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May 11, 2005
Pura vida on el Rio Pacure
Although I usually make a point to stay away from technology whilst on vacation, the guys and I decided to visit an internet cafe and shoot an e-mail to our parents letting them know we made it ok. Although we're only staying 10 minutes, we decided to splurge and pay the whole 6 cents for the hour. I doubt I'll be playing with computers anymore on my break, but I thought it would be neat to make an entry from San Jose´ while I'm here.
We went white water rafting today, and it absolutely kicked ass! I originally thought it would just be another thing to do, but it was way awesome. Lucjan brought his underwater camera housing for his S500, so we have plenty of pictures and even some movies of some class IV runs. We also got to enjoy throwing ourselves overbhoard and floating through a canyon cutting through the rainforest. What an incredible peaceful yet exhilerating experience! The entire operation was incredibly well-run. They did an absolutely wonderful job of picking us up in the morning, teaching us how to operate the raft, feeding us two meals, and returning us safely to the hotel (more like a hostel) with digital photos en route via e-mail.
Oh, and then a car rear-ended our van on the highway and was totaled. The van had absolutely minimal damage. Aparently, an oncoming car was passing around a mountain curve when oncoming traffic was barreling around the corner. Deciding to go for mud instead of the passing car, an SUV swerved in the rain and rolled, causing a halt in traffic. Our van rounded the curve quickly to see a line of cars backed up and had to stop suddenly. The guy behind me said, "Someone is totally going to round that curve and ram us." About two seconds later, I heard an "oh, shit!" followed by a BAM! That guy's engine was on his lap. Everyone made it out without a scratch, but we are all taking driving these roads far more seriously now.
On a good note, our 10 minute break turned into 15, and it's time to return to the 30 cent beers, which are quite good, by the way.
Pura vida!
Still hanging on...
Posted by Richard at May 11, 2005 07:20 PM
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Comments
Who'd you use for the trip? Sounds like a blast!
Posted by: Rick at June 10, 2005 06:39 PM
We went with Exploradores Outdoors. There were superb and provided transportation from the hotel, meals, and took pictures. From what I saw, most of the larger companies all have a staging area where they take make breakfast for you and allow you to change into river gear before you take the final bus tip 15 minutes to the launching point. They all seem to be class acts. Check out the Lonely Planet Guide for Costa Rica. Actually, EO isn't mentioned in it if I recall, but a friend had gone with them in the past, and we followed his recommendation.
Remember, EVERYTHING is negotiable down there. Even at the better hotels, the front desk guy will try to "get you a deal" and ends up getting a cut off the final fee. There's an absolute web of a referal system that can't seem to be avoided, but know that we paid $70 a head for the Rio Pacuare trip while some people who went with us paid $100.
Also, I highly recommend doing the Pacuare over the Rentazon if you're looking for an overall good time. The later was just a lot of work, and few of us, including myself, really got banged up in the process. Honestly, it could have easily ended up a different way, but I'm still here writing this. So with that in mind have fun!
Posted by: Richard at June 10, 2005 11:27 PM