Caribbean Adventures of the Third Kind

I clung precariously to the smooth rock face with my left hand; my right shoulder dislocated, full of pain, and hanging limp at my side. I wasn’t in the current – but I wasn’t in an eddy either. My partner, recognizing the gravity of the situation, was struggling to attain back to my position, but the current was clearly pulling him into the next rapid. Once he committed I would be on my own, the gorged-out walls and class IV rapid below me making any effort to reach me a futile one. I heard him yell “You don’t want to come this way” as he dropped over the horizon line.

“What do I do now?” This was the question I asked myself - a question that my tired grip necessitated a quick answer to. Alone, with one good arm, and hovering dangerously above an unknown rapid on an unknown river, I made the only choice available to me….

Our adventure began several days before with our arrival in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. Jon and I were on a scouting mission – evaluating this tropical island’s potential for NOC Adventure Travel Trips. We had been hunting for a Caribbean destination that was close to home and would offer the ideal combination of whitewater, adventure, beaches, and scenery. (Unbeknownst to us, we were about to find the first two in high abundance) We had heard reports of beautiful warm rivers flowing off Pico Duarte, the highest point in the Caribbeann. These reports also told of differing sections of whitewater, ranging from Class II through Class IV, friendly people, and incredible beaches. It was with high hopes that we loaded our rental car and drove off toward the mountainous center of the inland.

Our hopes faded slightly when word came from DHL that our boats had not arrived. With paddling postponed for a couple of days we decided to scout potential beaches for use in our programs. Driving our little Subaru Impresa in the Dominican Republic required an aggressive shift in attitude and the well-timed application of a few e-brake turns. After a harrowing class 5 drive we arrived at an incredibly beautiful beach with clear turquoise water. After snorkeling for a couple hours with the brightly colored residents of the local reef we headed back to our head quarters in Jarabacoa, the Rancho Baiquate.

The following day we made contact with a local U.S. expatriate paddler who was agreeable to renting us some kayaks. Much to my surprise, a rat the size of a Chiwawa came scurrying out of the boat I was to paddle, a Pyranha H3. Was this a portent of things to come? At least I did not have to paddle the Perception SPARK; I am certain that some one else would be writing this trip report if I had. With boats in hand and our local guide/ducky-master Henry in tow, we loaded up and headed to the longest, largest volume river in the Caribbean, the Rio Yaque del Norte.

If you have never bombed down unknown class IV rapids in a boat filled with rat feces, on an unknown river, guided by a duckier with “cohones” the size of grapefruits, then you are certainly missing out on a unique experience. Unique, but probably not the best way to explore unfamiliar rivers. On the other hand, a duck does make a great probe and most of the time we had ample warning after watching Henry’s lines over the bigger ledges. In this manner we paddled some great sections of river which included constricted class IV gorges, class III boulder gardens, and the occasional class V.

Two and a half hours into the run though we entered another gorge. I was setting up for a boof when I found myself off-line and sliding towards an unseen rock. Locked in a low brace, I was able to save the boat from capsizing, but not my shoulder from coming unhinged. As I was not upside down, I carried my momentum to the side of the canyon wall where I was able to grab the wall with my left arm.

Which brings us back to the initial question, “What do I do now?” My grip tiring, my partner unable to assist me, and facing the prospect of floating through a large unknown rapid with only one working arm, I did the only thing that I could. I let go of the canyon wall, thus committing myself to the rapid, reached over with my left arm and pulled traction on my right arm in hopes that I could re-locate it before I dropped over the horizon line. Thankfully, I felt it click in immediately and realized that I still had time to execute a jet ferry over to a river-left eddy. In my paddling career I have witnessed many must-make moves, but this one certainly took it’s place at the top of my list. I was able to make the ferry, and Jon appeared shortly thereafter to aid me in scaling the 20 foot wall which I sat floating below. Upon reaching the top of the gorge I found a trail, which I followed and pleasantly discovered led to a bar. Despite my injury, the Yaque, with its great water quality, exiting rapids, and beautiful tropical scenery, was a fantastic run.

The next day Jon paddled a truly world class river (which shall remain unnamed for the moment) with our brave duckier Henry who had swam at least 10 times by this time. This pristine wilderness river is everything a paddler dreams about. With smooth, white- granite polished gorges, spectacular scenery, emerald water, and high quality rapids, this river was an incredible find. Jon, who has paddled in 6 countries, indeed rated this river the third best he has ever paddled. While we have some logistical details to work out, look for the Dominican Republic to be in our Adventure Travel line-up very soon.

Chris

Puerto Rico

"Cobblestones of San Juan" by Wilson Tsoi

Looking forward to taking pictures in Puerto Rico, check out more pictures of San Juan by Tsoi HERE.

Herm and Jon

Happy Herm

We needed some photos for a new boat review we put up on the NOC Paddling School Blog so we went up to Nantahala Falls and I tried to make the rapid look harder than it is. These are some photos that did not make it onto the blog but I thought should be posted somewhere. I love trying to capture the spirit of these two men; funny, insightful and inspiring. 

