Provincia de Cartago

Water, water everywhere and plenty of drops to spare.

It's raining!! Proper, tin-roof-drumming, layer soddening rain! I probably sound like a spoiled brat compared to what you lot in NZ have been through, but to be honest it feels like a novelty. That will wear off quickly I'm sure, the forecast tells us we've got a lot more of it to come...

Turrialba is not a tourist town, and Spanish by the River (our accommodation) isn't even in Turrialba - we're hidden in the bush and it is fantastic! It's quiet, spacious and comfortable, the view is splendid, the water is hot, and the kitchen is well equipped. While I'm at it, even the company has been quite pleasant! It feels a little like a rainforest retreat and it would be a superb place to learn spanish, if that's what we were here for - but it's not. Turrialba for us, is a convenient location to base ourselves for white water rafting (now you really know why I'm happy about the rain)!

Ríos Pacuare and Reventazón are world renowned rafting rivers offering grades II-IV rapids through stunning rainforest and wildlife. All sounds amazing until the bill cripples you with a gut punching USD$70pp - but 'when in Rome', right? We jumped aboard with a mischievous and youthful mob from Adrenalina Tours, a great group of river rats fluent in english and spanish. A conversation regarding lunch was had in spanish (food is our specialty area when it comes to spanish) and apparently we passed the test as our guides essentially refrained from speaking english to us for the rest of the tour, much to my disappointment.

With raft on roof we drove in drizzling rain an hour out of Turrialba to the starting point on Río Pacuare. The so called 'dry season' hadn't deterred the river or the weather because trust me - there was about to be water, everywhere. Rushing, gushing, falling, spurting, splashing, spraying water everywhere. We piled into the raft with a satisfyingly short amount of faff (yuss!), a short briefing (in spanish) and two seemingly land lubbing mexicans (later disproved). I was drenched head to toe within seconds of entering the river, cat too moments later as we desperately tried between us to remember the commands (in spanish). I intermittently took hilarity in imagining our guide, who's name was Ariel, as a little mermaid. Red haired and fish tailed he most certainly was not.

What we encountered from here was well worth our coin. We bounced through plenty of rapids, both burying and lifting the boat, and walls of water as high as our heads. We even river surfed the raft on breaking waves - twice! I think we were the butt of a joke as our guide tried all kinds of manouevres to dismount Cat and I, one such occasion ended with me head butting a rock wall (good use of a helmet) before eventually he flipped out Cat with the old sideways-over-a-shallow-rock trick. I couldn't tell if she was shocked, angry or embarrassed over the clattering of her teeth and colour of her lips, but the very fact that she was uninjured was news enough for me!

Meanwhile, when our eyes were open and not scanning the river ahead for approaching hazards, we were able to observe the beauty of the rainforest for which Costa Rica is so famous for. Huge green trees, vines and mosses, with butterflies and a myriad of birds crowded our view. We even saw two species of frog at our half way break - amazingly vibrant in colour. Further down the river, picturesque and secluded river lodges and tree huts provided some envy. But the most impressive by far was the waterfalls. Dozens of waterfalls in all shapes and sizes, heights and enormity joined our parade along with rivers and cascades of varying colours and flows. It was truely an astounding number of waterfalls! We stopped under one and got belted on the helmets for a while and attempted to paddle at another, into the ferocious wind it created on contact with the river. We paddled into a cave and scared out the bats (and ourselves) with a pop of the paddle slapping the river. We stopped for a rock jump and swam with the raft through a canyon with towering walls - some of us less voluntarily than others. Freezing and tired we reluctantly exited the river some three and a half hours after entering. Shortly afterward we were rewarded with a hot lunch (including rice and beans of course!) and a slideshow of photos impressively taken by our mate in a kayak, which we were pressured into buying at an expectedly extortionate price. Whether or not the photos were worth it is overshadowed by the fact the day most certainly was. What's more is we had our luxurious accomodation to put our feet up and relax with cervezas and guacamole, yum!

With the wet and the the seclusion of our accommodation, we really didn't get up to much else in Turrialba - save for a bush walk where we failed to see monkeys or sloths...another time! We did however have a very affectionate cat and a gigantic 'puppy' (son of a great dame) from whom to get our animal fix. The weather cleared on the morning as we were leaving and we witnessed the green beauty of the valley, backdropped with a steaming mountain. A lucky break in the cloud!

If you couldn't tell, both Cat and I really enjoyed this stop, a perfect extreme combination of rest and adrenaline. Don't bank on getting much else out of this wee town though - tours and hikes appear to be distant and overpriced. Moving right along then!Read more