As we drove by the lake I could not help but notice that the wind was so strong that the lake had waves as big as the waves at Bethany Beach (on a calm day). When we arrived at the location to pick up the kayaks the trees were bending in the wind. Our guide assured us that the wind would not be a problem and then proceeded to give us two options. One option requiring a rather lengthy water crossing (our original plan) or one that was confined to a river with just a little bit of open sea at the end. We opted for the river option because she told us the mountains would protect us better from the wind for most of the 24 kilometer trip.
As we approached the river we could notice that the 700 meter high mountains (which our guide described as small) were topped with fresh snow. While the kayaks were being unloaded I could see monster size salmon jumping in the river. The kayaks were tandem kayaks with a rudder. Zuzana volunteered to be in my kayak. Since I was not used to kayaks with a rudder we decided that Zuzana should sit in the back and control the rudder.
About 10 minutes into our planned 4 to 5 hour trip Zuzana and I were second in line following Waran and Colin when we noticed their boat jump out of the water. My first impression was one of those monster salmon jumped into the side of the kayak. Zuzana and I proceeded with caution. Just as I thought we cleared the area in question our kayak jump out of the water and flipped. Yep, the guy that owns 3 kayaks flipped. Apparently what Waran and Colin hit was a log that was barely in the water. We hit the same log.
Getting out of the kayak was interesting since I never flipped a kayak before. First I had to pop the water skirt off, but the bigger problem was getting my legs out of the kayak (long legs/small opening). Luckily the water was deep and it was relatively easy to get out. The water was warmer than the air temperature and we had wet suits on so there no cold water shock to get over. Interesting Zuzana and I were both wearing IBM baseball caps and both of us popped up still wearing our hats. We swan back to shore where our guide helped us back into the kayak. If you look closely at the pictures you'll notice we changed positions when we got back in.
Shortly after getting back into the kayak it started to rain very hard, but Zuzana and I were already wet so that did not bother us. Later that night somebody compared the rain hitting the river to machine gun bullets hitting water. We paddled for about 2 more hours before we stopped for a quick lunch in the pouring rain. This was actually bad as we quickly lost our body heat when we got out of the kayaks and many of us were shivering. Our guide gave us the option of cutting our trip short, which everybody was more than happy to take. We still had to paddle another 30 minutes or so before we could get to a spot where the driver could pick us up. He had already anticipated this scenario and was there waiting for us.
Later in the evening the entire Chile 5 team gathered in the lobby to eat a dinner that Gayathri and Anjana prepared for us. That was also another new experience for me. It was the first time I ever had authenticate Indian food. Just yet one more example of the cultural diversity opportunities that CSC has provided me with. Not bad for a guy that normally does not eat rice, vegetables, or spicy food :>).