11/11/2006 Costa Rica Whitewater Paddling with NOC

Two summers ago Anne Sontheimer, the instructor in my advanced kayaking class at the Nanthala Outdoor Center, encouraged me to go with NOC Adventure Travel to Costa Rica for class IV paddling. Last year the trip was full but Lori & I booked early and on Sat 11/11/2006 we met in San Jose, Costa Rica for one of out greatest adventures. We were joined at the Hotel Cacts by fellow guest paddlers Craik Davis, Rob Strangia, Jeff Wood, Chris Erdahl, and Whitney Sanford. As guides and instructors form the NOC were Anne, her husband Chris Port, Jon Clark, and Samantha Kunze. We had the same great Hundai bus and bus driver all week. On Sunday 11/12 we were off to the Balsa River in the mountains. It was rocky with lots of drops and turns and we had lunch at the takeout. That night we stayed ath Hotel San Bosco, swam in the pool, ate at the La Cascada Restaraunt, and visited the hot springs alongside the volcano Arenal. Monday 11/13 Lori & I went for a long hilly run through the town of La Fortuna, ate breakfast and were off to the Rio Sara Piqiu. On the way we stopped to see some trees covered with iguanas. We also saw two 3-toed sloths in trees alongside the road. The river was very rocky and from the high bridge where we unloaded the boats I couldn't understand everyone's concern about what appeared to be a small rocky river. After we geared up and carried (& lowered) the boats down to the river I realized that there was a lot of water going through all those rocks. I flipped twice and got pinned once in fast creeky water and had about all I could handle. The consequences of flipping in such rocky water at such speed suddenly made me much better at bracing. Lori was having a grand old time but got caught in a roaring hole along with Chris Port that was terrifying to watch but they got out unscathed. That night we stayed at the Selva Verde Lodge as we did the next night also. This is a huge nature preserve on both sides of the river and there were organized activities and trails. We went birdwatching and photographed poison dart frogs. Food was great & we stayed up drinking wine and rehashing the days rapids. I had never been in such a situation that I had to negotiate class IV rapids in such control as to set up for the next one immediately etc etc. I had jammed my shoulder and would not paddle the next day. On Wed 11/15 the group went to the Rio Toro and gave a great report to me when they got back. They had run one class V rapid that day. Wednesday 11/15 would be a highlight day as we would padle Rio Rentazon which will soon be dammed up. This is a steep river with most of the drops being progressive steps always ending in the largest drop turning in front of a huge rock wall with water bouncing off the wall. The paddling style most adopted involved leaning into the wall paddling hard and these were called wall shots. I did well and my shoulder didn't bother me paddling but I had missed some practice on these wall shots the day before and never became comfortable with them. It will be very sad to know this world class river will be dry soon!!! Sad! Thursday was a special treat as we paddled 2 rivers that day. The extra river that Chris added, the Rio Pejibaye, turned out to be everyone's favorite of the trip. It was different in that it was narrow, dropped rapidly, had some slides, and was mostly tree covered and clearly the most beautiful one we saw on our trip. The carry was a good mile and a half however. That afternoon we reached the fabled Rio Pacuare after a couple mile downwhill drag of our boats using our throw ropes. We paddled over 10 miles and it started raining really hard and the river was coming up rapidly. More wall shots in bigger water and I was starting to be concerned as the water rose, visibility dropped, and the water turned muddy. Suddenly Chris Port stopped us, we dragged our boats up the gorge a ways and tied them together, brought our dry bags we had packed for this night up a steep windy path to the Costa Rica Rios camp. Here were little huts with a bed, a bathhouse, and a great outdoor covered kitchen, patio, & dining area. No power, just propane to cook & candles to see. The rain was of no concern here. Lori & the guys had concocted a drink to be known as the "Costa Rica Wall Shot" and Lori had paddled in large bottles of aged dark smoothe rum and coffee liqueur that she mixed and we probably stayed up later talking & drinking this night as any on the trip. The next morning (Fri) was bright & sunny but the river was rather high. We had a very long way to paddle & left earlier. The water was high & we saw the largest & best surfing waves and boofing ledges we had seen on our trip. Everyone was very helpful in pointing out great boof spots and surfing waves. We were joined in our paddling on this day by Valerie from Costa Rica Rios where we had stayed. She was in a playboat and watching her get surfed by the big waves made me appreciate my creek boat (Dagger Mamba. Suddenly we rounded a corner and there was the takeout & the end of our week of paddling. We stowed gear, packed the boats, and had a rainy mountain journey back to San Jose. That night we went out to dinner at La Cocina De Lena reataraunt in San Jose and toasts & roasts given. We had done it. For me, it was a personal journey & accomplishment for which I had trained hard all year & I pulled it off. I so very much enjoyed Lori's company this week and my fellow paddlers. Costa Rica was a great destination and the mountain areas were well worth seeing. See you on the river gals & guys!!! /hugh