Apurimac Rafting - Day 3

Another early start - I mean who wants to wait until the water heats up eh? And today's activities? Why, more of the same of course!

At one particular part of the river, where the water flows underneath itself creating a constant wave, if you align the raft just right and throw all the weight (meaning bodies) forward then you're supposed to be able to surf that wave indefinitely. I say supposed to because our raft didn't quite get it right. In fact, we got it quite wrong and capsized!

So, tips for rafting? Try these:

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Don't paddle like a girl and don't just dip your oar in. Really reach forward (or backward) over the side of the raft and use your whole body (not just the arms) to move that volume of water.

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Strong core muscles are important for balance and helps you be more agile under difficult circumstances. (i.e. all circumstances!)

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Don't fall in the river.

It's sad to say that all good things come to an end and in the early afternoon we reached our get out spot. We all helped the guides lug the rafts and gear up the embankment to a little cafe where it was all to be sorted out. Some roasted meat and a beer later and we were set to return to Cusco.

As an unexpected bonus, it turns out one of the safety kayakers kept a video recorder with him and filmed us coming down some of the more "interesting" rapids. Not only that but he was going to edit it together into a video and have a premier viewing at 8:00 pm on a big projected screen at one of the clubs! Wousers! That's wicked! So it gave us all a chance to go home, get scrubbed up before heading out for the Friday's night's entertainment!

You think the photos here are good? Well they ain't nothing compared to the video - it's awesome!

Posted by Steve Eynon