Our First, Second and Third Near Death Experience!

We only stayed one night in Cusco as the next morning we headed out for our first big adventure/challenge: white water rafting the Apurimac river. Let me start by saying that we had serious reservations prior to this trip. Little did we know prior to booking this trip that apparently there have been quite a few deaths on this river over the last few years. What is more terrifying is that these deaths have mainly been a result of pour rafting guides who are not familiar enough with the river, not naive tourists who might have been acting carelessly. We decided to check out a guide book to get further information on the rafting companies in the area. Unfortunately the guide book only reiterated the danger of going down this river and went as far to say that they could NOT recommend a safe and reliable rafting company. This was not what we wanted to hear about our already paid for three day rafting trip.

Before deciding to still go through with it, we decided to go by the companies office the day before to ask some very important questions. At first we were still definitely not convinced as we were informed that the two other people that were suppose to be on our trip had now backed out at the last minute. This meant we were going to be in the river with just us and four Peruvian men. (Clearly I was not so keen on this). However, after about an hour of talking with our guide who had been running the river for 17 years now and seeing some video of past trips, we decided that the appropriate safety measures were in place and we were going to give it a go.

So, the next morning 5 Peruvian men picked us up from the hotel in a very nice van (I was looking for signs the entire time to convince myself that this was in fact a good idea) and we headed for the river. We were told it was going to be a 4 hour drive, partly on gravel road and the remainder on pavement. No big deal we thought. That was until we saw the road. After only about an hour on concrete we headed up this mountain, climbing over 4, 500 METERS, on a one lane gravel road. I knew I was going to be scared for our lives on the actual river, I had no idea that I was going to fear for my life on the way there. This road, if you could call it that, this path, was the worst I have ever been on in my life. It was pure gravel and looked to be the width of one small SUV. To make matters worse, our driver LOVED to hug the edge of the cliff all the way up. I would look outside my window to see how much leeway we had until the edge and would see absolutely no road, only the 500 meter drop below. At points in the path part of the road had already given way do to landslides. I had to close my eyes and pray that physics had some exceptions and we weren´t going to plummet to our death.

Three hours later on this road, we finally reached our destination. I was so excited to get out of the car. We quickly started unpacking everything and blowing up the rafts. My overwhelming appreciation and joy for surviving the car ride had quickly diminished once I realised the only way home was either back on that road or down the river. We opted for the river and started out on our first day of rafting. The guide had told us that the first day was the easiest of them all so we were not too concerned. We did a few class 2+ and 3 rapids and spent about 4 hours on the river just getting use to the commands shouted out by our guide. The day was pretty easy I must say and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. Massive mountains lined both sides of the river and there wasn´t another living sole insight except for us 6.

Our guides picked one of their favorite beaches along the river for us to camp for the night. We quickly unloaded the rafts and set up the tents and the canopy for dinner. As the food was prepared dark clouds slowly started rolling in and as we sat by the campfire we had an incredible lighting show just beyond the mountains. Our guides were really sweet and set up a little romantic table for Paddy and I to have a candlelight dinner. It was so thoughtful and the food was delicious. After our meal, Jean-Claude, our main rafting guide, explained to us what to expect on the river tomorrow. It was going to be a much longer day, at least 7 hours of rafting on the river and there were going to be spots where we would have to get out and walk along the side as the rapids were class 6. He explained the difficulty of most of the rapids and stressed the importance of Paddy and me listening to his commands in order to avoid capsizing. He even went further to tell us some unsuccessful stories of people falling out of the rafts on the rapids and not resurfacing until weeks later. This was about when I started praying.

It started raining so we headed into our tent to call it a night and rest up for tomorrow. Paddy and I talked for a bit and try to calm ourselves down about the next day´s rapids. We made promises to each other that we would not fall out of the boat! Then we did our best to get some sleep. Unfortunately, my fear of the total blackness surrounding us and what lied ahead of us tomorrow kept me awake most of the night. It was during this restless night sleep that I was convinced I was going to die for the second time on this trip. The rain poured down heavily on our tent and the thunder pounded outside. My eyes couldn´t adjust to the darkness at all which made me feel completely panicked. Then, as I lied there awake listening to Paddy´s snoring, I heard a boulder fall from the top of one of the surrounding mountains. It crashed to the bottom of another bed of boulders with a sound that was absolutely deafening. I had no idea how close this fallen rock was or how large it was but I had to slap myself to make sure I was still alive. Paddy woke up but was so disoriented he hadn´t really registered what had happened. It was the single most terrifying sound I have ever heard and I was left with the fear that it might happen again the rest of the night.

