The beautiful Upper Misahaulli river at lowish flows
Wendy, on the Upper Mis.
Phil, Mary, Wendy, and Steve
A future Ecuadorian kayak world champion! Note Phil's paddle.
Wendy: We began the day on the Cosanga river, with fun rapids and good water. We had planned to do a full run, but once again the water level began to rise due to rains on the drainage above us. Instead of risking the run on increasingly pushy water, we decided to take out early and drive to the Tena region to check the water there. The water continued to rise, even as we changed our clothes at the take out.
Two hours later we were in the Tena region, in time to check the runs on the Misahualli ("Upper Mis") and see that the rivers were low enough for an afternoon run. We suited up in shortie tops since we were now in the jungle and the water and air were very warm. A group of boys were swimming at the put in, and one was in a homemade inner-tube raft. Phil put his boat in the water and traded paddles with the boy, who then had a hoot of a time paddling around with a paddle 3 times his body length. Once again, giggles and screams of delight pervaded.
The run was awesome, a not too pushy and somewhat creeky run. Lots of boofing off rocks (using a tongue of water that goes over a rock to launch over, rather than around, a rock). The water level was low enough that Mary and Phil felt comfortable letting me take the lead for much of the run. I picked my way through the rapids, mostly finding good lines and smiling hugely. We were greeted by a large group of children at the take out, who immediately grabbed our paddles to carry them to the car. As they ran alongside us, they air paddled with the "toys", imitating what they had seen us doing earlier. The simplest things can be used as toys in this country!
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The beautiful Upper Misahaulli river at lowish flows
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Wendy, on the Upper Mis.
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Phil, Mary, Wendy, and Steve
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A future Ecuadorian kayak world champion! Note Phil's paddle.
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