Adventure Tourism in Costa Rica

There is a wide variety of adventure tourism possibilities in Costa Rica. Young people can go ziplining and do who-knows-what.   I thought that a sedate gondola ride at tree-top level would be about my speed.  Well, on a trip organized by Gecko Trail Adventures, I found myself white water rafting.

National Geographic calls the challenging rapids and the stunning scenery of the Pacuare River one of the ten river trips in the world.  It goes through a virgin tropical rainforest and features rapids with such ominous names as "Pin Ball," Double Drop," and "Magnetic Rock."

 Well, I made it through the Pacuare rapids only slightly bloodied. I bit my lip at an appropriate time when I didn't have anything constructive to do. And I bloodied my leg on one of the few pieces of metal on the raft.

When we approached our first rapids I decided that my best way to get through it all was to keep my head down and not even look at what was coming. I only had to listen to the commands of the guide and paddle forward, paddle back,or lean in as directed. But with success comes confidence, and after going through a few easy turns I started peeking. Then I started trying to guess which channel he'd have us take. We were the lead raft. There were four behind us, and only occasionally did I see how they fared. Our guide seemed to have confidence in us, because twice he had us do 360 spins as we went through easy rapids. I didn't see any of the other rafts hotdogging it in white water.

There were 48 rapids in all. How many we're Class III and how many we're Class IV I don't know. But the important thing is that I survived. And I did have fun!