I woke up Sunday morning with my game face on. We were going canyoning. If you, like most people, don’t know what canyoning is, take a look at this link. This is the company with whom and the location at which we went canyoning. (*More pictures to come from Lily's friend...like the one below of Lily cliff jumping. We also have a DVD of the trip which I'm attempting to burn and then will post instead of having this link)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hpqcfWFCwSo
It was absolutely ridiculous. After an hour drive from Puerto Varas to Rio Blanco on Volcan Calbuco we suited up in the parking lot. Everyone looked they belonged on the Star Ship Enterprise with the wetsuits they gave us. All I needed now was a Jordi LaForge eye protector for the massive rock slides and cliff jumps.
We hiked up the volcano on an unmarked path through thick rainforest. It was pretty hard with the restrictive west suits, but after about 40 minutes of climbing we made it the launch point. We approached a decent size pool at the bottom of a 15 ft. waterfall and everyone strapped on their helmets and scuba gloves and jumped in. After some quick “safety” instruction which loosely translated to “do your best not to get injured” we started with a small jump off of the 15 foot waterfall. From their we did a toboggan-style slide down a natural rock shoot over the next waterfall. This series of rock water slides and medium sized cliff jumps continued through the next several pools down the river, with variations of backwards first and head first slides.
Then we came to our first mother-sized cliff jump. Two guides jumped off of a 30 ft. rock face
We approached the rivers end when the guides pulled out repelling harnesses. We had no idea what for until we stood on the edge of a 200 ft. waterfall. It was absolutely breathtaking to see the river cascade 200 feet down over a lush green and moss covered rock face. I know I have said this before, but this place is literally straight out of Jurassic Park. Then came the time to actually repel down the cliff parallel with the waterfall, and I crapped my pants. This was so high and seemed like such a budget operation I was pretty sure all of us were going to die. In fact the guy right in front of me was from New Zealand and as he hung on the edge of the cliff receiving instructions he turned to me and said, “I am on the edge of a cliff getting instructions in Spanish…and I speak zero Spanish. Well see ya later!” Lily and I laughed so hard until it was our turn and the only reaction you can have is… “well see ya later”.
I slowly crept over the edge and lowered myself down as the waterfall rushed past me over my left shoulder. Then I started to slowly rotate as I dropped down and I crapped my pants for the second time. I was facing outward with nothing in front of me as a security blanket. I had a great view of everything, but I was literally making a conscious effort to breathe I was so scared. I made it to the disconnecting point, which was still a good 30 feet above the water, when the guide asked if I wanted to jump off the ledge with Lily to the left of the waterfall or climb up another 5 feet and jump into the waterfall. I had done pretty much everything else that day so I decided to end with a bang and jump through the waterfall. I’m hoping Lily’s friend Fran got a snapshot of that one.
After making new friends during the canyoning adventure we decided to meet up at the Garage (another bar) when we got back. We got along great with a Canadian named Russ and his Chilean wife Karem. So well in fact that they invited us to their house on Sunday for a BBQ and to watch the Superbowl. Imagine that…watching the Superbowl in Chile.
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