Río Futaleufú

Finally we get to the actual Futaleufú river. Futaleufú is an indigenous mapungún word and means big ("futa") river ("leufú"), a very adequate name for this world-class beast full of pushy, hard rapids. Most river sections here are class IV to V, i.e. hard to reach for hobby kayakers like Julia and me.
We spend the morning driving out to some of the harder rapids on another dirt road, trying not to hit any of the dogs or cows that feel like they own the place. We get to watch some kayakers and rafting boats on the Mundaca rapid (V). One of them is Nico, a friend from Slovenia (who like many other Chilean kayakers spends southern hemisphere winters in Europe).
To at least get to get a feeling for the river, we sign up for a rafting trip in the afternoon. As the river is huge and would carry any swimmers pretty far, all rafts here are always accompanied by safety kayakers and often also katarafts, both of which can rescue people much more easily. The water has such an enormous force that it keeps you too busy paddling and coordinating with the other paddlers to even see many of the huge waves you crash through. You can only imagine how hard it must be to keep a kayak stable in these rapids, even though the safety kayakers make it seem effortless.Read more