River Rafting In Ecuador

While I was researching for the post about balsa wod, I found some pretty cool stuff about ancient Ecuadorian rafts and river rafting in Ecuador. I thought you all might find it interesting too, so here's what I found:

For rafting in Ecuador, the Piedra Blanca Community Ecotourism project offers something unique. It's not whitewater rafting as such, though there are parts of the river that are whitewater. In this part of Ecuador, rafting takes a different form - this is adventure rafting in replica design ancient Ecuadorean rafts.

The Manteño Huancavilca tribes of Ecuador (pre-Inca) developed this type of raft for travel and trade. Some academics suggest that these rafts were the boats used to colonise Easter Island, thousands of miles west in the Pacific.

Thor Heyerdahl replicated the design of the raft for his famous Kon-Tiki expedition (more info) to cross 13000 miles of the Pacific Ocean. We don’t go quite that far, but you might achieve 30 km a day on the Rio Zapotal when the current is running fast. The traditional raft design has not changed much in a thousand years and was used until about 40 years ago to transport cocoa and bananas to the coast and beyond.

Please note that the rafting tours are an adventurous experience offered by us. You will sleep on tents aboard the raft. Toilet facilites are not always available - this is a remote region of Ecuador. If you seek 5 star luxury, these rafting tours are not for you. If you seek an adventure, you will be rewarded with a fantastic experience.

I found this video on their website, in case you'd like to see what it might be like to take one of their tours:



Then, I discovered the Manteño Expedition. So, if you're still interested, you can visit this site at archeology.org for a story about a real life experience. There is some interesting historical information at balsaraft.com

But wait!
There's more!
I also found this video about sailing alone on the Pacific ocean in a balsa raft: