Rafting!

Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 25 and 26, 2017--Tena, Ecuador

Monday was a day to arrange a rafting trip for Tuesday, to explore the town a bit, and to rest from the long day of traveling Sunday.  I also researched places to stay in Cuenca and made a reservation.

There are two main reasons to come to Tena: 1) To do a homestay with an indigenous family, and 2) To go rafting.  I came for the latter.

The river we rafted today is a Class 3 one.  Although the one I rafted last year was also a Class 3 one, this one was more exciting with more and bigger rapids.  I quickly made friends with a young French couple on the ride out.  Then we were on the same raft as 3 young Brits--2 men and a woman.  We all bonded and enjoyed our time together.

The trip on the river was 27 km (16 miles).  We went through one Class 4 rapid early which was very exciting.  But we also did other exciting things.  Each of us took turns sitting on the front of the raft with our legs outside it and holding onto the outside rope between our legs as we went through rapids.  That was somewhat like riding a mechanical bull.  We took turns falling into the river and being "rescued." We made rhythms slapping our paddles against the side of the raft and then clapping the handles together.  When we had an especially exciting splash or twirl of the raft, we raised our paddles into the air to slap a "high-five" and then slapped them against the river surface.

About halfway, we went to shore for lunch.  While it was being readied, we played a couple of beach games.  For one, we should in a circle holding our paddles upright.  With one whistle, we let go of our paddle and moved to the left trying to catch the one there before it fell.  Two whistles meant to go to the right.  Three whistles meant to stay in place and dance wiggling our hips. The other game was jumping back and forth over a line with one whistle meaning to stay where you are and two whistles meaning to jump.

Lunch meant making our own tacos.  They had tortillas, guacamole, beans, tomatoes, onions, cheese, hot sauce, and corn chips.  They tasted so good!!!  For dessert there were slices of fresh watermelon and pineapple along with cookies that tasted like animal crackers.  Drinks were 7-Up, Pepsi, and water.

We were totally wet all day because of big splashes and being in and out of the water over and over again.  But it was so much fun.  We left at 8:30 and got back at 16:00, so it was a long day of pleasure with good company.