So over the past weekend, we had our first two days off in a row since i've been here. some of my teammates thought it would be fun to go water rafting. there was about 7 of us that decided to head to north iceland, about a 3.5 hour drive to where this rafting took place, in the country side also this is where Inga is from, so we got to spend the night at her parents place after our day of rafting adventures!!
we left our apartments around 11am on saturday morning and drove straight to the rafting place. there is where we met our guide for the day and went over the safety rules, helmets, dry suits, gloves, shoes, lifevest, and what to do if we would get flipped over...... in the freezing water, with crazy current and rapids. there were two rivers you could pick which one you wanted to do. rafting is on a scale of 1-6 for the level of rapids and how dangerous etc. we naturally pick the harder one called, BEAST OF THE EAST level 4 river. did i mention only like two people had rafted before?! ha ha... boy was it going to be a exciting day. once we got to the river where entered and put the rafts in, we went over the basic rowing commands that our guide would yell to us, forward, right back, back, down, hold.... our instructor guide was from germany and in iceland for the summer working. he spoke in english, i think at first he was pretty worried about us going down this river, with all the laughter and a raft full of 7 girls that havent really experienced rafting before and decided to go straight for level 4 toughness. BUT we started down the river and it was crazyyy fun. we hit the rapids and were drenched within 5 minutes... with the dry suits they gave us and the gear it did a great job keeping your inside warm and dry so it was pretty sweet. so as we continued down the river, we paddled off to the side and the guide jumped out and they had a snack for us, warm hot chocolate and icelandic waffles with cream and jam. took only like 10min and we were back on the water. after the break we were about to come up to the biggest rapid of the river, they called it the green room i think.... you could tell we were coming because the whole time the river is in the canyon so just big rocks and mountains around us, but when we saw more green grass on the sides of the river thats where the rapid was. our guide told us this is where we would flip most likely, he flipped over a raft this summer trying to go through this rapid and got sucked under the water by the current and rapid for over 30 seconds!!! he said it was the longest he'd been pulled under, ahhh crazyy?! so we are coming up to it, listening to his commands forward row, and when he said down we all quick moved and squatted to the inside of the raft, otherwise the whole time you are literally on the sides of the raft rowing. WE MADE IT through. didn't flip, man it was crazy. as we continued down the river we had more rapids to get through. when we made it through one, we pulled to the side and he said who wants to try surfing? surfing he explained was when we would take our raft and paddle full speed into the rapid we just got thru in opposite direction, what usually happens is when we hit the rapid it takes our raft and whirls us around and sucks it under or flips it over!!!!! so time to go surfing!!!! he's yelling paddle forward as fast as you can go go go go. and we were literally going straight into this huge rapid. as soon as we hit you had to hold on for dear life.... BUT that didnt work either, all of a sudden my side of the raft was getting sucked into the current and the other side was up in the air, i looked up for a second and seeing the guide and the girls on that side flying down towards me plunging me into the water and our raft completely flipped and taken over by the rapid. as soon as i hit the water i got a paddle or something to my front two teeth i thought it knocked them out..... they said like 5x whatever you do dont try to fight the water it will make it worse. i remember just feeling my body being whipped around and tossed as i just let it took me. it was absolutely nuts. once i surfaced i gasped for air but then got taken back under.... as soon as i came back up you were told to swim like hell to the sides where there were 3 little guys on kayaks there to throw you a rope or try to rescue you. i made it to the side and got to some rocks where the guide was already somehow back to our raft trying to get everyone back together. one of my teammates got take by the current like 20 feet further down and a kayaker had to go try to catch her before the river took her further. such a rush.
CLIFF JUMPING....
so we made it through most of the big rapids now, and this is when they said we are going to get to the side and tie up and whoever wants to climp up this mountain peak and jump off the cliff/peak into the water could...... ahhh cliff jumping, and plunging into the artic icelandic river. once in a lifetime experience, i think so???!!! scary as hell, i think so???!!! had to try it, yep i think so.
two of my teammates didn't jump, one was my roommate shes scared of heights, let alone jumping off from the peak into the water where the current and rapids of the river could take you. as we climped/scaled up the side of this peak you had to literally balance on the top, one person at a time. yea kid you not. we werent only jumping off like a high cliff, it was a high peak that you had to balance on one slip and you would tumble down the side into the water. YIKES. so as you try to stand up on this tiny peak, the one kayaker was balanced on the side and you had to use his head and but your hand on his helmet to balance yourself to stand up. i got to that point, and once i was standing and looked down, freakeddd out. it was so high, and you just see down at the white moving cold water, and suppose to plunge into it. my biggest fear was the depth of the water, the guide said make sure you jump to the left, more to the right it will start getting to shallow. i was thinking in my head well shit, if i jump off this tiny peak and go to far to the right i'm going to plunge down and it be to shallow?!?! later legs.... so i looked at him and was like ahh dont think i can do this. he said you can, looks worse then it is & scaling down the side of this peak to get down will be a lot harder. SO on the count of three. 1..... 2...... i'm thinking in my head he says 3 i still not readyyy to go, but seriously i heard him say 3 and remember just taking that leap off and watching myself drop thru the air and then felt my legs and the cold hitting the outside of my suit.... WOW. it was crazy, definitely one of the best adrenaline rushes and feeling ever. i was so proud i actually did it, i knew that if i chickened out i would regret it, but man what a rush.
here is the link below, check out some of the pics they have and it will help show you what i'm trying to tell you about. it was awesome.
http://www.raftinginiceland.com/WhiteWaterRaftinginNorthIceland/BeastoftheEastRaftingDayTour/#.Tk9_dgKMn2s.facebook
love from iceland.
xo ash.
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