Bienvenidos a Costa Rica - The Lower Pacuare River

So I was finally able to go kayaking yesterday for the first time in Costa Rica. I have been here for about 5 days now, so I figured I would start out easy on the Lower Pacuare. This river is similar to the Ocoee in the southeast. It is the most commercially rafted river here in Costa Rica and the rapids are not super difficult. It is also that "one run" that you need to do if you are kayaking in Costa Rica.

My day began around 5:30 when I woke up to take the bus to Turrialba (Costa's version of Asheville). I arrived in Turrialba around 8:30 and I went over to Rainforest World, a rafting company owned and operated by West Virginian, Phil Colman. I met up with the crew that was going rafting and Phil let me use his Wavesport Forplay to run the river. For those unfamiliar with the forplay, here it is:
This superslicy playboat was a revolutionary boat of its time, but that time was a long time ago, so there were a few surprises when I tried to play around with the boat. This thing was a lot different than the boat I'm used to (the Fluid Solo), so it was a little shaky at first.

Speaking of things that were shaky, you should have seen this shuttle ride. It was pretty sketchy, especially in a truck loaded with 7 ticos, 2 kayaks, and 3 rafts. Imagine the shuttle on the Cheat river, but much rougher...



Anyway, once we got underway, I found myself in a beautiful gorge with endless whitewater and scenery. It seemed like I noticed a waterfall pouring into the river midway through every single rapid, it's a great way to get distracted.


The river itself is 16 miles long, so it made for a very long day. We stopped for lunch near an indigeonous village and dined among the wild pigs and chickens that were trying to eat our food...
From the river, I was able to see a lot of thatched roofs and indigenous dwellings, and I felt like I was alone out there in the middle of nowhere in this deep gorge, but it's a little erie when you know you are being watched...


The rapids on the river were not too difficult. I like to compare this stretch of river to a mix between the Middle Ocoee and the Lower Gauley; easy enough to have fun (and paddle a throwback boat), but difficult enough to keep your attention.



The best part of the river was a section called Canon Dos Montanas (Two Mountains Canon), this is a box canyon that is almost as deep as it is long. The indigenous tribes say that the spirt of the river lives in these walls. The best part of the canon is that there are multiple waterfalls dropping hundreds of feet into the river and you are able to paddle up to these waterfalls and get a little refreshing shower.

After a long day on the river, we arrived at the take out, where we were greeted with lots of native wildlife.

Las Mariposas (picture just for Emilia)

I guess the iguanas here just chill in the sun the same way we do, this guy had to be 3 feet long!!!

More is yet to come from Costa Rica. I have started to make some plans to run some more serious whitewater in the coming weeks. Hopefully I will get to do all the runs I want, but if not, I guess I am just going to have to come back again!

Pura Vida Amigos!!!