Today we went on a white water raft tour down the Manso river in Argentina. I always wanted to raft down a river with rapids and, as Master Yoda said, “Do, or do not, there is no try”. To get to the river we had to travel across the continental divide; every river to the west of the line flows to the Pacific and those to the east flow to the Atlantic. When we arrived at Stephan lake, where the river started, we found the water to be crystal clear and our guide said that this water was drinkable so I drank straight from the river.
Rafting the Rio Manso.
When we started, we were on a calm lake that was perfect for swimming. The water was cold, not surprising because you could see patches of snow on the mountain peaks above us. In the beginning, there were little rapids but nothing I wouldn’t swim through. Maile almost from the get-go didn’t want to do it so she sat inside the boat and did virtually nothing for the next couple hours. Then, after an hour, we made it to the first rapids. These were only Class II rapids. They felt like driving down a bumpy road with a garden hose spraying you. Before we were near the rapid our guide instructed us how to make it through the rapid without flipping our raft. We had to paddle fast and furiously to negotiate the gauntlet of boulders. When we went over the only Class III rapid it felt like falling three feet in a car, entertaining but unnerving. After we successfully made it through the Class III rapid we did many ludicrous things under our guide Marco’s instructions. We ran class II rapids backward, spinning like a helicopter rotor, and standing up. When we were nearing the end the current slammed our raft into a rock and created a huge wave that soaked my mom and I. Then we had smooth sailing until the end of the tour.
