Quijos river is our #2  in the Top Ten most Exciting and Beautiful Rivers in Ecuador.  A couple of weeks ago we took a group of eight “quiteños”, an hungarian and three american girls, to enjoy this unique experience rafting the Quijos river.

Whitewater Rafting Quijos River

Once we arrived to the river shore, the guides provide the gear (neoprene wetsuit, spray jacket, helmet and paddle), then gave a safety talk, and just before starting the trip, everybody had to jump in the water to swim a smooth rapid to get wet and get used to the water´s temperature, just to be prepared in case the raft flips.

The first few rapids, we had the chance to practice paddling instructions.  Then the river starts to get interesting with tougher rapids such as ”Picapiedra” where everybody was having fun, and the ”casi me morí” where one of the rafts flipped.  Inmediately, the guide re-flipped the raft and pull everybody back to the raft.  Sometimes flips are great opportunities to realize that even you are having fun, you are actually doing an extreme sport, and still have to focus on what you are doing, in this case, working together and paddling better.

In the bigger rapids (in this case the “Toro” rapid), after scouting, the tourists (and guides) have the chance to choose either they feel like run it or not.  This time, one out of 12 decided not to do it, and we respect that a lot!.  The guides also have to make decisions, such as who would lead the rafts, who would be the safety kayaker, all these, to minimize the risk in this kind of rapids.  One of the rafts flipped at the end of the rapid, but again, the guides managed the situation an kept going.  The third and last flip ocurred when we were half way in the river.

At the end of the trip, everybody was happy and relaxed, enjoying a grear riverside buffet lunch. All of them with a new story to tell their friends.

Enjoying the canyon in Quijos river, Ecuador

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