Mountain Biking at Tsali

The Tsali Recreational area is to mountain biking what Deer Valley is to skiing. Just give me the speed please. Deer Valley Ski Resort grooms just about everything on their mountain to a smooth fast carpet and the obstacle free trails at Tsali are much the same feel.  The technical challenge of riding at Tsali might be missing but the extreme fun of having trees whip by you in a blur of speed is well evident by the permagrin that is plastered on your face. That is what riding at Tsali is all about, go as hard and a fast as you dare on the miles and miles of groomed single track. That speed comes with risk however, if you screw up you know that scrubbing that speed off against a tree or on the trail is not going to be pleasant. One of our friends just reminded us of that just two days ago. 

While descending the longest downhill on the Right Loop, Bryan did not negotiate one of the jumps too well, touched down on his front wheel and flew fifteen feet onto his head and back. His helmet was crushed in on one side and his back was badly bruised but had movement in all his extremities and is currently just a little worse for wear. The thrill would not be there if there were no consequences, even on the groomed trails of Tsali.

My pictures on iStockphoto

Three of my photos have been accepted for sale at iStockphoto.com. Quite a milestone for me, not that I am going to make a bunch on money on these photos, I only get 20% of the sale and being that you can buy a small one for $1, that does not amount to much. However it does help my portfolio, iStockphoto.com is owned by Getty Images, the largest purveyor of stock imagery in the US. Maybe I will be notice by some photography scout out there.   And if these files become hot, some similar files I looked at have been down loaded 200-300 times. That does add up. So hopefully these pictures will end up in some calendar or card. Click on the links bellow to check out the photos on iStockphoto, if you like them give them some stars. 

Lizard Face (zoom in on the eye for fun-very sharp)

Searching Iguana

Red bird in a tree

Gizoogle your website

If you have not seen this already check it out, pretty funny stuff.

I translated my nephews blogspot with gizoogle, check it out:

nagchouli.blogspot.com( Translated)

www.gizoogle.com
when you enter a website you have to use the http:// before the www, try it.

The Cheoah River

I finally got to paddle with some old friends on Sunday. The Cheoah River offers up the perfect amount of challenge for me at the this moment in time. While my shoulder is not perfect it felt good enough for the challenges the Cheoah presents. Not life threatening but not a river you can go to sleep on either. The picture above really says it all about the Cheaoh, the hardest rapids are roadside, easily scout-able or portaged. That is Melanie boofing the Big Un while her husband is running the harder middle line. Click on the picture for a larger view, pretty awesome rapid.

It was just a gorgeous day to be paddling on a river with good company. The fellow by the yellow boat is Tom, cant remember his last name, sorry mate and single blader is a long time friend who came for a rare visit. It is always good to be reminded that it is not what you paddle but who you are paddling with that really matters. This was all good company for sure. Tom is from Wales and is just full of tall tales that just make your belly ache. He is a teacher in a high school, much like my beloved brother in law but every other weekend he goes to Asheville where he is a road side entertainer. He said he makes more money making balloon animals in a day than he does teaching Americas children. He was just hilarious and apparently quite an adventurer. As I was trying out the new Pyranha Everest, which is named after the first decent Everest Creek, Nepal in 1976. Tom told me the story of his party of kayakers that was bored and decided to make the third decent of Everest Creek in the early eighties. It was great to paddle with him and here is his awesome boof over the Big Un.

The Great Outdoor Photo Contest

I just entered two photos in The Great Outdoor Photo Contest contest being put on by National Geographic Traveler. I entered the amateur division with the grand prize being a trip to Hawaii. The first round of judging is going to be based on 33% Creativity, 34% Sense of Place and 33% Capture the Moment.

Moon over Rio Pacuare, Costa Rica

I entered this picture in the SCENICS OF THE NATURAL WORLD category because of the cool atmosphere and light. I think you can feel the sub tropical humidity with the fog in the background and the water has a cool look and texture. The flaw in this picture is that I shot it at the wrong ISO. I had it set the camera at an ISO of 400, if I had shot it correctly at ISO 100 there would have been a lot less noise in the picture. Anne like the noise though, she thinks it adds something to the picture and maybe it does.

Perfect conditions in Colorado

I entered this one in the OUTDOOR SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES category, of all the sports shots I have taken, I liked this one was one of the best. I was torn because I really wanted to use a kayaking shot but I really did not have anything that matched the creativity and feeling that this picture generates. I took this picture with my new Christmas Superwide angle lens that everyone helped me get and I am sure the judges will appreciate the grand vista in the background and the Anne action in the foreground. Technically this was not an easy shot being that the sun light coming from behind Anne, yet I think I did a reasonable job as she is not a silhouette as it could easily have been. The flaw of course is the lens flare that falls right on her shoulder. That happens easily with super wide angle lens when you point the camera off angle at a light source.

I don't really stand much of a chance however, check out the latest entries and you will see the types of photos being entered. They are very good, here is the link: Latest Entries

Here are some of the other pictures that I like but that I did not enter, mainly because you have to pay $12 for each photo that you enter.

