Gettin’ Around Costa Rica: Upper/Lower Rio Orosi, Upper Rio Sarapiqui, Rio Navarro

Over the past few weeks I’ve had a couple great opportunities to paddle some of the best whitewater in Costa Rica. When I left off my last post, I had just made a new friend named Ferdinand. Ferdinand and I have been traveling around and running lots of rivers all over the place.

We have been running the Upper Orosi a couple times per week. That run is getting really fun for me as I learn the river more.

(Here is a really cool little cave that Ferdinand found below Dinosaur Gorge)

(the scene from the cave below dinosaur gorge)

One afternoon, we decided to go past the takeout on the Upper Orosi and we ran the Lower Orosi as well. The Lower O is pretty much one long class III/IV rapid for about 2 miles and the entire run takes only about 10 minutes. This was really fun because when we ran it, it was at flood stage with high water coming in from the Upper Orosi and screaming high water coming in from the Rio Macho.

Another run in the area is called the Rio Navarro. The Navarro is a low volume creek that is super continuous class IV for about 2-3 miles. This is one of the most fun runs I have ever paddled. I like to compare it to Lower Big Creek with double the gradient. Here are some pictures:

(the road to the put in)

boogie boogie

(afterward, Ferdinand explained that I was supposed to boof forward, not backwards)

(serenity at the take out)

Another really fun river I was able to run is called Rio Sarapiqui. The part that I ran was called the San Miguel Section, or the Upper Sarapiqui. This trip was a lot different than any other paddling trip that I had ever taken for several reasons.

When I went to the San Miguel Section of the Sarapiqui, I went with my new friend Mauricio, and neither of us have vehicles, so we took the bus. We took a bus from San Jose to San Miguel at about 6:30 in the morning and walked down into the river valley with our boats and dry clothes in dry bags from where the bus dropped us off. We then ran the river to the town of La Virgen (luckily the river meets back with the road when it gets to the next town). Another thing that was difficult about this trip was that Mauricio didn’t have a paddle, so I gave him my stick and I used hand paddles (which I haven’t used since a low water Chattooga Sect. IV run in early May). Also, I had never run this river, and Mauricio had only run it once, a long time ago.

Overall, everything went alright, but not necessarily well. It was a great trip, but it had a lot of hiccups. If you want to hear the entire story, ask me about it, because there are way too many details to list here.

While we were on the San Miguel trip, I decided that I wanted to run the waterfall at the Pozo Azul again (Pozo Azul is a tributary of the San Miguel Section of the Sarapiqui). When we got to the Sarapiqui/Pozo Azul confluence, we hiked about 2 kilometers upstream to where the waterfall is. This was a grueling hike/swim/attainment, and it took over an hour. But it was all worth it.

After a few good weeks of paddling with Ferdinand, it rained, and it didn’t stop raining for 2 or 3 weeks. Ferdinand told me that this has been the worst flood since 2002, and that says a lot for a country where it is normal if it rains every day.

Entonces, since it rained so much, the rivers have all been way too high to run. Commercial rafting has been put on hold and the few kayakers here have been trying to find other things to do. I’ve started running and sleeping a lot more, which is probably really good for me, but I have been itching to get back on the water.

I hope all is well for everyone at home, I am starting to miss my friends in family, but I will be home soon enough. Pero todo bien. Pura Vida.