Life in the Slow Lane (The Pearl): Jan. 28

“Travel doesn’t become adventure until you leave yourself behind” – Marty Rubin

Today's adventure took us on a rafting trip down the Sevegre River. It's considered the most pristine river in Costa Rica, because there are no factories, power plants or manufacturing sites to pollute the water and only about 1,000 people live on the banks. We met our tour at Dominical Surf Adventures in Dominical at 8:00...kind of early for people on vacation.

We had a small group...just four of us. They use small rafts that can usually hold 4-6 people, but since it's the dry season and the river is a little low, they took two rafts. It was just the two of us and our guide in our boat. Rob was a great guide, he's from Brazil and leads rafting trips in Costa Rica, the States and Brazil. He made our trip very enjoyable.

As with any of our outings in Costa Rica, just getting to the destination was an adventure. Part of the road up to where we put in looked and felt like it was a river bed. They stopped the van several times to pick up things to tell us about...teak leaves that turn your fingers red when you rub them, cinnamon bark, seeds from the palm that they make palm oil from and a leaf that smells like anise. We also stopped at a local soda in Silencio where we placed our order for lunch and then continued up the mountain. After our rafting trip we came back and had a nice lunch overlooking one of the palm plantations.

When we arrived at the river the guides gave us a safety lesson and told us what we needed to know for our trip down the river. Then we were off...the day was beautiful, the river looked amazing and we had an incredible time. Half way through our trip we stopped for a snack and had a chance to hike a short distance to a waterfall, where we swam as Rob prepared a beautiful snack for us.