whitewater kayaking Archives - Page 3 of 4

Rio Chiriqui

July 2, 2009 By Jillian

We made it to Boquete, Panama in time to kayak the next day with Boquete Outdoor Adventures–. Having emailed every rafting company we could find in Central America as we moved south, it was a relief to find one that actually offered whitewater kayaking trips. Even better that the rafting group we were supposed to go down the river with canceled so we had the trip all to ourselves.

Driving to the put in my stomach was in knots. If you remember the last time we went kayaking, I got thrashed so I was more than a bit nervous about hitting the river again. In fact, I was petrified. Karma though had a different plan for me. Navigating the entrance rapids without the hint of a flip, I turned around at the bottom only to see the wrong side of Danny’s boat. Rolling up Danny’s hand looked like it had been in a bar fight, only with a rock on the bottom of the river instead of a man named Bubba.

Hearts racing, we continued downstream through a series of long class III rapids. Danny’s boat, a magnet it seems for rocks, flipped again, and this time after several roll attempts he was pulled up by our guide. Bruised now from shoulder to hand after scraping along the bottom he was more disappointed than injured. Sometimes you just have one of those days on the river and when it starts its hard to shake it.

After portaging around a dam we came to the biggest rapids of the day. Everything always looks bigger when you are in the middle of it, but as we came over a rock I stared into a huge wave trough that seemed to swallow my boat. Somehow I kept myself right side up and turned around in time to see Danny clip the rock and flip. Spun around in the wave he took a decent beating before it spit him out. At this point Danny had seen more than he wanted of the river’s bottom having combat (in the rapid) rolled at least three or four times already. His shoulder and elbow were pretty battered and he had two small gashes on his hands. No pain, no glory right?

It was a bad day on the river for Danny but a great day on the river for me. And yet, making it through each rapid, instead of building my confidence, gripped me in fear for the next one. All afternoon I felt like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting to scrape along the bottom of the river. After the Rio Pescados it seems that I have developed a very real fear of whitewater kayaking, so much so that when I flip I am unable to roll back up, my mind won’t let my body remember what to do. Thankfully it didn’t happen this time, but I am still fearful of getting in a kayak again. It’s frustrating to say the least given how much I’ve enjoyed whitewater kayaking in the past. I only hope its a short term phobia that a few more times on the river can cure.

Pico Bonito

June 5, 2009 By Danny

This should be a post about whitewater kayaking on the mighty Rio Cangrejal. This should be a post about getting thrashed on a giant Class V river. This should be a post about how we’ve completely upped our kayaking skills in do or die situations. Instead this is a post about how we enjoyed the chance to play in nature for a few days, and save a few bucks at the same time, because the river was about 5 meters (reminder, that’s 15 feet) too low.

We arrived here at the lodge of Omega Tours early in the morning prepared to hit the river. We started asking questions about the river and realized that on account of the low water, the usual run was shortened to less than 3 kilometers…about an hour of boney, pain in the ass whitewater. Unable to justify spending that much money (it was a little expensive for our long term adventurer budget) we passed on the kayaking and spent a few days hanging out at the lodge and Pico Bonito National Park.

With temperatures probably in the 90s, we headed out on an uphill hike around the property through orange groves and jungle. Led by the lodge’s very fat Rotweiler who was more interested in chasing pigs and swimming in the streams than in actually showing us the right way, we huffed and puffed our way up and down the mountain. Hoping to cool off we headed down to the Rio Cangrejal for a quick dip. Met by a group of Hondurans at the river, we splashed around in the strong current and watched rafts squeeze through rocks no more than a yard apart.

Usually when we find USAID projects the money has paid for nothing more than some tourist brochures for a local travel company…however Pico Bonito park was paid for by USAID (which probably costs a fraction of what our national parks cost). Complete with a very fun suspension bridge, we hiked through the jungle for what seemed like hours until we came to a beautiful waterfall. Hiking in the jungle of Honduras is about as hot and humid as it gets and the weather coupled with limited food and water made us hustle back to the lodge.

Our Swiss friends, Eton and Myeka, who we met at the CA CS meetup joined us at the lodge that night and we spent the following day swimming, climbing, caving, falling, and sliding our way upstream. We swam rapids, climbed over some as well, and generally had a great time playing against the current.

