White water

We could take a 5 hour bus from San Jose to Puerto Viejo or we could drive part way and float down the river for the rest.  what do you reckon? The Rio Pacuaré carves its path down through densely forested hills which are home to monkeys, sloths, toucans, giant butterflies, caimans, crocodiles, parrots and herons as well as indigenous Indian communities.  There's blue sky, hot happy sunshine and then throw in plenty of grade 3-4 white water rapids and what do we have to think about?  Lets get soaking wet!!!
Bec and me spent 5 hours on the rapids with our new buddies Phil and Jasenio and with the help of Ray our rafting guide.  In between the exhilaration of the rapids I found myself looking around in wonder struggling to believe I was actually here in this incredible environment.  My mind drifted in awe trying to find enough appreciation for where I was, then suddenly I wake up crashing down white water rapids hurtling around huge boulders trying to stay in the raft with Ray shouting "John! Paddle!".  Only Phil fell in which cost him a round of drinks later.  We had a nice bit of a swim in the calm(ish) parts of the river and then with a bit of confidence built up had a refreshing semi drowned swim through a series of supposedly easy rapids.
Our erratic driver got us back on the road and finished our journey in no time and immediately upon arriving at our guesthouse we ignored the beach across the road and downed a few beers in the bar.  The rest of our travel group had arrived earlier on having foolishly opted out of the rafting but we met them all later and went out for a group meal.  From the group of 16 we have Swiss, Germans, Aussies, Irish, American, English..... and a Geordie.  A few drinks tonight but nothing too heavy, have met some pretty cool people and its an early start tomorrow to do activities with some of the group.