Connecting the Dots: Rapids, Monkeys, Volcanoes, Waterfalls, Zip Lines—Just Another Day in La Fortuna / Monteverde

My shoes, utterly drenched in water, were wedged into position in the raft, my left in the forward foothold and my right in the crease between the wall of the boat and the inflated row of seats. We had persevered through the Class III rapids and had graduated to the Class IV. Half the time while rowing, you were rowing only air as the raft lifted off the water and slammed back down, raining the fresh river water on the “crew”. As we maneuvered the river, several occasions barely staying in the raft, a series of sizable waves appeared a few seconds in front of the raft. Our guide began screaming “Forward! Forward!” as he saw the impending onslaught. We attacked the first wave and managed to reach the summit when the bottom came out. Immediately, our raft turned at a nearly 45-degree angle heading into Round 2. As we dove into the oncoming wall of water, I dug my feet as hard as possible into position.

We were carried over a few more baby rapids and into a clearing. Once safe, I turned my head to toward the back of the boat to assess the damage. I only had to turn halfway around however, before I saw our captain bobbing in the water about 15 feet from the raft. There is some good news when you catapult the guide from the rate though; rafting rules dictate that “anyone falls out, he/she has to buy a round.”