The lower run on Ecuadorâs Cosanga River is often described as a continuous version of the Chattoogaâs Five Fallsâ¦without the two-mile paddle at the end. Instead of the two-mile flat water paddle across the lake, you paddle into the Quijos River for a few more...
Adventure Travel
Soaking It Up At Pappallacta
There are specific times when soaking in hot springs is pure joy: after a day of skiing or a week of kayaking come to mind right away. This is especially true here in Ecuador as the paddling tends to be âbusyâ? and at the end of six full days, the muscles start to...
Belting it Up for 2007
When Angel pulled off his belt and explained that each of us had to give our burning muneca a belting for each year of the 21st century, our participation in Ecuadors New Years Eve celebration took a turn for the weird! But then, New Years Eve celebration in Ecuador...
Playing Favorites
Most of us have a favorite river. But when you run many different rivers it is hard to call one single section a âfavorite.â? Instead, it is easier having a favorite style of river (i.e.: big water or steep creeking). But that also gets thrown out a bit...
Sardines and Chocolate for Christmas
The ERA team has had some unusual Christmas experiences together. Because of trip schedules and travel restrictions over the holidays, we have often finished up our trips in Costa Rica and headed straight down to Ecuador. This allows us time to do a run-down of the...
Playing Grinch for Christmas
We barely made it out of town this morning before the marching band, ice cream vendors, buckets of cokes vendors, as well as hordes of parade participants effused with the Christmas spirit took to the highway to parade from the town of Borja to El Chaco. In our van...
Changing Latitudes
Weird that Sunday morning we were eating gallo pinto in San Jose, Costa Rica….and Tuesday morning we were paddling our first run of the season in Ecuador. It is great to be back!! We started out with a warm-up run (a good idea after landing at 10,000 feet, then coming...
Traditions Cross Over Cultures
It was strange to be departing Costa Rica this morning to catch a flight to Ecuador. We have a schedule that is pretty much the opposite of 90% of the tourists that travel to Costa Rica: we arrive at the tail end of the rainy season, and leave when the rain stops and...
Santa Claus Does Chanel, Clinic, Lancome and School Supplies!
Santa’s elves worked hard this summer collecting the best that Clinic, Lancome and Chanel had to offer any time they offered free gifts (with a purchase of course!!). And after collecting samples all summer, it was time to bring everything down to Costa Rica and...
The Week Everything Was Difficult
So call it a difficult decision to leave the hot tubs Thursday night to make it in time for a delicious dinner. But not as difficult as leaving the Sarapiqui that afternoonâwhen there was still a chance at seeing another toucan flying overhead. Then there was...
A PotPourri of Trip!
Summing up the past great week of boating here in Costa Rica: a âlittle bit of everythingâ? would be about right. We had surfing at the beach, we had post rain big water paddling followed by pristine green water play days. Our two groups consisted of as many...
The Rolling Stones
Paddling in Costa Rica on a high water day is like paddling on top of a bowling alley! We experienced this phenomena this week when we did a high water run on the Reventazon. Underneath us, the round boulders that formed the river bed rolled about due to the fast...
Elections in Costa Rica a Sobering Experience
Sunday is election day here in Costa Rica. On the slate this year is a bid for mayors (alcalde in Spanish). And to help the citizens vote responsibly, the sale of all alcoholic beverages are prohibited from Saturday morning through Monday morning during any...
The Week of Girl Power!
Girl power was at an all-time high during Thanksgiving week here in Costa Rica! This week is always a highlight with the arrival of the Baylor Students of Chattanooga. The tables turned this year when the WalkAbout Program landed here in Costa Rica with four...
Guaro Shots at the Takeout
Guaro is to Costa Rica what tequila is to Mexico and a reasonable person will have a difficult time deciding which one could do more damage to you! Sit and chat with a group of paddlers who have done the Pacuare River here in Costa Rica and you will soon figure out...
Record Setting Cold!
We won’t lie…the past two days here in Costa Rica have been chilly. News Alert!! The 22nd was the coldest November day in 25 years here in Costa Rica. It was 16 degrees. Celsius. The newspaper was full of stories of selling gloves, parkas, cold weather gear. For a...
Thanksgiving in Costa Rica
Thanksgiving in Costa Rica Okay, they don’t have Thanksgiving in Costa Rica. The Spanish landed here, not the pilgrims. And while the end result was similar, the pilgrims were much more gracious about the help they received from the native Americans! So over the...
Squeezing Sugar from a Cane
In our book, sidetrips are an important part of an international paddling trip. The rivers speak for themselves, especially finishing up this week: we went from gorgeous days on the Pacuare, to an eddy catching frenzy on the Pejibaye, to a huge water roller coaster...
Beans & Rice For Breakfast,Pacuare for Dessert!
It is always a surprise to a first-time Costa Rica paddler when breakfast is served. Setting corn flakes and wheaties aside, a typical costa rican breakfast is fondly referred to as ´gallo pinto´by the locals. Gallo pinto is a serving of black beans and rice cooked...
Tweaking a Great Program
How would orchestrating a symphony performance equate to running whitewater kayaking trips? Our last few days here would be  a good example: you take a good line-up/a program that you know will bring pleasureâ¦and then never stop tweaking it no matter how many...