I wish to start by saying thanks for a wonderful trip to a beautiful place called Peru. I am writing today about the raftng experience. A tour bus, driven by an extremely skilled driver as you will see, picked us up in the Cusco townsquare. The almost 4 hour trip through the beautiful canyon, with the sometimes frightening steep corners, is an adventure in itself. As I was on the cliff side!, I found myself several times not being able to look out my window, (what a wimp!). When we got to the start of the river we helped unload the bus of boats and gear. We then had a few lessons about what to do in cases of emergency. We had a wonderful lunch, then got geared up. They provide you with the wet suit, paddle, vest and helmet. We then got into the river and practised all the rescues that would be played out in case of emergency. That was fun and gives you a feel for the mighty river and it's power. You also get to see the skill and expertise of the crew. There is a camerman, don't be shy. We then began our rafting experience and had two wonderful nights and three adrenaline packed days on the water. The crew is constantly concerned about everyone and the river itself. There are several places you cannot raft down and you will have to portage, which is to climb up, over and down the most emormous boulders you have ever seen! The canyon is absolutley breathtaking and is one of the steepest canyons in the world. If you like avocados you will love Peru! The crew feeds you wonderful cooked food and snacks are available. In closing it must be said that every trip down the river is unique, depending on a person's skills, personality and perceptions. I personally had the trip of a lifetime. I had never white water rafted before and I was scared and excited the whole way. I felt very comfortable with the staff. I felt they would do everything in their power to assist me in everyway. I would highly recommend this company and would love to visit Peru again.

We Should All Be Like Dave

By Barry Reese

I recently returned from a trip to South America where I met up with some fellow adventure travelers, most of whom I didnt know before leaving. I`d actually kind of backed into this trip by chance. A friend said something about trekking up to Machu Picchu and I said that I`d always wanted to do that. They in turn got me hooked up with one of their friends and before I knew it, I`d purchased airline tickets to Peru .

After we all got situated in Cusco , we spent the first full day seeing some of the sights around the city and getting to know each other a little better. There was one guy from Australia , who was currently living in Israel , three people from New York City and two of us from Colorado . I soon learned that one of the people from New York , Dave, had never been camping in his 40-something years. I thought to myself how awesome it was that his first night in a tent would be deep within Apurimac   Canyon on the first night of our whitewater expedition. To be honest, I`ve camped so many nights in my life I really can`t remember a lot of them specifically, including my first (since I was probably about two years old). I have loved them all, but I wish I could remember that one.

I also learned, as we were pushing our raft into the super strong current of the Apurimac   River , that Dave wasn`t a huge water person. In fact, he said he could swim but really wasn`t all that comfortable in the water. I thought how odd it was that he was on this river, one of the top ten whitewater rivers in the world, yet he wasn`t all that comfortable in the water. Nevertheless, there he was.

Because of the severity of the rapids we`d be facing during our trip, we each took turns swimming in some moderate rapids so we could practice grabbing the safety kayaks and also securing rescue lines. As we stood on a large boulder waiting for our kayakers to get positioned, I could only imagine how cold that water was going to be when we jumped in.  

Once our kayakers were positioned, they signaled for somebody to jump. Before anyone else could think, Dave was on the edge of the rock and a split second later hit the chilly water. For someone who wasn`t all that comfortable in the water, he sure took the bull by the horns and got down to business! He did a beautiful job of moving himself in the fast water and managed to successfully grab the kayaks as well as the safety line they threw. I`ve done this many times and know just how difficult in can be to keep your composure in fast water. With that said, I had no choice but to respect the courage that Dave had thrown down. 

After a full day of serious whitewater, we mercifully pulled out onto a beautiful, sandy beach along one of the only sections of calm water we`d seen in hours. The canyon walls were towering thousands of feet above us; so high they`d surely deprived us of at least an hour of daylight. And dozens of parakeets noisily protested our trespass of their little spot along the river. I`d dreamed of being on this river for years, and now here I was. The reality had far surpassed what my imagination had previously conjured up. It was indeed an incredible place to be. And then I once again thought about Dave and how this was his first night of camping and how he`d truly hit the jackpot of places to start!  

I kind of laughed to myself, not sure whether to envy Dave or feel sorry for him. On one hand I would have loved for my own first night of camping to have been in such a remote and remarkable place. On the other hand, how would he ever be able to top this? Would every night of camping from here on out just be sub-par for him? Mostly I was just pleased that he was getting to experience this incredible place right from the start. 

But the story doesn`t end there. After our river expedition, we spent four astonishingly breathtaking days trekking through the Andes to the famed Incan fortress of Machu Picchu . As amazing as the Apurimac   River had been, the highlands, cloud forests and alpine tundra along the Inca Trail was just as impressive. There again, I couldn`t help but think how Dave was adding a few more of the most epic campsites in the world to his outdoor resume.  

The thing I liked most about being around Dave was his genuine curiosity and sincere enthusiasm to just be there. He wasn`t just curious about the places we were, he was interested in learning about camping, the equipment and everything that goes along with it. He freely and humbly admitted his inexperience, but genuinely wanted to know. I could tell he was excited just to be there and that in turn made me even more excited to be sharing the experience with someone who appreciated it so much. He`d occasionally say something like, just tell me if I`m dong something wrong. I`m a firm believer that if you`re having fun, then you`re doing everything right! Based on that theory, Dave was doing everything perfectly.  

Now that I`ve been back for a couple of weeks and had some time to reflect on my trip, there are a lot of things that`ll certainly stick with me. Things like the maelstrom of water that would swallow our raft from time to time, the overwhelming grandeur of the Andes , the porters who were half my size but carried double the load, and simply the feeling of being in a place so far away and so different from where I live everyday. But as I think about all those things and start to dream about my next big adventure, I can`t help but want to feel just like I imagine Dave did. I want even the simplest things like sleeping in tent to feel just as exciting as running Class V whitewater.  

When it comes to living life, we should all be just like Dave and be the first one in the water. So, here`s to you Dave Toomey. Thanks for reminding me what life`s all about. 

Paddle far, climb high and live big. 

For more information on rafting the Apurimac   River and other adventures, contact Boris at www.riverexplorers.com