7/21 - Sun
-Ty had diarrhea and vomiting throughout the night.
We never figured out if it was the lemonade at the train station restaurant or what. I contacted Darwin in the morning and he immediately prescribed Cipro which we had and electrolytes. A hotel staff member got the electrolytes, although at a very inflated price. Laura did not get much sleep either and stayed home with Ty
-Finn and I were met by the rafting crew at 9:15. We quickly evaluated that lead guide and hard core kayaker Alonzo was loco.
-while they were rigging the raft, I tried to show my adventurous spirit by jumping in the river which wasn't as cold as I expected. I also jumped behind the oars while the raft was on land and told Alonzo and Victor, our kayak chase crew, that I was going to steer.
-we launched into mellow, somewhat boring flow but the scenery was beautiful. As we floated by the brewery, Alonzo confirmed his loco status and began furiously padding us upstream when he learned that I had not sampled the local brew. I declined saying that we needed our wits to raft, to which he said "one would not be a big deal." Love the loco guide but we passed on the beer and brewery
-I jumped into the driver's seat behind the oars and that made it more entertaining. A large group joined us and we splashed them and Finn and Victor threw seaweed balls at each other. Driving the raft was pretty easy except when you got near shore or another boat and had to stow the oar
-Alonzo took over for the Class 3 section and soon he pivoted us around and furiously paddled us upstream until the bow was sucked into the back of a standing wave.
The whole bow intertube was submerged and Finn and I were getting drenched and giggling.
-Alonzo kept yelling "Jump! Jump!" I tried to confirm what he meant and interpreted it as jump out of the raft and into the standing wave, so out I went. It was funny and Alonzo yanked me back into the raft and said "Don't ever jump out of the raft." We clarified what he wanted and went back into the hole where I jumped forward onto the front tube and was pretty well submerged. He definitely found the few small fun sections and milked them for everything they were worth.
-we ran a pretty fun section that had a fork. Below the fork, Alonzo and Victor pulled over, we hopped out and began portaging the raft upstream. It soon became the Victor and Alonzo show as Victor would wade forward through waist plus high water, get up on a rock, Alonzo would throw him the bow line, the three of us would hop in and paddle towards Victor who would haul us forward until the raft reached the eddy behind the rock. Alonzo was glowing with glee as he read the river and figured out how to get us 300m upstream. He hopped from rock to rock like a little river gnome. It was fun. In the end we ran the other side of the fork that had a goof 4ft drop. It was fun, but the real fun was watching these guys get the raft upstream
-the river mellowed out after that. As we neared the end of the ride, I body checked Finn into the river. A short but cold float later and we were hauling the gear out of the river.
-we got into dry clothes and then met a family from Arizona in the lunch tent. The father was absent with Montezuma's revenge, so I am now a believer about how hard a stomach bug can hit you in the third world
-we met Milton and Nidio who would be joining us on our hike. They had a whole with coals and hot rocks and placed fish, chicken, beef and vegetables in for cooking. Very similar to a luau pig. Milton also did a blessing with three cocoa leaves
-after 45 minutes of chatting with the Arizona family, lunch was ready. It was yummy and the rainbow trout was a particular surprise winner. And the purple corn juice drink. Somehow all of the food got finished between the tourists, guides and cooking crew.
-we bid farewell to Victor with a tip and hopped in a van with loco Alonzo. He showed us the 65m waterfall he wants to kayak down and then exchanged Insta info with Finn
-I got back to the hotel room around 3 and was happy to hear that Ty was no longer vomiting and had been napping most of the day. We got his second Cipro in him around 4 and then the three of us headed out to get Laura some food, at Puka Rumi of course. We also stopped at the mini mart to resupply our Snickers and other items. Although we were still paying gringo prices, this trip was easier since I had soles and tried to bargain a bit
-Puka Rumi delivered as usual and we returned to the room to find a cheery Ty who had slept most of the time we had been gone. He tried to rally and play cards in the living room, but we only lasted one hand
-everyone was ready for an early night and we set our alarm for midnight for the third Cipro and more electrolytes
2025-02-07