At the lodge we slept in the ‘Grand Tent’ which cost us a mere $7 a night and has space for all our stuff and a double bed…sweet! Falling asleep to the sounds of the jungle and having flushing toilets and working showers just meters away…. life is good.

Review- Omega Tours, La Ceiba, Honduras

June 1, 2009 By Jillian

We planned to whitewater kayak with Omega Tours, but unfortunately water levels were low and ultimately we found out that only 3 km of the river was available to Kayak. [ad#reviews-image-only]Being adventure travelers on a budget we decided that $50 for a 3km whitewater kayak trip was unjustifiable. Having gotten ourselves out there we decided to spend two days at the Omega Tour lodge exploring the surrounding Rio Cangrejal valley. Omega tours offers a number of tours in the area from hiking to whitewater rafting to horseback riding in and around the Rio Cangrejal. None of these were within our budget, but other guests seemed to have great time on all of them. We spent our two days hiking from the Lodge up the mountain through orange groves and hiking in the Pico Bonito national park which is just down the road. With the water level so low it was also easy for us to hike along the Rio Cangrejal, taking a swim whenever the weather got too hot.

Accommodations at the lodge range from tent space to a guest house, to private upscale cabins. I highly recommend the outdoor solar shower in the afternoon. Meals were reasonable compared to US prices and a daily happy hour kept guests chatting all night. Despite not whitewater kayaking we had a great time at the lodge. It would be a great place for a vacation, and even though the tours are expensive for backpackers, its a great place to just enjoy the surrounding environment on a backpacker budget. Tours are reasonably priced for families or couples on vacation from the States, Canada or Europe, especially because tour prices include accommodation and lunch. The atmosphere is laid back and comfortable with plenty to do in the surrounding areas. Overall this is a great place to stay, the grounds and accommodations are clean, the staff is fun and friendly, and the tours sound like a lot of fun.

Kayaking the Rio Pescados

April 6, 2009 By Danny

The typical kayak trip begins with some form challenging logistics such as how best to drive the small car to the river and have it waiting for you when you get downstream. Despite the fact we had neither boats nor cars to take care of, this trip started no differently. We arrived at the bus station in Xalapa at 8:30 a.m. to find that the next bus to Jacamulco (where our outfitter was located) was at 10 a.m. Great! After 1.5 hours on the bus, did I mention it is only 30 km away, we saw the sign for our outfitter, got the bus to stop. Sort of. The ticket collector told us that the entrance was further up the road. Yup, you guessed it. We made it to the end of the line (“downtown” Jalcumolco) where the bus driver told us they would turn around and take us back. Only that story changed once we got to downtown Jaculmoco. You can see the pattern here. We figured enough was enough and called for a ride. The day began with a um… backfire. It did get much much MUCH better….for me anyhow.

Once at the Kayak 360, our outfitter, Tio (Uncle) Memo got us fitted into boats and he, the two of us, and a pair of lodge staff in a raft were off to the river. Jill lucked out and got into the very same boat she paddled back in DC, while I unfortunately had to take a step-up into a boat with more play.

Once on the river, Memo told us the water was low as this was the dry season, and we would find many of the rapids to be very rocky and technical. He was correct but we did still find some decent water and had a great time. In comparison to paddling waterfalls just a few days prior this was harder, more technical work; still a blast for sure but by no means child splay. We needed to paddle hard and stay alert as going over in some of the shallower portions meant we were in for some nasty bruises.

We started off simply enough, easily navigating the first few rapids. Toward the end of one of these entrance rapids Memo instructed us to go between two rocks. Jill and I both took a look and couldn’t figure out which two….certainly he didn’t mean those two big ones on river right just a mere meter apart, that was a tight hole to fit through! Before we knew it Memo was off and yes, he did mean those two on the right. Jill went first and nearly missed but managed to get through. But, she went through crooked and by the time I got there she was already upside down in some big whitewater. We didn’t have time to warm up at the top of the river because it was shallow so she ejected, came up smiling and so began our day. (To be fair, the pair in the raft hit one of the rocks and got stuck…took them forever to free themselves).