When morning finally came we stumbled out of our tent and quietly got ready for the day, suiting up and eating breakfast not really wanting to discuss what the day had in store anymore. We were all packed up and on the river by 8. Jean-Claude promised me that our raft would not flip and that oddly enough made me feel a lot better. He also said that we would re-gain our confidence once we did a few rapids and he was right. We did quite a few class 3s and 3+s that morning and were really starting to enjoy ourselves. It was a lot of fun and we were getting soaked. And to top it off, the scenery never seized to impress us. We were rafting through massive gorges with mountains so tall I could barely see where they ended.

That morning we had to get out of the raft twice to walk along the edge of the river because the rapids were too dangerous for tourists to go down. At each exit Jean-Claude explained to us that they use to take visitors down those rapids but a few "accidents" had happen on the rapid and they stopped running them. We were of course more than happy to get out of the raft and avoid being another accident.

Around one we pulled over for lunch and layed on the massive boulders soaking up the sun. It was so peaceful. We still had not seen another group on the river (which was nice but also a bit scary given that everyone must be smart enough not to go down the river) and the only sounds we could hear were the sounds of the river and the birds flying above. Jean-Claude began prepping us for the rest of the day as the next rapid was a 6 and we would have to get out of the raft. So, Paddy and I did as we were told and in the spot where we were to board the raft again we realized that the rapid was not over yet and what we were about to do still looked terrifying. Jean-Claude (lets just call him JC now) reassured us that it would be fine and pointed back at the class 6 rapid that we avoided. It looked like every man´s death wish with boulders over 15 feet high obstructing the way and an 8 feet drop into the rushing water. Grateful that we had not gone down that drop we continued to finish the rapid. JC is yelling at us, "Forward, Right Back, Back, Back, Left Back"!!! Then all of a sudden I see our drop and I swear it was only 2 feet shorter than the last one we avoided. JC starts yelling, "INSIDE, INSIDE!", the only command that means if you don´t do what I say and get inside this raft you will fall out and there´s a chance that you will sucked into a hole. I closed my eyes and prayed again and again and again and within seconds we were out, of the rapid and all high-fiving that we lived through it! It was such an adrenaline rush and we were thrilled to have done a class 5 rapid.

The rest of the day was exciting with class 4 and 3 rapids and we were really enjoying ourselves. After about 8 hours of rafting we finally set up camp on a beach. I was very happy to see that there were no signs of possible falling boulders or landslides nearby and as a result we slept much better.

The next morning was our last day. We knew we had two difficult rapids right at the start of the day and the rest was easy. As such, I wasn´t nervous at first (after all we had survived yesterday) until of course we pulled over right at the start of the rapid and JC walked us through it. The river split at this section and the right split is what they usually run when with other visitors. However, as the water was a bit lower during this season, they could not run the right rapid and we would have to go to the left. JC stressed that we must pay attention to him on this rapid or we will flip over and we must paddle hard or we will get stuck in a hole, and once again, flip the raft. So, yes, once again I was extremely nervous. Paddy and I reiterated our promise not to fall out of the raft and sealed it with a just-in-case... "I love you" and then started down the rapid. The most difficult thing about this rapid was how many boulders there were in the river that we had to maneuver around and how long it was. It was at least 200 meters, which is quite long for a difficult rapid, and took about 60 seconds to get through. It was intense. JC yelled at us to get inside the raft twice and then quickly to get back up so we could correctly steer the raft away from the next rock. We loved it in the end, Paddy more so than I. And after we made it though JC then confessed that it was a class 5+ rapid! Sneaky Peruvian.

This was my face pretty much throughout the trip.

The final difficult rapid was a class 4 and was appropriately called, The Last Laugh. After what we just went through, this didn´t scare us at all. We loved it!

The trip ended in early afternoon and we were ready to head back to Cusco. I was most thrilled that we were not going back on the same road that we came.

A knackered Team Bam Bam at the end.

And if you are wondering how we got all the photos, our man Frank the canoeist took them.