White Water Rafting-day 1

Kristof and I enjoyed a simple (yet americanized) breakfast in the fireplace room overlooking the city. Fresh squeezed OJ, eggs, sausage, and toast. Not huge, but enough to make us last until lunch. The rafting crew came to pick us up right on time and we headed out of the city up the sacred valley. We had a nice sunny drive and even had some cows blocking the road. Since it was so clear, we were able to see one of the tallest mountains in the area-Victoria. This was really the first trip Kristof had seen snow-capped mountains, so he was clicking away with the camera. With the sun and the puffy clouds, it was pretty much a perfect day.

We pulled into a grassy field where the guides had us grab all our gear and they started getting the gear ready. Parked along the road to the field was a typical 3 wheeled taxi. The cheapest taxi you can rent. Some of them even had the batman symbols painted on the back--batmobiles! It was hilarious to watch our guide pump up the raft. He was so short that to get enough power behind it, he was jumping in the air and then pushing down on the pump handle. Add floppy, curly hair to the mix and there you have it-entertainment.

I was glad it was such a nice day out because the water turned out to be a bit nipply. We wore full sleeveless wet suits and a longer shirt to protect our arms. The waves were definately technical and difficult for that reason. With boulders getting to the size of a outdoor shed, it is not a place you want to fall out. But the streches in between the rapids was surprisingly calm. Great for scenic viewing. The rafting pics are compliments of Ronaldo who was in the safety kayak with us. Both Ronaldo and our guide were dead set on getting us to flip our raft. There are commands that need to be followed to adjust the weight distribution when going through technical parts. On occasion the guide would have us all jump to one side in a calmer rapid purely in an attempt to flip the boat. We successfully resisted his attempts.

Our first day ended just past the Ollyantaytambo ruins. We got out, changed and layed our stuff out to dry while we saw the ruins.