PlanetEye

February 2nd, 2008

Manufacturing Adventure

Brendan

The Global Nomad

As Costa Rica slowly edges towards becoming a victim of its own popularity, and nature becomes gradually more and more packaged for tourist consumption (think Cancun’s Disney-esque shuttle buses to go visit Nature™!) it’s nice to know there’s still plenty of the real thing around. While the idea of a canopy tour (flying from tree to tree high in the forest canopy by means of a zip line and climbing harness) may have started out pretty hard core, today the country is flooded with them. Not that they aren’t tons of fun….

Two more of Costa Rica’s best, Disney-free ways to experience Mother Nature with a serious does of adrenalin are rafting and canyoneering.

With a relatively short trip to either coast from its volcanic spine, Costa Rica’s rivers can be steep and fast. The Pacuare, Reventazon and Sarapiqui rivers are legendary and feature tropical paradise on all sides. In the northwest, the Balsa and Toro rivers have solid class III and IV rapids respectively—enough to get you as wet as you like.

Canyoneering is a combination of scrambling or hiking down a rushing river canyon, and abseiling (aka rappelling) down the spots where the canyon turns into a waterfall. It’s beautiful, intense and certainly earns you bragging rights at the bar that night.

There are plenty of good rafting operators depending on where you are; For rivers in the east including the Pacuare, try Rios Tropicales. In the Arenal Volcano/La Fortuna area the Desafio Adventure Company were pioneers in the area, having been around for 15 years, running both canyoneering trips and rafting on the Balsa and Toro rivers. I’ve done both with them and both were awesome. Highly recommended.

Links:
www.riostropicales.com
www.desafiocostarica.com

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