Jandruigh enjoying the jungle scenery on the Chorro run in Quepos

To finnish our trip we decided to head to the southern region of the country Quepos as it was close to San Jose’s Airport and to visit the pacific ocean where most of us have never visited. Before we did this we first did a challenging run down the Rio Soquio. This river was another truly amazing treat as from the put in bridge we saw some glorius jungle valleys and where two rivers converged. The Soquio river means dirty river cause of it’s brownish hue, This colouring is due to an abundance of volcanic ash sediment in the river due to it’s proximity to the volcano. the water had a rusty taste and dehydrated one quickly. From the bridge this dirty water met a confluence of aqua blue water and they eventually intertwined along the river. this happened at various spots on the run and at one section where we could see an aqua blue river running besides us but we did not meet up with it untill later on.

Beach at quepos.

Beautiful Costa Rican gorge on the Chorro

To finnish our trip we decided to head to the southern region of the country Quepos as it was close to San Jose’s Airport and to visit the pacific ocean where most of us have never visited. Before we did this we first did a challenging run down the Rio Soquio. This river was another truly amazing treat as from the put in bridge we saw some glorius jungle valleys and where two rivers converged. The Soquio river means dirty river cause of it’s brownish hue, This colouring is due to an abundance of volcanic ash sediment in the river due to it’s proximity to the volcano. the water had a rusty taste and dehydrated one quickly. From the bridge this dirty water met a confluence of aqua blue water and they eventually intertwined along the river. this happened at various spots on the run and at one section where we could see an aqua blue river running besides us but we did not meet up with it untill later on.

Marty scouting the Soquio

Danny on the chorro

The run started out with little water (in costa rican standards) showcasing excellent boulders gardens that where very technical and proved to be very difficult.Theese boulder gardens also showcaesed exceptional carnage. I had gotten pinned or near pinned in a few places and on one particular rapid after watching half of the group get flipped or launched onto rocks I too decided to get launched onto rocks and tweaked my shoulder enough to grant me a couple of days rest.

Jandruigh on the Chorro

We drove all day to arrive in quepos eat, drink a few cervezas then retired to sleep. The next day we drove down to the national park to have a beautiful hike through the park. where we saw spider monkeys that we got close enough to almost touch, as well as spectacular views of the ocean and coastline. another thing that I haven’t mentioned so far is the sheer size of some of the trees here, many times I have touched trees that are over 300 to 500 years old. An experience that is truly humbling. after this beautiful hike through the park we ate lunch beside the Manuel Antinio beach and then went for a swim in a very warm pacific ocean. the ocean waves were small but good for body surfing.

Ian takes a step back through time

The next day me and marty took the day off and Dan was scuba diving. But the other three took a run down the Chorro section of a river name i will get back to you on. They said sore shoulder or not this was a run to experience. so after some IB profin rest. i decided that my shoulder was well enough to paddle the run….Twice!

Danny at the chorro put in

The Choro section was a truly spectacular run with tight gorges and beautiful waterfalls droppping into the river from the sides. The run was something we are more attuned to at home with tight technical lines. The consequenecs were not terrible and paddler of two years Martin Leger paddled exceptionally well and has gained momentous experience while on this trip, Look out for marty in 2008. The showcase of the run was an unscoutable gorge where the river tightend up to be only about 5 feet wide with twists and turns to boot. the rapids were continous and barrels of fun. Consequences for mishaps were not terrible just ask Jan-druigh Von ArmFloatie who tagged his second swim on the trip after missing an automatic finger boof on his second run of the chorro. To Jan-druigh’s credit he was pushed against a wall took a elongated beatdown in a pourover and was frequently bashed against a wall before he swam. Andrrew hashad an exceptional year of boating. You must pay your respect to a guy that hasn{t been in a boat for a couple of years to hop on class 4 and 5 creeks all spring and then also manage to bag a couple of first Ds in the fall. Andrew has a big set of Kahunas and ladies he is well hung to match. Jandruigh von three legs thanks for the IB profin brother.

Little brown bear bruising through the chorro

All the boys have been paddling on the trip and I am very happy to have such a good crew of New Brunswick boaters. Danny Coates has also improved his paddling a great deal in the past few years and was able to win last years Reverse intermediate title. Laurie brown is ice cold as usual and Ian is always balls to the wall making things that shouldn’t look easy. I have just mentioned the boaters on this trip all the boaters at home are great to paddle with too I always have a smile on my face when I pull up to the falls or a river and see them there. here{s to a new year with some great adventure.

Marty enjoying a ride to the put in

After We did a double run of the Chorro We hopped on the bus and dropped the boys off at a hostel close to the airport that also provided shuttle. This was my last contact with life at home and it will be untill I meet up with Max in New Zealand. Max is currently running the steep creeks on the west coast of southern New Zealand.

I am currently staying with local star Jose Rodriguez.

We had a strong group and the two weeks that I had spent here with the boys was a blast. I will enjoy running the Gnar with the boys in the fall where I can look forward to some fantastic sessions with the likes of the boys on Lunatic wave at the falls, as well as running the steeps after the rain releases from the hurricanes. An interesting point to note was that as I was writing this I experienced my first Earthquake here in Costa Rica.Only little but interesting.

All the boys with the excellent bus driver Almando

Author Timothy Cox