Today we are off to the Sarapiqui river. Beautiful little Class 3/4 river through the jungle. The water can rise in a short period of time and can go from mellow to raging quickly. As we drove through the pounding rain on the way to the put-in we had a good talk with one of the guides who broke his back kayaking. Crazy kid is still kayaking even though he wakes up every day with varying degrees of numbness in his legs. The put-in has about 100 feet of large slippery boulders to negotiate, so just getting to the water was exciting. This requires a mandatory carry across boulders Vijay and probably the most difficult part of the trip for anyone in a chair, especially if the guy is 200lbs. Vijay weighing in at a buck forty was not much of a problem. For support in the boat, Vijay used an Aspen Seating custom seat with a Crazy Creek strapped to the boat. The custom seat by Aspen Seating is amazing. It is basically a portable custom wheelchair seat that is covered in bomber material for outdoor sports. Protecting the ass in a huge deal for anyone in a wheelchair. A pressure sore can take an hour to get and 3 months to heal. So this system worked pretty good but another strap or two would have been nice. Next time we'll get our strap on.....the other thing that would be nice would for the whole thing to be one big unit. We get rigged on the boat and off we go. The river is small now but evidence of huge water levels is very present. The put-in, for example....all those rocks we had to negotiate, at high water levels those are a rapid. As we wind our way through the jungle we begin to see lots of amazing birds. The jungle is so amazing anyway and boating through it is even more amazing. I guess growing up in the mountains and running a lot of desert rivers I come from a very different river environment. All rivers have amazing qualities and this one is no different. We stop for a break and cut up mango, papaya, pineapple and some other deliciously yummy fruit. I can't resist stacking rocks and find some of the most amazing river rock to stack demonstrating natures balance is greater than we will ever know. We get to the put-out and it starts to rain really hard! Time really is so much of life. I jump into guide mode and help break down the raft and get all the gear in the van. By the time we left it had already formed a little river on the dirt (mud) road we were on. Had we been 10 minutes later we would have had a hell of a time getting out. Great day overall; the access is a little difficult for someone in a wheelchair, but certainly doable for the hearty.That night we head to Tabacon Hot Springs. A natural hot river heated by Arenal Volcano. An amazing place well worth the pricey admission. There are about 15 pools that wind up through the jungle with elaborate landscaping linning the paths. The jungle with exotic flowers lit up at night is pretty amazing, especially when your soaking in a river that is warmer than your hot tub. The pathways were perfect for a wheelchair to get around. There are mini waterfalls to soak under in multiple locations, a swim-up bar in the lowest pool and a walk up bar up at the top of the hotsprings. I was kinda waiting for Tatoo to jump out in his little white suit...his smug little smile and a slight head bow..." Misther Crouch, how is your evening sir? Can I interest you in any of these fine deserts?" pointing to several beautiful, and very curvy fruits. Okay, so that was a little Fantasy Island moment. Anyhoo, we had a good time and would highly recommend going.
