Baños Righteous! Righteous!!

       The cool air of a night of rain met our waking eyes, chilling us to the bone. We ate breakfast by candlelight as the power in town was out for the day. The warmth of huevos rancheros and a deep rich brew coated my insides with the will to step out into the drizzle. Adventure sang in the air. Before long we boarded a brightly colored bus with rafts strapped on top and a pleasant conversation started with a bright young couple from the UK. They decided to leave work and travel the South American continent from March till November (if their money held out). There were some twenty others mostly North America. All of us huddled on the wood bench seats of the bus staring out into the clouded mountains and valley we descended into. Occasionally a distant waterfall sliced through the heavy greenery falling down into the river hundreds feet below foaming, tumultuous, and swollen from the nights previous rain.
I was in my element, thoroughly giddy. But in a manly way of course.

We made a turn down a step dirt road and came to a sudden halt. After unloading ourselves, the rafts, and dawning welcome wetsuits with distinct odors we readied our selves for the ride. Our guides gave a somewhat encouraging and very funny safety presentation on how to die; I mean not die in or out of the raft. With helmets on and a lesson on how to paddle as a team we carried the raft on our head down to the river. The discomfort this cause my neck and arms was slightly alarming but not quite as alarming as the rickety suspension cable bridge we crossed over to put our vessel in the water. And by water I mean thunderous white water! Yeah!! Righteous!!! Righteous!!!!
Only slightly nervous, we piled in and stroked strongly with stoic faces and moved into the current.
Our guide spoke about as much English as I do Spanish so every time he spoke we all looked at John for a translation the way a dog does with head cocked to one side. But after our first big rapid we figured each other out. The Brit couple, our quartet, and guide were forged into the best raft on the river in know time. We even played a key role in the rescue of another raft that capsized five min into trip. It is pretty exciting pulling bodies (alive bodies) from the rapids.
Amazing I know!

But all pride aside there is nothing quite like paddling furiously up to the base of a swell and hitting it head on, taking the crisp water in mouth with a silly grin dripping from your face. We powered through numerous class 3+ and 4 rapids with toes dug in and backs occasionally pulling in unison. Oh the joy of testing yourself against something larger than you are! It is a humbling experience to come face to face with God’s creation, and feel its wildness, untamed since its forming, We saw a rockslide of tons of earth cascaded into the river. As we rafted boulders on the river bottom literally thundered below us, rolling stones on their way to the Amazon. It all leaves you breathlessly in awe, feeling rather small. Which is really good on occasion remember you are small.
In no time our trip was finished and we were on the way to a prepared lunch and the next adventure: a rope, a bridge, and a long, long, long way down.

To be continued . . . dun dun dun!