Sunday the 20th of April 2003 - Day 61
The bus arrived at 8.50am as promised. I had only 3 hours sleep and the I had asked the hostel manager to wake me, which he did. I slept in my clothes but had packed insect repellant, sun screen, water, spare clothes for the day. The mini bus had about 10 people. It took 2 hours to get to the Salta Rafting base and river. After an hour getting lessons and advice as to what to do when paddling, how to take instructions from the lead guy on the boat, what to do if you fall in, how to drag some one back in, we were ready to go. We got tops, helmets and life jackets (see pictures). The trip takes approximately 4 hours, and it includes:
- Rafting introductory course.
- Security introductory course.
- Supply of the necessary equipment, such as helmet, life jacket, water proof trousers and jackets.
See their webpage for more details. They are recommended (an I would recommend them). A guide on each boat shouting instructions (8 people per raft), two guys on kayaks in case of an accident. It was all about fun!
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Rafting in Salta
Taken on the 20th of April 2003
Rafting is a recreational activity utilizing a raft to navigate a river or other body of water.
Whitewater rafting can be a dangerous activity if the proper precautions are not taken. Below is a generally accepted classification system used to classify rivers for rafting and boating difficulty:
Click on the picture to see it in its original size
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Rafting in Salta
Taken on the 20th of April 2003
This was Class III - Intermediate. Strong eddies and current, requiring skilled maneuvering
Click on the picture to see it in its original size
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Rafting in Salta
Taken on the 20th of April 2003
Click on the picture to see it in its original size
)
Rafting in Salta
Taken on the 20th of April 2003
Rafting. Basically on a grade 3 (medium), there is little chance of the boat overturning by accident (hmm, well it did happen to the other boat), and the one we experienced was man made by Emiliano the guide who shouts instructions from the back (paddle forward, reserve, stop etc). Basically he directed us to a rock which caused the capsize. You can see him in the picture forcing the issue (green helmet). We drifted a few hundred yards and were picked up, dragged from he water by another raft. It was fun!!!!! I met two English teachers working in Salta doing the rafting. Everybody else was Argentine. Alot of the instructions were in Spanish so brush up. The guy on the boat only spoke Spanish but explained slowly. Some good rapids caused by water been released by a dam upstream. The main thing to watch out for are the rocks underneath. I was placed in front (one other guy on the boat) and had great views of the on coming rapids. Very little to keep you in the boat. I had (just the two in the front) had a place where I could secure one foot because we had to alot of the paddling up front. Two girls in the back were falling out the whole time. Its a nuisance as if somebody falls out, its very hard to reconnect with that person as you are travelling so fast. that's why the Kayaks were there to grab the fallen person to your raft, where one of us drags them back in.
Click on the picture to see it in its original size
We got back around 7.00pm. I had dinner and uploaded the pictures taken by one guide on Kayak. They were 2P each and were given to me on a 1.44 MB floppy.
Labels: backpacker, backpacking, blog, drifters, Gap Year, irish guy, neo-nomad, round the world trip, Vagabonding, Wanderers
posted by Michael at 9:12 PM
