Unintended overnighter on the Torro... almost

Anne, Jason and I after getting off the Pejibaye River and finishing our last river all together here in Costa Rica

Another trip finished up yesterday and as to be expected, there was lots of excitement and adventures throughout the week. We had a group of nine paddlers, all from Charlotte and all good friends. The most memorable part was probably the day we paddled the upper Torro river. It is written up in the guide book at being a 7 mile class 3-3+ section of whitewater, although after last week, Anne, Jason and I believe it to be more like 10 miles. After running the shorter class 4 Recreo Verde section of the Torro with two of the guests, we met the rest of the group to head downstream. The day was going great and while we had had a few swims, everyone was doing well. It was, however, taking us a long time to move downstream due to the size of the group. At about 3:30, we started to realize that we had a long way to go, and needed to get the group moving a bit faster downstream. For one, because its dark by 5:30 in Costa Rica, and two, because the dam released water in the river was beginning to disappear. We did our best to get the group moving downriver, however the lower water and braided out wall shots caused some rocky rapids that caused a few more swims and some necessary portages. As darkness began to fall, there was definitely a thought that we may not actually be able to get off the river before it was too dark to paddle. The run is fairly committing, and hiking out would have proved difficult. The guests were definitely exhausted, both mentally and physically when we finally reached the takeout, just 10 minutes before complete darkness.

Anne and I hopped up on the roof to load the boats in the darkness and pouring down rain, feeling relieved to be off the river. The guests began celebrating our safe return to the bus by doing what they did best, drink. The coaster turned into what we later termed the "party bus" which was probably one of my most favorite experiences in Costa Rica thus far. We made it back to the hotel just in time to grab dinner before taking some time to relax and reflect on a very adventurous day.

The "party bus" gang

Victor, our fearless driver

The rest of the trip went great, and we paddled some awesome rivers and saw some cool wildlife, including another sloth, some monkeys, toucans and iguanas just to name a few.

Anne giving a pep talk on the Rio Pejibaye

Our lunch spot of the Rio Pacuare

One of the many iguanas we spotted

Crossing the swinging bridge at the Selva Verde lodge on our way to a jungle hike

Jason checking out the Howler monkeys on our jungle hike

Our next trip started tonight with a wonderful sushi dinner. This week we only have three guests, which should make it fairly laid back. For the final three trips it will be just Anne and I guiding. Tomorrow we will be saying goodbye to Jason, who is heading back to the states on Monday.