Getting to know the local rivers

I've just got back from a great weekend of paddling is Santa Bárbara. Santa Bárbara is a beautiful town about 2-3hrs south of Conce. It's nestled right in the middle of the mountains and has some truly amazing rivers. I was up early on Saturday to get a lift there with a group of rafting clients, a guide and the other safety kayaker. This was the same river, same rafting company and same people that I did  my first paddling trip in Chile with. I've gotta admit that it wasn't the most comfy journey as me and Paulo were sat in the boot of the van for the journey with very limited space!

I now know what it feels like to be a piece of luggage...

I tried to sleep through as much of it as I could, and when I wasn't sleeping I was swotting up on my Chilean slang using a book that one of my students gave to me. It's called 'Relatos de una mujer borracha' (Tales of a drunk woman), and is written using so many Chilean idioms and words. I'll give you a little taster in a future blog for those of you who speak any Spanish, or thought you did...! We got there eventually and after meeting up with the other guide and 6 clients and inflating the rafts we jumped on to the river. This time I was working as one of two safety kayakers for 2 rafts, picking up clients when they fell out (or the guides, which actually did happen this weekend!) and setting safety on some rapids. It's fair to say that this day was a lot more eventful that last time, with about 16 swims and a flipped raft in one rapid where a powerful wave flipped the raft right over and carnage ensued. The 12 clients had a great day and all the staff did too. Can't wait to go back!

Good company, solid team, awesome clients!

We spent the night at one of the guide's house in Santa Bárbara and we used today to do a run of the River Queuco. A really entertaining 8km section of very continuous grade 3/4. There were only three of us, Paulo, Diego and me. The section is very powerful but the consequences of messing up are low and we had a great time playing around on the river for a couple of hours, I don't think I've paddled many sections that continuous in the UK (things like the Lower Oetz in Austria would be a good comparison). The amazing thing about both these rivers is that they flow through some of the most breathtaking landscapes and you get to see places that nobody else has access to. I had an amazing weekend, spent in great company and doing a sport I love and exploring Chile's amazing countryside, it doesn't get much better than this. Pucón is hopefully the next stop in my kayaking adventure!!!

Just look at that landscape!