I decided to treat myself to a day of River Rafting on the Mendoza river. I took the bus from the hostel to Portrelles where I was met by one of the staff of Argentina rafting and taken to their base which is a very modern facility on the side of the river.

We were given wetsuits, helmets, splash jackets etc and were driven 25 minutes upriver. There were two couples in my raft both were from New York and three of them were at Columbia Business School together. Gustavo the guide had been working on the river for 18 years for the same company and in the winter he works in Colorado. There is also a safety kayaker who is next to the raft just in case someone comes out and doesn’t hold onto the raft. The kayaker Roman is on the under 21 Argentine national kayaking team.

We stopped for lunch at an old railway station from the 1800s and the guides put together a beautifully presented lunch on two tables even a table cloth.

The old station.

The rapids on the river were Grade III and IV. The guide gave us all the commands – paddle hard forward, paddle back, right forward, left back, get down etc. I was at the front for 2 hours or so. The river is brown with sediment so when you go under it is best to keep your mouth closed and just keep on paddling! I had a ton of fun. The guide afterwards said btw you are an excellent paddler – I guess all that kayaking etc on the Thames paid off mum and dad 🙂 Or maybe he was looking for a big tip.

A km from the end of the trip a lab jumped into the river and the guide told us to paddle to him and pull him into the raft. I put my paddle down and pulled him in the bow. What a cute dog. Apparently he is owned by one of the river guides working for Argentina rafting and he recognized the raft and the guide and wanted to be taken back to the base so every now and again he jumps in like that and catches a ride.

By the end of the trip we were fully covered in mud even in my ears and nose! Time for a hot shower before heading back to Mendoza on the bus with what seemed like the whole population of Mendoza who had headed out to the mountains for new year.