Coming up to Christmas I began to miss home a little. A good cure for being a touch home sick is warm weather, cold beer, great kayaking and a bunch of new people to spend it with.
So asylum can imagine, this really took my mind of being home sick . So I blame Small World Adventures for my forgetting to send my mum a card. So mum if your reading this …..it was Darcy’s fault.
Our torrents trip was made up of: Sandra, Brien, Dana, Katherine, Steve, Tim and Rene who both joined us for 2nd week. Sometimes that happens–the kayaking in Ecuador is just so good that people often can’t go home. I really can’t blame them!
I’ve been teaching kayaking for a long time now and I one strange habit I have picked up is to give people nick names to help me remember them in years to come. This crew had some good character and thus good nick names (read on to find out people’s new names…)
Our second day we paddled the bottom of the Oyacachi and carried on through 2 more sections of the Quijos–we put in some serious river miles today!
I don’t think I mentioned it to Steve but, after seeing him boof on the Oyacachi, I started referring to Steve as the Boof Master General.
On the last rapid of the Oyacachi Katherine caught an edge and was forced to roll in some pretty bumpy water, a few attempts but no luck. I was pretty sure I was going too see a swim; however, Katherine held in tough even as she bumped off rocks and then rolled up in the eddy. In my head I rechristened her as Iron lungs Katherine.
This is a great section that suits the ‘torrents trip’ as it starts creeky on the Oyacachi and then transforms into hole dodging, welcome-to-the-jungle fun big water fun as its meets the Quijos.
Liam and Katherine trying to be like the otters at a lunch break on the Piatua. They both got pretty good at attaining. But then they found a pour over that acted like a natural massage-bath and got distracted!
The rest of the week we were lucky enough to paddle the Piatua, the Lower Cosanga, El Chaco Canyon on the Quijos, and Bridge 2 to the lodge at a healthy flow on the last day!
It’s not all about the paddling though. Some of the dry land activities really make the holiday for people.
Another great week for me here at Small World so I owe another big thanks to:
Tim the monkey whisperer
Sandra–Princess of the Ottawa
Yoga Dana
Seven Summits Brien
Rene the Swiss Master chef or ‘dad’
Iron lungs Katherine
And Steve the boof Master General
Now, kick back and enjoy the rest of the photos from an incredible week of boating.
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