I think the action and creativity in this kayaking shot are good as it looks like the person taking the photo is about to get wet (which he did and the camera as well) but there is little else to interest the viewer.

I really liked this picture of Tom, he is obviously out of balance and the scenery in the background is stunning. The only reason Anne's picture won out over this one was the orange boundary line that I found a little distracting. This one did make the poster though, yeah Tom!

I am not sure where I would have entered this picture but I like the feeling and mood of the silhouetted surfer against this spectacular sunset. I ended up not liking it because of the other swimmers in the water. If he had been alone it would have been perfect. I could have taken the trouble to photoshop the people in the water out but in the end I did not think it was worth the effort.

I will let you all know how it goes, they will announce a winner by the end of the month.

Chris

Zeitgeist, an intersting conspiracy movie

Have you all seen this video yet? Not that I am a conspiracy nut but some of the questions raised in this video do merit some thought. It is long but check it out when you are bored and want to watch something. I think the most interesting part of this is the central banking system, I am going to have to ask Peter about that one.

Videos

I have produced many videos of friends and adventures over the years, I will begin posting those videos on this blog so that they will be easy to find. Here is one of my paddling favorites, check it out.

Sex Wax and Saltwater

Before I could ride this micro wave with my wife, I had to swallow a few gallons of sea water, get churned on the sea bed many times and bang my head on my surf board more than once. All I can say about surfing is that it is one of the toughest sports I have ever tried to learn. Waves, sand and fiberglass are not gentle on beginners and while I envisioned myself riding the waves with grace, power and speed, the reality was littered with pain, frustration and a lot of water up my nose. Until next time, when I am sure that I will not be "hanging ten" as they say.

Scary Drive home

It was a slippery drive home on Friday, I was surprise that the icy conditions persisted well south of Roanoke. In the end it took us an hour and half longer than usual but the reunion with our warm house was a good one, until Anne discovered that I had inadvertently turned off the power to both our freezers. The smell emanating from the freezer inside the house was not friendly at all. Even now, two days later and despite a pan full of odor eating cat litter and little pots of ground coffee scattered inside the fridge, the rotten smell still persists. The freezer that was outside fared better as it was colder. I figure that we lost about $150 dollars worth of good meats, including some great wild boar roast that I was looking forward to. Still we are alive and well.

What I learned in Monte Verde

Sunset from the Monte Verde

It turned out to be cold up in Monte Verde, situated as it is high in the mountains of Costa Rica. This did not seem to affect the incredibly variety of birds that flock here for shelter, food and a nice view. Here are some of the facts that I learned here:

A Motmot

1. Motmot is a cool name for a bird

A Queztal posing

2. Queztals really are pretty when you get to see them, they seem to have a complex about there beauty as they are very shy and hard to see.

Stone Gargoyle guarding Hotel Vonda Vella

Our room at the Vonda Vella Hotel

3. If I planted my own coffee plantation it would take four years before I could enjoy my very own version of heavenly java in a cup.

Steve enjoying the fruits of Don Julios labor of love

Local kids summer job picking coffee

4. Working at a coffee plantation would not be very locarative, picking a 24 pound basket of coffee beans earns you exactly one dollar. A good picker can fill ten baskets in a day.

Second Honeymoon in Tortuguero

Relaxing at the Mawamba Lodge

Anne and I spent a couple of days off at Mawamba Lodge in Northeastern part of Costa Rica. There is a large National park there that is just full of wildlife. We went on a tour and reaquinted ourselves with all the different types of monkeys in Costa Rica. There were Howler monkeys, Spider monkeys and Whitefaced Capuchin monkeys and we saw them all up in the trees here.

Awesome sunsets

Howler monkey eating lunch

Nice inviting pool on at the Hotel

A huge Rhino beetle

A Jesus Christ lizard, they walk on water

More Howler monkeys in the trees

It was a great vacation, we got to see a new area of Costa Rica that we had not seen before and it is just teeming with wildlife. There where way too many tourists there but there is a reason for that. Now we are back in San Jose to begin our two week adventure with Wofford College. More updates coming, stay tuned.

Chris

Adventures with Jay Trimble

Anne and Jay

Anne't trip with Jay was full of some great paddling and colorful Costa Rican wildlife. Jays warm up run was on the Rio Balsa, Jay had not paddled in two years and this proved to be the perfect river to get back into paddling with fun wave trains and surfing holes.

Jay getting back into surfing on the Rio Balsa

We made a short side trip to a place with a beautiful view of a waterfall. The birds here were just incredible, I saw at least five new species of birds that I had not seen after coming to Costa Rica for eight years.

Emerald Toucanett

A resting Iguana

A Barret


Anne dealing with the Confusing wall shot of the Serapique

We then went down the Rio Serapique where Jay's nemesis rapid, Confusion made for some excitement. The next day we went to the Rio Pejibeye, one of my most favorite rivers in all of Coata Rica. It was just a beautiful day and a great finalle to Jays trip.

Jay on the crystal clear Rio Pefibeye