White Water Rafting

Wow. That was fun.

Yesterday, Team Luy-A (I'll explain who we are in another post) joined RCBC Savings Bank on their summer outing: a whitewater rafting adventure.

If I remember right, Sir Ramy was the one who broached the idea that we come with them because Base Camp Davao, the whitewater rafting provider in Davao City, was holding a summer promo for the benefit of a certain school in Calinan.

I decided to join because I've never tried it before. So, flash forward, there we were along the shore of the Tamugan river listening to an instructor brief us about safety maneuvers and precautions.

Wait. You're not expecting me to narrate the whole experience, are you? Because even if I did so, it's not going to do justice to the experience. Like they say, the best things in life need to be lived. And, I kid you not, this is something one should experience first-hand.

So just allow me to say that the adventure was worth every peso. And then allow me to share just a couple of things about it.

1.) Laugh

I've yet to see the pictures taken by our guides but I can definitely tell you we had smiles all over our face. I have to blame the people in our raft because I was literally laughing from start to finish. 

Though there was the ever present sense of danger, there were a lot of things to laugh about: people getting dislodged from the raft, Sam not paddling hard enough, people losing their balance, the raft tumbling across the rapids, the jokes thrown during the calmer parts of the trip, and so on. 

One iconic moment I remember was after the boat capsized the first time, throwing everyone into the rapids. I was busy trying to breathe while involuntarily drinking river water and dodging the stones scraping my buttocks and legs. Then I saw Henry in the distance, still laughing. And yes, I laughed too.

2.) Not Really A Family Affair

It was good that my companions were friends. When someone went overboard, everybody, you guessed it, laughed.

Of course, the adventure can be for families but that may lend a different atmosphere to the whole experience. 

We had one companion, Melissa, in our raft, who was the daughter of one of Sir Ramy's colleagues. Melissa was among the first to go overboard and when she did, her mother, who was on another raft, probably saw her child being swept by the river. 

At one time, the mother, visibly concerned, was merely staring from a distance at her daughter, prompting me to reassure the mother that Melissa was safe and well with us.  

I guess I'd be paranoid too if it was my parent or my sibling going overboard into the rapids. I tell you now: that's not fun at all.

3.) Sight-Seeing

The adventure was also an opportunity to do some sight-seeing. Although not advertised, the trip included incredible vistas of nature: cliffs jutting out of the canopy, luxurious trees placidly embracing the river's shore, waterfalls hurling down rainwater into rocks. For a city dweller, such sights were a blessing and indeed they refreshed my soul.

Though the rafting was the fun part, there was also joy in just silently soaking in the view.