Were arranging all of our adventure tours through an agency in La Fortuna Costa Rica and so far it´s been great. That was true until 2 of the guys convinced us to do a canyoneering-white water rafting trip. I went rafting before in Chile and didnt love it but I REALLY wanted to do the canyoneering so I agreed. Too bad we had to do the rafting first...in class 5 rapids.
Whit has never rafted and my experience is in like class 2 or 3 so it hardly qualifies me to be in class V rapids. The guys insist that as long as we listen to the rules and follow safety rules we´ll be fine. I wasnt so sure and I wish I had said no because it ended up being the worst adventure sport experience of my entire life...all jokes aside. Horrible.
There were 3 of us regular people and 2 guides in our boat. After less than like a half hour of these ridiculous intense rapids in which I was scared for my life, the f-ing raft flipped over and dumped us into that furious river. We were going through huge rapids and all I remember is a huge wave in the face, opening my eyes and seeing the entire left side of the raft in the air and people falling on top of me...all of us flipping into the big rock face to the right of us. The raft flips in the heat of the rapids and theres like a pocket you stick your foot into to use to hang on while you paddle. Well my freakin foot would not let go and I start panicking because I am in the class 5 rapids, on the underside of a raft with my foot caught in it gasping for air and instead just choking down buckets of water. We were told if this happens to get out from underneath the raft so 1. they can see you to rescue you and 2. you dont get slammed into rocks. So theres 4 of us under this raft and youre trying to use the raft to launch yourself out from underneath it but it feels like your getting your ass kicked inside a washing machine. The sheer will not to drown forces you to somehow get your ass out from underneath there only to get sucked downstream in the rapids. The whole time you are savoring every .1 second you get with your face above water so you can manage some kind of pathetic attempt at a breath. Half the time you just breathe not knowing whether your head is truly above water because all you see when you open your eyes is either sheer black or churning white...all signs that breathing is not really an option.
After god knows how long of this terrible game, I look over to see my rescue options. Whitney and the guide are on top of the flipped over raft, the guy that went with us is sitting on a lone rock in the middle of the raging river and while by some freak accident I still have my paddle but no one anywhere near me is looking in my direction and I can´t get enough air in my lungs to yell. Just as I find a rock to hold onto the rapids suck me back in. I end up a little ways past them down the river and have to get rescued by the kayak which is horrifying in itself. First theres a wall of rock to my left, across the rapid and he tells me swim to shore! I look left and say where!? because as far as I can see there IS no shore and the rapid is either going to slam me into the rocks or im gonna get washed away because I cant hold on to the rocks. So my ass ends up in yet another sufficiently sized rapid and im struggling to climb belly first onto the back of the kayak which allows the rescuer to paddle you to shore. The crap part about this is the entire time your legs are still in the water slamming into every boulder underneath you with the force of the rapids propelling them. Altogether the most horrifying experience of my life.
I ended up squatting on the shore, coughing up water and saying to the guide ¨I dont want to do this anymore!¨ Turns out on the otherside of the river on the bottom of the flipped raft, Whitney was uttering the same words to the other guide. What we both failed to realize at the time is that there was no End button on this trip and all we could do to get it over with was get back in the raft and close your eyes hoping not to ever end up back in that river again.
Traumatic is the only word I can think of to describe this experience. Seriously, horribly fu(king traumatic. Excuse the language but at a time like this it is entirely appropriate. I have souvenier bruises up and down both of my shins, on one elbow, one hip and my favorites, two on my forehead.
Suffice it to say I will never again be found in a raft, and if by chance I do, it will be an intertube in Lake Erie with a MichUltra in my hand...as far away as possible from any Class V rapid.
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