The Contrasting Personalities of Honduras pt 2

Day 3.  Again with the birds, only this time they started earlier.  If I would have had my Mossberg the scavengers of Honduras would have eaten well for a solid week.  Next time I'm bringing or buying a sling shot at the bare minimum.  On top of the birds we had to meet Mumbasa at the tourist station at 7:45am; I needed another hour of sleep and was cranky.  We originally planned to snorkel but the other party that was going with us cancelled so we didn't have enough people to make it worth the Captain's time to take us out.  We were a little bummed but we were able to go white water rafting instead.

Rafting was AWESOME!  By far the most exhilarating part of the trip, I'm working on editing the video for it which will give a great visual to accompany this with.  Just getting there was an experience in itself; it had been raining since 6:05 (when the birds shut the hell up) so the roads weren't in the best of shape getting to the Pico Bonito National Park.  We drove through a very poor section of the city before turning down a dirt "road" that was filled with pot holes and mini-lakes. On one side was the Cangrejal River and on the other was the village Will Smith and Martin Lawrence drove a Hummer through in Bad Boys 2. At one point the diesel van was almost stuck in 4" of water but Mumbasa was able to grind the gears and destroy enough of the tranny by going through drive and reverse like a dragster that we boiled enough water to separate us and re-corrected our path though the lake.  We then made our way up the side of the mountain, we asked it's name and he said "mountaino?" then asked how to say Mountain in English.  After narrowly missing a few families on Honda Spree scooters (that's where they go!!!) we arrived.  Our guides were fantastic and one was fluent in English while the other could say a few words but understood more than he could speak.  Both looked 17 at best which had us slightly nervous.  At this point the guide took us to the entry point after explaining that since the rain had been heavy we could go start with a section up the river made up of class IV and Class III rapids; I have never white water rafted.  We get to the entry spot and he informs us we are going to first learn how to survive if we fall out by jumping in the river, swimming as fast as we can towards the middle of the river and then flipping on our back and shooting the rapids floating on our vests.  Both my companion and I had a slight since of dread as neither of us had heard of this "learning" method.  She had been rafting before in Costa Rica and this wasn't part of their prep.  He gave us the instructions, jumped in and then singled us.  Agreeing with poor people's YOLO motto we followed suit.  Scary and fun... Luckily you are more worried about living then realizing what you are doing and the possible death surrounding you.
After mastering the CYA course we started with a class III and then promptly went into 2 class IV rapids.  Before you knew something was awkward about taking a Walmart reject inflatable kayak over a 3 meter drop in a third world country with two 17 year old guides a great smile and scream would come out in joy.  To the credit of the main guide he did stop once to ensure one section was safe for us.  Then we took off for them, but had to make a stop since he left his paddle on the shore.  We made it through all of the drops and glacier sized limestone for our break.
Stopping back at their outfit for some fresh pineapple, watermelon, and Cantaloupe and a breather we realized what just happened.  After chugging some mountain water one of the guides asked if I wanted to jump off the rocks into the rapids.  Having updated my life insurance policy and Will prior to going I made the decision this would be a good thing.  I asked how far down and he thought about it and replied "....7 meters?".  The other guide then corrected him and said it "10 meters down to the water, but not to worry it's very deep water with a good heavy flow".  In my mind this made it safer.... I still can't figure out how, but it did.  We walked over to the top of a ledge of limestone separated by the river and he explained exactly where to jump.  My colleague walked over and asked what we were doing right as he jumped; she looked down, took two steps back and said "FUCK THAT!"  I let her know I was definitely going to do it and she had just enough time to decide before I jumped.  Being a retarded American I have zero idea how far 10 meters down is.  Now the distance is permanently ingrained in my brain.  A 10 meter jump into water is just long enough for you to rethink your decision before hitting a river and then have the rapids carry you down stream.  Once I regained my bearings I looked back and she had followed me off the ledge.  We were sent into a slower section of the river where our guide was where I then asked if I could go again.  I had my GoPro strapped to my chest and wasn't sure if I got the footage.  Since I was worried more for getting the shot then my life I hiked back up the trail and jumped again.  Even scared of heights she again followed.
The rest of the trip down the Cangrejal was more talking then rapids.  We learned the guide that took us the rest of the way who looked 17 was really 37, but the other kid was 17 who had joined us earlier.  The owner of the outfit had found him in his village on the coast and brought him here for a better life.  The rain had stopped and the sun came out in force allowing us to see where the mountain went from jungle rain forest to a cloud forest at 3,800 meters up.  There was a waterfall piercing out of the side at around 1,800 meters that screamed to be repelled down.  Everything around us was reminiscent of postcards announcing the most beautiful places on earth.  We finished the river trip and headed back to the hotel worn out but wishing we could thank the party of four for cancelling snorkeling.