White Water Rafting

(that's me and Kevin on the left side of the boat...I'm in front of Kevin)



We just got back from a 3 day white water rafting trip on the Apurimac River, a class 3-5 river that is only run 6 months of the year (after the rainy season). It was truly exhilarating experience with loads of heartstopping rapids. In addition to the thrilling rapids, the location was also truly splendorous with huge canyon walls on both sides.





We shared our boat with another American, a Canadian and two Swedes. We rotated places on the boat so we all got loads of excitement and spray. I have to say, the back of the boat is usually the safer part but not really on these kinds of rapids. Every spot on the boat is pretty precarious. Luckily, our team was really responsible and lots of fun to raft with. Kevin and I both popped out of the boat and were left with one leg dangling inside the boat at different stages. But luckily our great guide Eduardo (in purple) and our team helped pull us in. We also didn't tip over though we had a couple close calls!







We camped out on the side of the river for 2 nights in tents. Unbelievably, this was our first time to properly camp with sleeping bags this entire trip! And even more surprisingly, it wasn't too bad and we slept pretty well. The food the guides cooked with rafting was also pretty good.





The only bad thing was not being able to take a shower for a few days. But, we were getting drenched every day (as these pictures show) so maybe that counts towards a shower?




We were pretty exhausted by the end of it. Also, we had to keep ourselves covered most of the time because the sand flies were atrocious. But the fun quotient outweighed the itchy one.



Well, where are we off next? We're heading to the Manu Biosphere Reserve tomorrow. As part of the Amazon jungle (but located very near Cusco, Peru), the reserve is one of the best areas for seeing wildlife and has some of the greatest biodiversity in the world. That said, it's all about luck and your guide so I hope we get lucky and see some cool things! Despite being geographically close to Cusco, it'll still take us 2 whole days to get there and 2 days back (lots of unpaved roads and sailing on a river). Since we are taking the bus there and back we will be in the jungle for about 5 days total. So more from us when we get back from that... By the way, thanks for all the belated birthday messages. I can't think of a better way to celebrate my 30th year on this planet than to be travelling!