Row, Row, Row Your Boat!

Today started with another long ride to get to the Tenorio River.  We were scheduled to go White Water Rafting (Class III and IV rapids) through the dense forests of Costa Rica.  A few years ago, Jenesa and I went rafting in the Poconos....but barely broke a sweat on that trip.  We were hoping to get some more intense action on this adventure!

Excursion #3 - White Water Rafting (Classs III and IV)

Our group was dropped off at a dirt road along the countryside where a large 4x4 vehicle transported us the rest of the way down the mountain to the river.  Along the way we experienced a memorable Costa Rican massage!  That's what you call it when you are literally bounced all over the place on the nasty backroads of this country.

It was now time to experiment with my new waterproof camera! We booked so many water activities on this trip (not to mention we're spending time in the RAIN FOREST) that it made sense to invest in a camera to use for all types of conditions in Costa Rica. I didn't want to miss out on any great picture opportunities because of some water issues. So before we left home, I researched several different options before settling on a mid-priced FujiFilm Finepix XP60.

Unfortunately, this adventure was more intense than expected....and I had very few opportunities to actually use the camera.  I think I paddled off 25 pounds on this trip!  Our rafting guide was barking out directions from the rear of our boat....and I was doing all I could to keep up with his orders!  Luckily, I had another guy in the front of the raft with me who tried to help balance out all the work.  Jenesa swears she was helping paddle from the back, but......I was certainly proud of her for staying inside the raft during the entire trip (at least until our guide - Jose - gave us a 5 minute swim break!).  

Along the way, we saw a few monkeys through the trees....several iguanas by the riverbanks.....and a long brown snake that was camouflaged in a tree!  I have to admit that I was absolutely exhausted after paddling down the river for over 90 minutes.....but it was definitely a fun experience and worth the effort!  We ended the adventure with a Class IV waterfall that caused our raft to nosedive into the waters below.  According to our guide, 70% of people usually fall out of the raft on this final waterfall.....but I'll brag a little when I say our raft survived this beast of waterfall and made it (even Jenesa!).