Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive in Costa Rica — ready for real adventure

We'll meet your flight into San José and quickly pass through the city as we head for white water, stopping on the way for a look at the famous landmarks in Cartago and then the Orosí Valley.

Day 2: White water kayaking, a/k/a Duckie Dunking

The Pejebeye is a small river, but filled with excellent rapids to teach yourself self-guiding skills — in inflated kayaks (Duckies). The river is classified Class III, but it is almost non-stop dropping, with very few eddies and lots of technical stuff. We'll start with the lower (Class III) section, then if you are up for harder action, we'll go higher in the canyon and try on the Class IV. Today we run the river twice, or even three times - so you have a chance to really learn how to read currents. You'll thank us when it's over that we have a safety kayaker along to rescue you.

Serendipity's expert raft guide goes in each Duckie, so a raft guide for each person in your self-formed group. In addition there is a safety kayaker for every 4 people in your self-formed group.You really can experiment with white water, with one-to-one instruction in your individual boat. So if only one person on this river, there are two boats and two river guides -- if five in your group, then six boats and six river guides. This is way more than simple rafting -- you are here to

Day 3: Arduous hiking into Costa Rica indigenous lands

Just arriving at the Top Pacuare is adventure in extreme. We'll load all the raft equipment plus camping gear into 4x4's (with a winch on front) then ascend to a small farm in the mountains. Then everything — rafts, paddles, kayak, tents, cook stove, food — gets strapped onto the horses. For five hours we're leading horses down to the river, with wild, wild views, steep trails and isolated splendor of jungle all around us. We're camping next to the river tonight - no electricity within miles of our campsite. Take a "shower" in the bubbling stream. Above us on the river there are only wild animals, so the water quality is extraordinarily beautiful.
Day 4: Kayak in pristine Class IV white water

Eat well, for today you'll need 7,000 calories.

The choice of raft, hard-shell kayak or duckies depends on how you did on the first river. The Top Pacuare is so remote, and so technical, that all the rapids appear even more huge. The descent is in isolated splendor. If we see another human being it will most likely be one of the Indigenous people, fishing or playing on the river banks. Civilization reappears when we reach the first bridge. We're camping on the cliff overlooking Turrialba valley, with city lights pressing the edge of the rain forest 1,000 feet below us.

Day 5: Costa Rica canyoning adventure

A day off — from the white water, at least. Today you'll earn some Boy Scout badges. Ropes and harnesses, climbing shoes and long underwear - hardly sounds like a leisurely day in the tropics, does it? We're into the jungle for about an hour hike up to the canyon, and about 5 hours getting back out. If you have never experienced canyoning, there is nothing quite like the combination of waterfalls, rocks, jungle, ropes, harnesses, and unfiltered wild noises to make you concentrate.

Day 6: White water rafting on the Pacuare River

The final adventure - an expeditionary journey on the spectacular Pacuare River (Class III and IV). On our way to the river we're stopping at a friend's workplace for some instruction on handling some of the wildlife that lives around the river. Once on the river our small (and, by now, very cohesive) expedition allows us to make some exploratory hikes and play in the river hydraulics, while we eagerly take on the center of the big rapids.

It's fun trying the nearly impossible! This technical river is challenging as we maneuver through awesome rapids, broken by short calm stretches which offer views of the pristine rain forest and cascade after cascade of crystalline waterfalls. The first day you will continue developing skills and teamwork that are absolutely necessary for late today and all day tomorrow — you'll learn to rescue each other, to rescue yourself, to guide the boat into eddies, to unflip a boat. The powerful rapids will thrill you, while the savage beauty of the surroundings will humble you. We'll stop for some very surprising side hikes into virgin forest and areas where the canyoning and rope skills and tree climbing you learned earlier will come in very handy. By late afternoon we reach our camp in the jungle, where the animal noises are overwhelming and the smell and taste of the wild is unfiltered by man's inventions. Bring along your guitar or harmonica Sleep well, for tomorrow brings yet another day of adventure.

Day 7: Second day on the Pacuare River

The second day on the Pacuare. This is when all the training, all the knowledge, all the quick thinking of the past week will pay off. Today there are 4 Class IV rapids and almost non-stop action between, with twisty entrances and gnarly holes. The Pacuare is threatened by plans for a massive hydroelectric project, so we'll enjoy it while we can even as we at Serendipity continue to work to prevent the river's destruction.
Day 8: Departing Serendipity

Today is good-bye. We'll head back to the airport at early light, as the mists fill the valleys and the sun beams through in radiant glory, and you promise yourself you'll be back.

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