So with the Doctor's crazy scheduling it has been a very busy but enjoyable couple of days. We went white water rafting on Tuesday and then we had an afternoon/sunset snorkel trip yesterday.
White water rafting was another early morning. Our driver picked us up at 7:30 in the morning, brought us to the office to pick up the raft and pay and then informed us that we were the only ones signed up to white water rafting with their company today. Again, lucky… we were going to have a private white water rafting trip. After all of the gear was uploaded they brought us up the hills (with another Costa Rican Car Massage included) to the start of the course we would be taking. It is the dry season in Costa Rica so the river is very low but it was a good place for a beginner like me to take their first white water rafting excursion.
They gave us a quick explanation of how we would be rowing down the river, where to sit, what to do if somebody went overboard etc etc. I was sure that I was going to be the person who went overboard but I was actually more concerned about the fact that I don’t know my left from my right and our lovely instructor Maria wanted to make sure that we know that it was imperative that we did exactly as she said in order to make it down safely. That means if she yelled out right forward, left back I needed to know which way to paddle. I found myself going I am on the right I am on the right I am on the right the entire trip down the river, and when she screamed out right forward I still had to stop and think about which way I needed to paddle.
We made it through the first few rapids, one of them backwards and I started gaining confidence, after all I had not been thrown from the raft yet. A few more rapids and I was actually having fun. It was afterall a nice paddle down a river in the middle of the rainforest. Maria pointed off to the right at a waterfall that fed into the river. A waterfall over jagged rocks surrounded by butterflies and flowers. She asked if we wanted to have a snack beneath this waterfall and had us paddle to that beach and walk up to the waterfall. Stunning is the only word that comes to mind as we approach the waterfall, she tells us to wade in because the fresh water feels great on your shoulders after you have been paddling for a while. We wade in move towards the waterfall and get a great neck massage. I am so disappointed that we didn’t bring down the camera for this trip but we can always remember it and maybe describe it to you one day. As we enjoyed the purity of nature she prepared some pineapple and cookies for us to eat and some water so we had the energy to paddle the rest of the way down the river.
We leave our pictauresque location and head back to the boat. Put our equipment back on and paddle our way through a bunch more rapids. Then the water is calm. She asks if we want to go for a swim among the rocks and fish but I opt not to because my entire goal for white water rafting was to not end up falling out of the boat and I would have succeeded if Doctor hadn’t pulled me violently from the boat almost causing one of my contacts to make the journey down the rapids ahead of me. The water was crisp and cool and we could see the trees and animals around us. There was not a single other person in the surrounding area.
Once the trip was done and we were exhausted and exhilarated at the same time we loaded all of the equipment into the van and they told us we had a bumpy hour ride into town where we were going to grab lunch. We were very confused for a moment expecting it to be four in the afternoon when it was actually only 11 am. They drove us back into downtown Quepos and brought us to a little shack called La Cubanita for an authentic Costa Rican lunch of rice beans, meat, yucca, platanos and fresh squeezed pinapple juice. It was an amazing lunch and it was all included in the tour. They do have tourism down to an exact science in Manuel Antonio, gotta make the customer feel like the trips were worth it.
After lunch they drove us back to the hotel and asked if we needed anything else, we were contemplating the beach and they offered to drive us down, but because it was high tide we were unable to get there so instead we relaxed by the infinity pool overlooking the rainforest at our hotel. It wasn’t a bad option!
No pictures this time unfortunately, but I will post tons of pictures from our sunset snorkeling tour we did. Until then… Pura Vida!
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