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Monday, 20 March 2023

White-Water Rafting in the Andes!

One thing I've been getting more into this year is adventure sports! Since our speedboat ride in Papudo, I've been eager to try out some more adrenaline-fuelled activities. So, at the start of February, Claudio and I went zip-lining in Cajón del Maipo (I'm sure I'll write about that soon enough!), and I also decided to make the most of my time renewing my visa in Mendoza to spend a day white-water rafting!

White-water rafting is something I've wanted to try for many years, and given that the Mendoza province is well-known for being a great place to practice this sport, I chose to book a 12-kilometre rafting session on Río Mendoza.

Although the day overall wasn't quite what I was expecting, the rafting itself was a fantastic experience.

The day started with the minibus from the rafting company picking me up from my hotel shortly after 9am. Once everyone was on board, we then drove towards the mountains for a little over an hour, going into the countryside. We stopped at a service station about halfway through the journey, and unfortunately someone stole my original seat when we got back on the bus, and I ended up in the worst seat on the bus - right in the middle at the back, wedged between two guys with their legs spread wide, who didn't make any space for me, even though it was clear I was uncomfortable.

During the latter part of the journey, we passed by Potrerillos Dam, closer than I had done on the journey to Mendoza from Santiago, and the views were stunning. Unfortunately, I couldn't get any pictures because of my position on the bus.

So, when we finally arrived at the activity centre, Río Aventura, it was a relief to get off the bus and have some personal space again.

We signed waiver forms at the reception area and then waited for the activity to begin. According to the information on the website I'd bought the activity from, we would go rafting upon arrival at the activity centre, and then we'd have a couple of hours of free time to take advantage of the restaurant and the pool before going back to the city again.

However, this was not how things worked out! Because the activity centre also offers other activities, like zip-lining, trekking and abseiling, and some people on the minibus had signed up for these activities, we had to wait until everyone had finished all of their activities before we could go back to Mendoza. For me, this meant waiting an hour or two before the rafting, and about five hours afterwards, in a place in the middle of nowhere with no internet signal.

Fortunately, I had brought plenty of snacks and drinks with me. And although I had left the book I was reading in the hotel, I luckily had a copy of Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry downloaded to my phone for situations such as these. I had only read about thirty pages of the story so far, but I ended up coming close to finishing it over the course of the day! (By the way, I finished it later that week, and thoroughly enjoyed it.) I also met some other British people during the rafting, and spent some time chatting with them during the afternoon.

So overall, I didn't have a bad time at all during those hours, but it was still an awfully long time to stay in one place when you're not expecting it. In hindsight, I would have paid extra to take part in some of the other activities, though they were all things I'd already tried before.

Of course, the most exciting part of the day was the rafting itself. I was definitely more than a little nervous beforehand, as the route covers Class 3 and Class 4 rapids (There are 5 classes, with Class 5 being the strongest!). But I was also determined to have as much fun as possible, despite my nerves!

I was on a raft with five other British people, coincidentally, and with the guide at the back. At the start of the activity, we learnt how to sit in the raft (quite a strange position, actually!), and the four commands we needed to follow ("forward", "back", "stop", and "lean in"). And then we set off down the river!

When we hit our first rapid, it was quite a shock! We moved about so much that I thought I might fall in, and we got absolutely soaked with water. And some of the rapids that followed over the course of our hour on the water were even stronger! 

Looking back, I would say that I spent the first half of the activity a little nervous, but in the second half, I started to really have fun. It was an amazing experience to be thrown around on the rapids of the river, surrounded by the beautiful landscape of the Andes mountains. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I wish I could have done it for longer, even though my leg had already gone completely numb from the weird position we had to sit in!

Overall, the inconveniences of the day were definitely worth it, as I had such a great time finally doing this sport that I'd wanted to try for so long!


To bring this post to a finish, here are some photos from the day. There are no photos of my group rafting, but I did take one of another group rafting, so you get the general idea! I also have some pictures of the site itself, which was quite attractive, and which even had a resident cat and dog!












To conclude, although I would be unlikely to come back to Río Aventura, I will definitely go rafting again at some point in the future!

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