[Due to Costa Rica's fabulous telecommunications monopoly....we are a bit delayed on scouting week reports. But even delayed, reports are too good to let go!!] Scouting Report #2 from Craig You know what it is like when you spill something big? You reach to stop the...
Adventure Travel
Advance Team Paddling Hard in Costa Rica
First Trip Report from Craig and Joe - our 2009 Advance Team in Costa Rica Craig: Alright, it was time to go scout Costa Rica, and I had a brilliant idea. Fly from Greensboro to visit dad, and completely avoid the airport in Atlanta. I´ll be in Costa by 1:30 with...
Parting shot from Ecuador
Kayak Ambassadors…Final Shots
With the trips over for the season, we have just a few final reflections to share...an important one being how we perceive our role in river management in guest countries. We cannot "tell" folks in Costa Rica or Ecuador what they should/should not do with their...
Ecuador Whitewater: A Bird’s Eye View with the GoPro! Hero Camera
This fall we ran into the new-and-improved GoPro! HERO camera with image stabilzation....and were pretty impressed....impressed enough to bring them into the store without personal testing. But as a follow-up we had one brought to Ecuador and eventually put the new...
Who found the best treasure: Us or Them
One of the most interesting nights during our trips here in Ecuador is when Ken gets in a story-telling kind of mood and is willing to share the legend of the Inca Gold with us. With great expectation, we pull up a chair with a Pilsner beer in hand and prepare to get...
Exploring the Treasures of the Oriente of Ecuador
The region of Ecuador we spend most of our paddling time is called the Oriente. One of three regions (the costa, the sierra and the oriente), the Oriente contains nearly half of the square footage of the country, but less than 5% of the 12.5 million population of...
Modern Day Team SBC River Explorers
Francisco Orellana, born in 1511, was the cousin to Francisco Pizarro�the conquerer of the Inca Nations of Ecuador and Peru. More importantly, Orellana was the first to navigate the headwater tributaries of Ecuador downstream into the Amazon River. This past week we...
what’s one man’s trash….
what might be considered one man's trash in some cultures.... is a more creative person's craft for running whitewater!! Share more photos of our last trip of 2008 and first two weeks of 2009!
Scrambled Gringos
You cannot beat a section of river that has a rapid on it called Gringos Revueltos (which translates to Scrambled Gringos). Welcome to the Lower Quijos! The first time our guide Doug returned from Ecuador, he spoke of the Lower Quijos in terms of 'national geographic...
Paddling the New Year Ecuador Style!
If being with us here in Ecuador would be more fun than reading about it, then on New Years Eve you needed to borrow from the Venezuelan New Years Eve tradition: take a suitcase and carry it around the house for the duration of New Years Eve-- bringing you the...
Christmas the World Over
My taxi cab driver looked surprised when I confirmed that we celebrate Christmas on the 25th. In spanish he remarked, "you celebrate it the same day we do?" I told him that I was pretty sure that everyone gives Jesus the same birthday party. it is funny how...
Proof that Rednecks Exist Below the Equator
What would lead one to believe that rednecks can be found below the equator--and even more specifically among the monkey population? We now have concrete evidence proving is it true! Rednecks not only exists below the equator, but in the monkey population. Are there...
Back on the River-Quijos Style!
It always seems that we start our run-down week back in Ecuador on the Quijos River. How can you not when it is such a great river to return to each year?! Putting in at what what we refer to as the Baeza Bridge put in, it only takes about five minutes for the word...
2008 t-shirt project in Costa Rica
The Endless River Adventures Costa Rica and Ecuador t-shirts have become a badge for a group of special people....ERA Costa Rica and/or Ecuador trip participants. This is a group of friends who are passionate about paddling, inquisitive enough to want to travel to...
Grand Finale in Costa Rica
The Tico Times (english publication here in Costa Rica) summed it up well: 'Dry Season' Soaks C.R. After three week of unseasonal rain....we got a little anxious about our last trip that would be arriving Dec 6th. No way to look in a crystal ball, but the only thing...
Our Road Guides: Miguel and Fabian
Nineteen years ago Miguel and Ken met by chance. Miguel had just purchased his first van, Ken was just putting together his first trips, a business card was passed on to Ken by a mutual acquaintance....and Miguel, his family and his "yes-I-can" Toyota vans have been...
Giving “thanks” kayaking in Costa Rica
In the midst of a ten day front that embraced most of the Latin American countries with way too much enthusiasm, we were blessed with a blue sky day at the beach at the beginning of our Thanksgiving Week here in Costa Rica. Along with Panama, Nicuaragua, Columbia and...
Wall Shots are Fun!
There is always some misgiving about a wall shot. Nothing like it at home....new rivers with no particular course in mind tend to curve and wind and create new channels at whim when they tire of the old channel they traveled. Sometimes this means a river bank gets in...
Summing up the Nov 15-22 Trip more poetically than normal!
our trip included some of the incredible river of costa rica. the first two days were on the pejibaye and the pacure. the water and weather were beautiful. we also had some bigger wares and rain and some quality van time getting to know fellow paddlers. this is what...