At one point, they pulled into a pretty calm area and asked if anyone wanted to get out of the raft and swim. I had already decided that I was NOT going to do that. But sitting there, alone in the raft except for our Guide as everyone slid backwards out of the raft, I decided what the heck. The suit seemed really water proof; how many times am I going to have a chance to swim in a glacial river? So, I “took the plunge”. My suit held up, no water got in, but OMG the water was cold through the thick gloves and on my face!
Here I made my big mistake, though. I should have held on to the ropes around the raft. I was just sort of floating around, but apparently a current caught me, and I drifted away from the raft. I heard people yelling my name, and looked up to see the raft going in the opposite direction. I kept trying to swim in the direction of the raft, but the current kept pushing at me, so I was going absolutely nowhere. Now I wasn’t worried. There weren’t a bunch of rocks in the area, the currents weren’t *that* strong (just strong enough to keep my buoyant body from moving forwards). I was trying my best to get to the raft, but it just wasn’t happening. However, I knew there were 2 rafts behind us who could get me. And that’s what happened. The next raft pulled up beside me, and their Guide grabbed on to me to help me into the raft. Unfortunately, he was pulling me up on the side with my leg with the pulled muscle, so I did have some difficulty getting the leverage to push myself over the edge of the raft. He finally reached forward, grabbed both sides of my vest, and physically hauled me into the boat. He then caught up to my boat, and I transferred over. Well, that was exciting! 0_o It was a little embarrassing, but not that much, because I felt my only error was not holding on (no-one else had held on, but I think they ended up on the other side of the raft, where the current wasn’t.) And I found out someone else had actually *fallen* into the river, so I didn’t feel so bad.
We continued on down the river, and hit a few more rapids. It’s a testament to how fun this was that I really didn’t mind the prep time, the cold, the wet, any of that. And the dry suits truly worked like a charm! Even after my swim, not a drop of water got inside. I was totally dry afterwards.
At the very end, they beached the rafts, and we climbed out, and faced what I considered to be the hardest part of the trip. We had to climb up from the river level, up shallow steps carved into the steep banks, to get to the upper level where the van would meet us to take us back to their headquarters. With rubber booties and big-*** dry suits on! It was REALLY steep. I had a very hard time with it. I can’t imagine small kids doing it, but I guess they do. Maybe it’s easier for them, but their legs aren’t that long. I’m not sure what they could do about it, but that was kind of dangerous, and not something I’d want to attempt if I was *really* tired.
We took off our safety vests and helmets and gloves and pulled the dry suits back down to our waists, then headed back into the van. This time our van had the rafts attached on a trailer, and our driver had a REALLY hard time maneuvering the van out of the muddy plot of land he’d parked at. Personally, if it had been me, I’d have had us walk out of where we were, maneuver the empty van up and out of that area, and then had us re-board after he was out of the steep, muddy area. As it was, it took *forever* for him to get to the road, and then we had a *long* drive back to their headquarters. I won’t lie. I *REALLY* had to pee! And once we got back, we had to get out of our dry suits, and then get in line again for the bathroom. Once we finished with that, they had hot chocolate or tea for us, and had a slideshow going of the photos from our rafting trip. Ah, the wonders of digital technology! It was really fun watching that with everyone with it still fresh in our minds.
I have to say, if
ABD ever removes this activity because people complain about all the bus time, they will be making a huge, HUGE mistake! It was amazing, and totally worth it. If they were to fly back to Reykjavik instead, there is really nothing in the Reykjavik area that would compare.
Eventually, we all headed back to our motorcoach, and were off, heading to a rather late lunch.
Our lunch was at the Hotel Varmahild. It was not the best lunch ever (food was cold, and they didn’t have enough of some things, etc.) But no-one went hungry, and the desserts were good!
Continued in next post.