we were loaded back onto buses. The company goes to San Jose, Arenal, and to the Caribbean coast to pick up/drop off tourists, so some of the people on our bus on the way down went off to other places. It was just me and Laura and another couple who had come from somewhere else on the way back to Arenal. Leo also came with us and we helped Laura learn some Spanish on the ride to pass the time.
We got back to our hostel in Arenal and were challenged to a game of mini golf (or "crazy golf" as they call it) by James and Will. The place was right down the street, so we accepted. It was built by a man named Frank from New York, and each hole represents a different country. When you step up to the "tee" area, he has it rigged so that your movement triggers a song from the country you are playing. He also has it so that when the ball goes in the hole it triggers some sound effect or movement - for example, on the Costa Rica hole (also the 18th) the ball goes in and a giant volcano lights up and starts smoking. It was definitely the most unique miniature golf place I have ever been to.