Adventure Time: The meaning of Pura Vida

White water rafting was one of the best thing I have ever done. It was incredible. They say the phrase Pura Vida all the time here. It means pure life, but they use it as a greeting, as a salutation, as a "let's do this" as everything. That's what it was: pure life. One minute we'd be floating gently down the river with just beautiful selva (jungle) on either side and the next adrenaline would flow through you as your guide yelled "forward!" and we charged into the next rapid. I'm totally hooked!

My raft had 6 people in it, plus our guide Ricky. There were 4 girls from my school (including me) that decided to do it. In the pictures Nely and I are in the front and Katie and Katie from school are in the middle row. Behind us was a dad and his son Henry. They were taking a vacation just the two of them and Henry was so scared when we started the trip. I have to admit I was scared too! Once we were in the boat, however, the only thing to do was row! It was a really amazing to witness the girls I had with me build Henry up and encourage him through out the trip. I know the dad was very thankful for us and I think Henry ended up having a good time. I have been so fortunate to meet such amazing people here and have seen God's presence time and time again. Our journey contained 38 level 3 & 4 rapids. A little rapid information for you all: The highest level of rapids is 5, so this was quite a wild ride for my first trip! It was a 4 hour trip on the river, plus we had a lunch break on the side of the river. There were about 10 rafts over all, 6 per raft. The river was so cold and soaked us completely through, but with all the heavy paddling we were doing it felt good. The Rio Pacuare is apparently world known for its rapids and the selva on either side was absolutely beautiful. The river floated us past waterfalls, canyon walls, selva so dense you couldn't see past the first few trees, and indigenous homes that are only accessible through the river. I was fortunate enough to have a waterproof camera (thanks to my amazing friend Anna Fee!) and cannot wait to get the film developed back home!