Costa Rica Day 6 Whitewater Rafting on the Balsa River

We ate breakfast at the base of the volcano and then headed off for a day of white water rafting on the balsa river. This is the view of the volcano from the back deck of our bungalow.

I will tell you now that the phones stayed on the bus the entire time, so there are no photos of the event. Instead, I'll draw you a word picture: see a family of four jovial and laughing people. They are perfectly coiffed, makeup done, bathing suits showing all of their lithe muscular physiques. You are awed by their obvious athleticism and natural talent.

The boat glides on to the water and they dip their paddles expertly and execute every instruction that is given with grace and ease...

We saw those people and we definitely waved to them on the way by...seriously though, it was a blast! The rapids were mainly level 2 and 3 and our guide was excellent. We saw FOUR SLOTHS, a couple of vultures, cormorants and some herons.

I am pleased to say that the only time our family went swimming was the allocated swimming time. We got to glide along in the water floating on our backs behind the raft. One family did manage to flip their boat through the level 3 rapids which appeared to be a terrifying experience. I am pleased to say that we experienced the rapids from our positions inside the boat!

We stopped after about 9km of rafting and enjoyed fresh pineapple and watermelon. Having been keto for the better part of the last 2 and a half years, I can't even remember the last time I ate pineapple and I wasn't about to turn it down! It was absolutely delicious.

We had a delicious lunch of traditional Costa Rican foods and then came back to our hotel to hang around in the hot tub.

While it has definitely been warm here temperature wise, it is almost always misty or raining, so we have not been too hot. We've definitely not had to worry about the sun, though we've been cautious just in case.