White Water Rafting

February 22, 2024

Excited to go rafting today, I was up early. I received a message from the tour company, Boquete Outdoor Adventures (https://www.boqueteoutdooradventures.com/rafting.html), at 8:27 that the van had left and would be arriving at the Chiriqui Mall a few minutes earlier than the original meet time of 9:30. We decided to go there about 9:15 to find the food court location where they said they were going to pick us up. We found the area and set to park, but then realized we were parked in an area where they give driving tests and we were told it would be better to move the car to the other side of the mall. As we were gaggling the van pulled up next to our car and asked if we were the white water rafters. I don’t know know what gave us away . . . LoL but it worked out perfect. We got in the van and Pete moved the car to the other side of the mall with the van following to pick him up. Their timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

It was a little over a drive to get to the Rio Chiriqui Viejo where we were going to be rafting. On the way there we found out that we were their only rafters today. Yesterday that had over 40 people and 7 rafts, so we felt like we got the specialized VIP experience today. Once we arrived the van driver and raft guide blew up the raft and gave us our equipment and safety briefing. Soon we were off rafting down the river.

We hit the first rapid called “Morning Coffee” pretty much right out of the gate which was rated a Class II plus rapid (Rapids are rated 1-6 with 1 being the easiest and 6 being the most difficult). All of the rapids we did today were either 1, 2, or 2 plus (not quite 3). It certainly was a little bit like coffee waking us up. The water felt refreshing. Not too cold, but it certainly wasn’t bath water either. Our guide told us we were having good luck today as we saw a sloth up in a tree across the river. The sloths are very hard to spot, but the guide had seen it and we were all able to lay eyes on it. A little bit further down the river there was a tiny monkey in a tree hanging over the water. I didn’t actually see it, but Laurie did.

Pete and I were in the front of the raft and in the first part of the trip we hit a rapid that wasn’t that difficult, but it hit us just right that I lost my balance and rolled right into Pete and both of us right out of the raft. It felt like it was happening in slow motion but I couldn’t make it stop. It was ok. Pete was able to grab the rope on the side of the raft pretty much right away while I floated down the river for a little bit before the raft caught up to me and I was pulled back in. When we rafted in Iceland we fell out of the raft several times, so this was not a new experience for me. It was just a little refreshing dip.

Along the way we saw many different birds, a couple of monkeys, and a snake in a tree over the water. I didn’t actually see the snake, but Laurie saw it. Halfway through the rafting we pulled to the side of the river bank and enjoyed a lunch of empanadas (veggie, beef, and chicken – the beef were the best of the 3), cherry tomatoes, potato chips, pineapple, mandarin oranges, cookies, pineapple, and pineapple juice. It was a nice little spread and they even had some bite size Snickers. Having gotten our fill and our rest we were back on the river for the second half.

We didn’t have any more instances of anyone falling out of the raft. We were happy that the skies were overcast. I could only imagine if the sun had been shining through how hot it would have been. We probably would have been asking to get tipped out of the raft if the sun was shining. For the second half of the trip Laurie and I switched spots on the raft. I have to say the the front spot definitely sees more action, but I felt more secure in the back spot. We were on the river for almost 3 1/2 hours (to include our lunch break that was probably 45 minutes long). It was a great experience, but I think we were all good when it was done. I think each one of us was feeling it in our backs or knees. Our van driver picked us up and they deflated the raft and packed up all the equipment while we enjoyed water and beer and changed into dry clothes.

On the way back we were driving right on the border with Costa Rica and we actually pulled over in Costa Rica to use a bathroom, so today I can say I peed in Costa Rica. And when I say we pulled over in Costa Rica what I really meant is that Costa Rica is on one side of the street and Panama is on the other. We did go through an ID check, but they only checked the driver’s ID and never asked for our passports. An hour later we were pulling back into the Chiriqui Mall and the driver took us right to our car. The mall is literally 2 minutes from our AirBnB so were back home by 3:15. It was nice to have someone else do the driving today and we couldn’t have had a more convenient pick-up location.

In the van on the way back Laurie was talking about a pizza place at home, but that gave me a hankering for pizza so when Linda asked what we were doing for dinner tonight I suggested pizza. We found a cute little place in town called Gretta Pizza (https://www.instagram.com/grettapizza/). I had a pizza with prosciutto, arugula and parmesan cheese, Linda had a pizza with mushrooms, and Pete and Laurie had a pizza with pepperoni and chicken. They were all very good and hit the spot. I must have been super hungry because I ate the whole thing (minus the crusts which Laurie ate. Leah if you would have been here they would have been all yours!).

As we pulled back into the neighborhood Laurie hit the gate opener as we were rounding the bend instead of waiting until we were on top of it, and thank goodness she did. We didn’t immediately realize how significant this was. We got into the house and Laurie opened the refrigerator to put away the leftover pizza and she said why is the light out in the fridge? Did we lose power? This is as Pete was walking in the door saying the gate didn’t open all the way. Then we thought back to 5 minutes prior when we were rounding the bend and we heard what almost sounded like a gunshot, but we quickly came to the conclusion it was a blown transformer. If Laurie had waited to hit the gate opener and the power was already out, we would have no other way to get in the house. Today seemed to be all about perfect timing. I think the power remained out for about 2 hours.

I was going to go for a walk anyway to walk off dinner, but with no power the rest of the family decided to join me. We first walked by the playground for the monkey bar challenge to see if any of us could do it. It was no issues for Pete. Laurie made better progress then I did. I did however hang upside down like I did when I was 8. We said hi to the chickens and their chicks and continued on about our walk. With the power still being out when we got back, I went out by the pool and called Tom while the rest of the gang settled in the kitchen to play games. I talked to Tom for an hour and as we were wrapping our call the power came back on. I headed back in and played a game of Swoop that I won and a game of Phase 10 that Linda won.