The female Tarzan

Trip Start May 05, 2006
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Trip End Sep 29, 2006


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Flag of Costa Rica  ,
Wednesday, July 26, 2006

I spend the weekend in the Pacuare river- It was such an enjoyable weekend. To start with, I was by myself which was kind of very enjoyable and relaxing. I took the bus and went to a little town, Turrialba. There I stayed in a hostel out of the town, up to the hills, with spectacular views. I saw lots of birds and monkeys. Was a very nice quiet evening. Early next morning I went at the place where the rafting would start. We were only three people and the guide, a very friendly and fun young man. The other two were a young couple in their honeymoon, but was not too bad, as they were both very fit and sporty.
First day rafting was ok, but I think too easy for such a tough woman like myself. But the river was very nice and the environment fantastic. I am very impressed with the tourism situation in Costa Rica- Pacuare is one of the most visited rafting rivers in the world, but it was impossible for me to find any intervention (litter, souvenir stands, roads, huts or anything human). I guess it is because people going there are supporting ecotourism. So, it really gives you the feeling that you are entering a virgin forest. The only exceptions were 3 ecofriendly, basic and rustic lodges for the rafters, as the river is the only way to enter the jungle.
So, after rafting for 12 km, we reached the lodge. The view from my room was fantastic. There were some other people spending the night there, and we cooked dinner all together. All night I could hear the river, the rain and the birds.
The day after we went to do a canopy, next to the lodge. I know it would not be like the other canopies I have done so far when we were given helmets and climbing belts. Please see pictures for more information. Then we went to do the final 15km of the river, which was the most difficult (4+ grade). This was really really good!! Another 4 rafts joined us this day, and there were two kayaks to help with accidents.
At parts it was very wild! In the first set of 4 grade rapids two of the rafts came out with no people on board but the guide - everybody else was on the water and the other rafts were struggling to save them. I wouldn't like being in the water as there were big rocks and strong waves. But I did very well, was in the front all time and our raft did great, nobody fell, and we enjoyed it so much despite we were very few (all rafts had 6-8 persons).
I really wish I could spend more time there, it was very relaxing and I realized how much I miss spending time in nature.
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