Indeed, it´s alive, and dangerous. Last 3 days rafting was very very fun. First day we had a 4 hour bus drive, then lunch (very nice), then 2 hours on rapids class II and III practising the commands etc. My team consisted of Inna (girl I met while waiting on the bus, we`re going to travel to Arequipa together tomorrow), Giora and Yale (fun Israeli guys), and Bob and Seiko (an elder couple out of the States, apparently Seiko is famous for her ceremic work). Our guide was Jose. First night we camped at a little beach by the river. It was nestled in a bend, had a big rock shielding the beach from the sounds of water at night, and was in general very very nice. Dinner was soup and meat with rice and potatos.
Day 2 was an early start, up at 6am, breakfasted (fruit salad, yogurt, puffed rice things), packed up tents, and got going at 8:30. We had about 7 hours of rafting that day, mostly class III and IV rapids. But there were some bigger ones that we had to walk. Apparently they`re dangerous and if you fall, you`re kinda gonna get stuck in a hole or something and die. It was exhilirating watching the guides raft down those crazy rapids, they`re immensely strong and know the river very well. Lunch was nice, it was on a small beach in the sun. Good for me coz I was very cold from being wet. After lunch we did more rapids, and camped at a bigger beach by the river again. After the rafting, one of the guides lent me their river kayak and I practised going straight, going across the stream etc. Later, they gave us the most delicious hot chocolate to warm us up after the river. Dinner was nice also, soup and spaghetti. I hadn´t slept well the night before and so went to bed at like 8.
Day 3, early start again. 6am, and breakfasted on porridge and pancakes. We played little rafting games, and then rafted some III and IV, and even a class V waterfall. Was COOL. Down one of the shallow bits, our raft got stuck against 2 rocks, and 2 people from our raft went swimming. Inna hit some rocks and was in a bad shape. The rest of us on the raft had to get it moving again, but it was filled with water, and the pressure of othe water rushing into the raft kept it pretty stuck for ages. Nevertheless, Jose got us out, and we jumped in and rafted away. I was interested in how to guide the raft, and Jose let me stir for a while. Now THAT was challenging and exhilirating.
I`ve decided I really like rafting, hopefully do more of it on the trip, and if not, definitely in Europe. :D
