Rollin’ Down the River

COLOMBIA TIP #9 – Be careful with the water you drink!

Last weekend, some of us teachers took a trip to Balsaje, a place about 45 minutes away to go river rafting!  We were picked up around 10am and all sat in the back of a Jeep to drive there.

Once we arrived, the 11 of us made our way down to the river and got set up on our raft.  They had barrels to put our bags into so they wouldn’t get wet and a nice tent with benches in case you wanted to hide from the sun.  The raft was completely made out of bamboo strung together, so even if you were sitting on the raft itself, you were sure to get wet!

For the most part, we were drifting along with the current, but we also had two guys with their own bamboo sticks that manoeuvred around rocks and kept us from hitting the riverbanks.  We also had the chance to jump in the water with our lifejackets and float along with the boat beside us.  We even went through some mini rapids and had a guide jump in and make sure that we were staying on the proper side of the river so we didn’t run into any rocks.  We had to keep our feet up because it was actually pretty shallow!  I was a little hesitant to go in first because I had heard that some people in the past had gotten sick from the water…

but with a little encouragement from others and a reminder to keep my mouth shut and not swallow any water, I jumped in!

That’s me on the far right drifting down the river with a few others who took the plunge!

We stopped for lunch on one riverbank and had some pre-packed lunches they had made for us.  They were wrapped in giant leaves, which gave the feeling of a true wilderness experience!  It was pretty good too.

On this particular riverbank, there was a nice open field where Veronica and I both had the same thought:

“The HIIIIIIILS are ALIIIVE with the sound of muuuuusiiiiicccc”

That night and the next day, some people weren’t feeling very well, but I was for the most part fine.  They’ve all since recovered too, so we all made it out alive!

I’ve also been trying my best to keep up with the Olympics!  As you may have guessed, the Winter Olympics are not exactly popular in countries such as Colombia.  However, Lina and I looked it up and found out that in its history, Colombia has won 2 Golds, 6 Silvers, and 11 Bronzes in the Summer Olympics, and they actually had one athlete attend the Winter Olympics last time in Vancouver (after some further research, I found it was Cynthia Denzier, an alpine skier.  She competed in the Giant Slalom and DNF and placed 51^st in the Slalom)! (After some more research, she was actually born in the United States, lives in Switzerland, and because her father moved to Colombia, she got her citizenship when she was about 19 years old.  But I guess it still counts?).  This is Cynthia entering the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics (from Wikipedia).

Anyways, Canada has been doing really well and even the students have been asking, “How is Canada doing in the Olympics?”  I’d like to think they’re cheering for our countries just like we’ll all be cheering for theirs when the World Cup rolls around for soccer in June!