Rafting

Yesterday was really interesting. We went rafting at the Rios Andes. It's a level three river, which is pretty much average. They are graded out of five, and people I have talked to all seem to agree that anything below two is pretty boring. Frankly I don't think I would have wanted to try something higher than a three on my first time. It was scary enough as it was.

We got there pretty early in the morning, and they gave us some wet suits a rain coat, a life vest and a helmet. All this equipment was really uncomfortable when you take into account that it was 30 degrees, plus it made us all look like retarded space monkeys. Once we were all kitted out, we were given an explanation of what to do in case we fall out of the raft. I suppose it´s pretty safe, as there were two guys in kayaks following us and ready to pick us up if we fell out. We were then given a short training session on how to row, and the commands that the guide would yell out. There were pretty much only three commands: forward, backward and get inside. Forward means you have to row forwards, backward that you row backward, and get inside that you have to get inside the raft. This sounds strange, but you don´t sit in the boat, you sit on its side.

Once we finally got to start, it was really nice to have the wet suit that made us so hot before. The water was freezing cold, and a slightly worrying brown colour. The guide explained to us that this is because there was a flood three days ago, and the water level had risen a whole metre in that amount of time. This worked in our favour, as the river was quite tame before. There were quite a few rapids, but not enough so that we were rowing the entire time. This was really nice actually, as I was really tired by the end. I don´t think I could have managed to do much more. Afterward we hung out by the pool for most of the day.

Today, I head off to Cordoba where I will be spending new year's eve. Sagy is going to see some bridge somewhere. We've decided to split up for a while, and meet again some time in Brazil.