A little while later, at the “strangulator” our day took a turn for the worst…but that’s where the good stories come from don’t they? The water was extremely rocky, big, and fast and it took all of our effort to stay up. I slammed into a rock hard enough to throw my bow up into the air and as I came down it was my elbow that slammed another rock, keeping me afloat. Surprisingly this was the biggest injury of the day. The big problem with this rapid was that all of us, 3 kayaks and a raft, entered more or less together rather than in a line. The raft, on account of its size, simply isn’t as maneuverable as a kayak and at one point the raft nudged Jill into a rock where she found herself pinned. For you non-boaters out there, being pinned is nothing unusual and is quite common. It is when the water pushes you against a rock and you are basically stuck against that rock. It took some time, Jill eventually freed herself, but as a result of having been pinned and coming off the rock unbalanced, flipped right then and there. In the middle of a fast moving rocky rapid, she attempted to roll a few times before signaling for help. We could see her bouncing along the river bottom, but as she signaled for help her body (I say body because she was upside down) was slammed against the next rock so hard that not only was the entire boat in the air, but we also saw her back exposed to the air as well. After that happened I don’t think Speedy Gonzales (yes, I realize I’m referencing him while in Mexico) could have ejected as quickly. We saw her back and I think before the boat hit the water again she was out of the thing and swimming up alongside it. It was a nasty swim to say the least, and she has a nice bruise on her shoulder to show for it, but she got right back in the boat and kept on going asking only: “which rock was I on?”

Whether she admitted it or not at the time, she was still a bit shaken. The next rapid, the “white witch” (and if anyone is curious, that is a literal translation…I have been assured that no one calls this rapid the gringa) would be Jill’s final swim of the day. The rapid was basically a large rock garden on a gradual decent with fast moving water. At the base of the rapid, on the river’s right, was a large rock and we needed to turn hard behind this rock (to the right) as going straight would have meant getting slammed into the canyon wall. Well as we got closer to the bottom the water got bigger and bigger and when trying to make that sharp turn Jill went over again. The only reason she went over was that she was simply exhausted and beaten on the last rapid and after white witch we took a break to recoup.

As I said somewhere above, the biggest injury of the day was to my elbow. I cannot begin to express what a big jump up this was (previously Jill had only kayaked the Potomac, which hardly counts, and the Lower Yough) and this water was much larger and more technical than either of those. Every time she got beaten she got back in the boat and was ready to go again. Good attitude and spirit.

Unfortunately, drama on the high seas isn’t so conducive to breaking out the camera and taking pictures. In fact it is advisable to ensure that your wife is still alive before making any attempt at documenting the event with photographic proof. That being said, here is the only video or documentary proof of our day on the river. This is my best and longest surf (the kayakers out there must be groaning b-c this is clearly a weanie surf) ever….even with my hurt elbow!

It was a great day on the river!!

Kayak 360

April 4, 2009 By Jillian

We were introduced to Kayak 360 through the good people at Kayak Huasteca who had showed us the way down the waterfalls at the Rio Micos only a few short days earlier. Working out the logistics of where to be and when proved to be a bit of a challenge [ad#final-review-ad]was Kayak 360 is located off the beaten track, down by the river, far away from the city of Xalapa where we were staying. Had we had a car, this wouldn’t have been so difficult as Kayaking is just not a public transportation friendly sport.

Once there we had our choice of boats, mostly wavesports which suited us well, and were able to try on PDFs and skirts as well. All gear was in great shape and, even better, dry! Within a matter of minutes we were loading up the truck and hitting the river. As it was only two of us on the trip, one guide was plenty and the other members of the lodge who joined us in a raft were a welcome addition. Our guide, Tio Memo,has been paddling the area for 18 years and knew every nook and cranny of the river. He was a great guide, telling us everything we needed to know in advance. As the river is in Mexico, it was doubly appreciated that Memo spoke fluent English and we never had to be concerned with a language barrier.

For a full trip report click here but suffice to say we had a great day on the river. The folks at Kayak 360 were a pleasure to kayak with and, despite the fact that our group numbered only 2, were willing to handle all logistics and give us a very private day on the river. Thank you Kayak 360!

Rio Chiriqui

Pico Bonito

Review- Omega Tours, La Ceiba, Honduras

Kayaking the Rio Pescados

Kayak 360

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