Adventure Day: Tubing!

At the tubing starting place, we stuffed our unwanted clothing into bags that were provided and got a brief demonstration on the appropriate way to sit in the tube, where our handles should be, and what to do if you flipped.  Bryan paid more attention than I did.  Then we carried our tubes down a very steep switchback path to a calmish part of the river.  On the right was a beautiful waterfall that someone was Tarzan swinging through.

We got into the river, got situated in our tubes, and embarked on our hour-long river rapid adventure!  Hunter flipped first, but he was ok.  I went next, managing to flip at the beginning of a rapid set.  Come to find out, I should have paid better attention at the beginning, because I was positioned incorrectly in my tube, with my handles behind me instead of in front.  So, over I went.

I held on to the tube, which technically we weren't supposed to do if we flipped.  However, I was smack dab in the middle of a rapid set with no guide nearby.  Using my tube and life vest, and relying on childhood summers of rapid riding at the Llano, I was doing ok.  I almost made it through the set without getting too banged up, but the second significant drop had what I call a BFR (aka a Big Fucking Rock) right past the bottom.  I cracked my left shin against it, right below the knee.  It hurt so much!  I scrambled along a bit further until the water slowed down and shallowed up.  Then I got back into my tube--the correct way--and was ready to go again!  I flipped once more, but there was nothing but deep water below that rapid and Turi was there to help me back into my tube (not that I needed it--I managed just fine on my own).

Hunter, Amber and Bryan were a bit in front of me, and Hunter actually flipped a second time in the same spot as my second flip.  Amber flipped once and took one of the Alabama guys with her--both emerged fine WITH both their sunglasses and Amber's camera as well!  Amber also got a charlie horse in her calf that hurt so much it set her to screaming loud enough that I think the people back in Tamarindo might have heard her lol.  Raphael helped her and Hunter strech out her leg and get the muscles to unlock.


All in all it was a wonderful river run, flips and my tendency to get caught in dead spots in the current aside!  The canyon the river ran through was beautiful, and we even saw white-face monkey high up in the trees!  At the end of the run, Turi held my tube back from the rest.  I should have figured out what was going on (he was waiting for a photographer) but I was busy being confused.  Turi flipped me out of my tube!

I came up spluttering, and told him "You'd better run!"  I then switched to Spanish and shouted "Corre!".  He tried to get away, but I chased him and dunked him back!  He came up spluttering and we had a good laugh.  He let me carry his tube, which was much lighter, back up the hill while he carried mine.  We were laughing the whole time, and he made the sign of the cross over Bryan, blessing him for "putting up" with me.  Lol.  It was wonderful.  We got to the top, stacked the tubes, and reclaimed our clothes.  We waited for our bus for quite a while.  While we were waiting, Turi brought me the see of un arbol de Guanacaste (the state of Costa Rica we've been in) to take home with me.  It was a very sweet gesture.  Once again, I find myself extremely grateful for my Spanish--it made Turi and me friends, if only for a brief time.