FVWW Goes to Ecuador

by

At the 2011 VKC Chilliwack River Festival Endless Adventures raffled off a trip for 9 days of what they claimed to be a trip of boating paradise in Ecuador.  By the end of the night Ryan Bayes had his name on a ticket to South America, weather he remembered that the next morning or not he may never admit.

By the end of summer we had a solid group of 8 boaters from the Fraser Valley and Vancouver area committed to exploring the waters of Ecuador.  We signed up for the High Roller Trip, tacking on an extra week of paddling.

In total, most of us had 11 days on the water with over 10 different rivers.  There was one big water chunderfest, a surprise mandatory hike out, endless boof competitions and what would kayaking be without a few good beat downs.

With skillful tactics and undoubtedly witty charm, Western Canoe and Kayaking staff members managed to transport a medium burn “surf ski” from the Bellingham Airport to Quito, Ecuador.  We had been told repeatedly from multiple sources there was strictly no Kayaks allowed to be transported via air so seeing the boat at our final destination started the trip with much satisfaction and relief!

After diving right into the culture in Quito, we soon found ourselves greatly welcomed in Borja lodging in the kayakers shack “The Ponderosa”.  Chris Ryman’s wife Andrea outdid herself by preparing spectacular meals on and off the river, all while being 5 months pregnant and still clearly able to out run any of us paddlers!

Our main river guides Chris, Abe and Dave showed us down different runs such as the Quijos from Cheese house to Bombon, Cosanga, Oyocachi, Piatua, Upper and Lower Mis, Hollin over nighter, an attempt at the Jondachi and a few more!

This summer I was pulled out of my comfort zone of nervously boating the chilliwack canyon’s low water class III to the new and exciting world of Class IV with a dash of IV+.  I found this trip to be excellent for working on creeking technique having coming quite close to some of my best days on any river.  Knowing I could test my abilities with such strong support, this may have been some of the most consistent white water that I have paddled day after day!  Ecuador’s creeks are filled with non stop bolder gardens allowing you to nail that boof, just in case you missed the last one.

 

Some Tips for when you too find yourself Kayaking in Ecuador:

  • Meet Dave Gore “Goremania” (Pretty sure Ryan would have exchanged my return ticket for Dave had the airport let him)
  • Try some of Bently’s (Dos Bentos) new found drink V220 to keep you wired for every boof stroke and hole punch required.
  • Watch out for near back breaking/elbow chipping slippery stares. They are everywhere and they’ll getcha.
  • Eat street meat. Its fine.  As long as you don’t talk to Hamish about it.
  • Paddle the Lower Misahualli at High water.  It had almost all of us on the edge of our pants the whole day.  Just make sure you take Dukoral before getting close to this water source.  Look into it, we all should have.

Here’s a video filled with some Ecuador culture, fiesta and non stop white water .  GoPro footage by Ryan Bayes with the SLR passed between Ryan, Myself and Chris.