Jan. 26th Class IV Raft Trip

Small World Adventures just finished our first and best rafting trip of 2008. We had a good crew of folks from TX, IL, CT, and CO here for the week (or part of the week in Chris and Christy's case), and we got to see some amazing parts of Ecuador from the comfort of our blue inflatable.
Day 1: Everyone met for breakfast in our hotel in Quito. Then, we headed out across the Andes to Ecuador's Amazonian watershed. After settling in to Small World's deluxe riverside lodge (www.cabanastresrios.blogspot.com) we ate a gourment lunch prepared by our chef Lili. Then we all donned our river digs, had a river briefing and paddled the Quijos River. We did a section that begins about 4 miles upstream of our lodge, and convieniently, ends right at our lodge. Nothing better than stepping out of the raft right into a hot shower!

My Mom was in Ecuador this week as well, and we dicided to try out the ol' Shredder. Here we are doing the first mother/daughter shredder descent of the Quijos River. Hopefully Paddler Magazine will pick up this story! www.paddlermagazine.com

Here is the whole gang enjoying the Quijos.

These are the guest cabins at our lodge. Everyone gets their own room with a private bathroom, hammock, gear drying area, and spectacular view of the Quijos and Borja River Valleys.

Team Raft enjoying breakfast at the lodge.

Day 2: Lower Quijos. Not a bad spot to stop for lunch.

Larry and crew navigating one of the many rapids on this run. Everyone enjoying views of the deep canyon of the Lower Quijos. Many people call this run the "Grand Canyon" of the south (it's just a little bit shorter, and you can do it in a day:))

And Memo is the best damn shuttle driver in Ecuador. Yes, those are ice cold Pilseners that he brought to the take out for us. Day 3: Lower Jondachi/Hollin. A nice technical run to start, big water fun to finish. Good scenery throughout!

Big waves = big fun on the Hollin.

Day 4: Jatunyacu, or Upper Napo. More big water fun. Ann and Kerry led the charge at the front of the raft on this run. They had plenty of huge waves to crash their way through.

Kerry and Bill enjoying a side hike up a slot canyon on the Jatunyacu. We took a little monkey excurion afterwards. You can't leave Ecuador without seeing monkeys!

For days 5 and 6 we were back on the Quijos River. Day 5 we paddled from the Bypass Bridge down to our lodge, and day 6 we paddled the mighty El Chaco Canyon. Everyone made it through El Torro in one piece!

Day 7: after a trip to the Papallacta Hot Springs, we all went back to Quito. Larry took the crew out to dinner then out for a nighttime tour of Old Town.

Great rafting with you all!