White Water Rafting in Mendoza

The van came to collect us at 9 AM.  Tossing a bottle of sunscreen and a pair of shades into my purse, we ran out the door.  For a short while the bus wove through Mendoza City, scooping up additional adventurers, and two hours later we arrived at the adventure activities base in Potrerillos.

The base is located on the bluffs of the Mendoza River and is a hub of outdoors activities ranging from zip lining, to mountain biking, to trekking and rock climbing.  But we were here for just a half day, to try our luck at white water rafting.

At the base we were suited up in wetsuits, booties, splash jackets and life preservers.  Then it was back on the bus for a short ride up the river, to where we would launch the rafts.  At the launch site, it was clear that the river was not what it had been back in September. Today, a sunny Saturday in mid-January, it was evident that the waters had risen far above the previous shoreline and now moved with a new ferocity.  Generally an opaque mocha brown, the Mendoza River is laden with sediment carried down from the Andean slopes, and today was no exception.

As some of the river guides prepared the rafts, others divided us into groups of 6.  We quickly introduced ourselves: a couple of students from Germany, an accountant from New York, a TV producer from LA, a twenty-something from Texas and an expat journalist.  A diverse group.

Once on the water however, the fissures of our group seemingly disappeared.  Under the heavily-accented commands of Diego, our guide, we were paddling in unison.  Striking out with our blades toward the murky water beneath us, only to find that the raft had lurched upward on a wave and we could no longer reach the water below.  Seconds later, the canary yellow fabric of the raft plunged beneath the churning current and doused us with a single freezing tidal wave.

Rounding the bend and preparing for the next set of rapids, Diego rallied his team from the stern of the raft.  “Girls!” he shouted to us from the back, “You can´t stop paddling to scream just because the water is in your face, the water will always be in your face!”  I looked over my right shoulder, to the friend I had convinced to sit with me in the front row, and we laughed as we shouted back: “Sorry Diego!!”

An hour or so later, the surface of the river stopped churning, and Diego guided our boat to the right until it came to a halt, beached on the smooth surfaces of the river rocks.  My hands were frozen, my legs cramped, and a light layer of grainy sediment had caked onto my face and neck.

We piled the gear onto the caravan of buses, and road back to the base, recalling war stories as though we had long since been veterans of the river.  Back at the base, we stripped off our splash jackets, returned our wetsuits, and revived our frozen limbs beneath the steady stream of a hot shower.

As we sat on the outdoor recliners waiting for the bus to take us back to the city, we debriefed each other and decided that this rafting trip had hit the perfect travel sweet spot: just enough adrenaline to keep it interesting, just enough instruction to keep us feeling safe, just long enough to leave us both satisfied and wanting more.

And above all, the perfect intermission to break up winery visits and walks through Mendoza City.  As it turns out, we weren´t thirsty for another glass of wine – we were thirsty to enjoy the desert river and get wet.

What to wear:

For white water rafting, all that´s necessary is a swimsuit and a change of clothes.

The snow-melt waters of the Mendoza River can be quite cold to the touch – even on the most suffocating of summer days.  The rivers guides provide a wet suit, water booties, and optional splash jacket.  Accept the splash jacket.  Five minutes into the trip, you´ll be glad you did.

All other activities require comfortable gym clothes (long pants are preferable) and athletic, closed-toed shoes.

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