Costa Rica high adventure tour: Adrenaline
This was a great trip with Serendipity. The activities were very challenging, but that made getting through them even more rewarding. I'm walking away from this trip feeling better about myself! — Mary B., Darien, CT, August, 2005
Costa Rica adventure travel at its most challenging
White water is intense, and the small, private group concept makes it supremely rewarding.
White water rafting in Costa Rica is world famous, but Serendipity elevates the fun to a life changing experience. How? We start with just you and your hand-picked team, add some remarkable rivers, and extraordinary places to camp, then horseback riding for you, and pack horses to haul the equipment, some ropes, harnesses, hiking, waterfalls, canyoning — and you end up with a Serendipity white water adventure par excellence.
And don't think this is strictly a kid action trip — we'll guarantee you can do it all whatever your age or prior experience, if you have an open mind and good sense of humor, stamina, and like to sweat. Prior experience in whitewater is absolutely not required — but you'll have plenty of experience by the end of the week — and you do have to be in good physical condition and not afraid to get doused, tumbled, and humbled. When does it start? You put your group together and pick the dates.
Trip 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. Your driver is also a raft fanatic, and he'll answer a lot of questions and make you ask a lot more about Costa Rica's splendid white water.
Day 2: White water kayaking, a/k/a Duckie Dunking
With or without guides, you will get VERY WET!
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. You'll thank us when it's over that we have a safety kayaker along to rescue you.
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, and, hopefully, the food — gets strapped onto the horses. For five hours we're either riding or following horses down to the river, with wild, wild views and steep trails and isolated splendor of jungle all around us. We're camping next to the river tonight; if you want a shower you'll have to get in under a boulder for the spill-over. Above us on the river there are only a few indigenous villages and 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 laundering or playing on the river banks. Civilization reappears when we reach the first bridge. And tonight the reward is a hot water shower in town.
Day 5: Costa Rica canyoning adventure
Having a small, intimate group means you can explore glorious side canyons.
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 make 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
Lounge in the hammocks before dinner, sleep in comfy tents with thick mattresses, listen to the overwhelming sounds of the jungle, and enjoy great food at the Pacuare campsite!
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, a sad but essential moment
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.
Prices
For information on how much this trip would cost you, please see our High Adrenaline Vacation pricing.
The first step to enjoying a Serendipity adventure is to contact us.
