Girls at Play Women's Week

Date: January 24 - 31, 2009

Skill Level and River Difficulty:
This trip is for women who have prior experience whitewater kayaking in class II and III rapids. A solid flatwater roll and a 50% success rate in whitewater rolling is required to participate in this trip. We’ll be paddling mostly class II and III rivers with the exception of the last day which is class –IV (a very doable and fun class –IV drop-pool river!).

Itinerary

Day 1: Welcome to Mexico!
Your port of entry into Mexico will be the International airport in Veracruz, Mexico. Upon arrival at the airport, you’ll be met by Anna and the friendly, highly experienced staff of Esprit Rafting. We’ll stay overnight at the Hotel Centro Historico Veracruz situated in the heart of the Zocalo.

Day 2: Whitewater Warm Up
From Veracruz, we head east through the foothills of the Sierra Madre Orientales, to the village of Jalcomulco. This small community, situated in the heart of the Antigua river valley, welcomes you with warm, friendly smiles and an easy going pace of life.

We’ll get everyone settled at Aventuras Sin Limites, a local, family-owned rafting base camp. Once everyone is outfitted in boats, and has had some lunch we’ll head out for our first river run on the class II section of the Antigua River! This section of river is a great warm-up for our week of paddling as we’ll be able to work on rolls and brush up on basic skills.

Day 3: River Running on the Antigua
Morning yoga followed by breakfast will get you up and going for your first full day of paddling. We’ll travel a short distance downstream to the Lower Canyon of the Antigua. This scenic class II-III pool drop section is great for working on river running skills. A delicious river lunch will be served when we’re ready to pull over and take a break.

Dinner will be served a la Mexicana tonight at our friend Berta’s house followed by a salsa dance class with our favorite local instructor, Carlos ‘Manteca.’ Even if you don’t think you’re a dancer, by the end of the night you’ll be shaking those hips and smiling a lot!

Day 4: More River Running!
This morning is slow-paced to give our bodies and minds a break. A late morning yoga class followed by breakfast will start us off on the right foot. The rest of the morning can be spent relaxing in the hammocks, walking around the village or exploring a short hike through the jungle to a charming natural swimming hole.

After lunch we’ll run a section of the Antigua that starts in Jalcomulco and ends in the next village. This is a short run that has some great confidence-building class III rapids.

Day 5: Crystal Clear Water
Day four begins with yoga followed by another fresh and tasty Mexican breakfast. We’ll travel a few hours to the Actopan, a spring-born river with crystal clear aquamarine water --arguably one of the most beautiful rivers on earth! We’ll put in downstream from the regular put-in at a river-side restaurant where there are great eddies and current to work on ferries and s-turns. From here we’ll head down through class II-III continuous rapids, stopping for lunch under the sweet smelling mango trees.

Tonight we are privileged to take part in an ancient Aztec purification ceremony called the Temazcal. This sweat lodge is performed in a dome-shaped structure where water is poured over hot volcanic rocks to create a steam room. You’ll emerge feeling rejuvenated , relaxed and blissful.

Day 6: To the Top!
After yoga and breakfast we head back to the Actopan River. Today we head up to the top put-in where a friendly, fun 15 ft waterfall and some action-packed class III rapids await us. We’ll spend some time at the waterfall as most people choose to run it two or three times. Then we’ll take the time to scout the first few rapids of the upper section. We’ll stop for lunch at a riverside restaurant before continuing down the rest of the river that we ran the previous day. Your river reading and running skills will be hugely improved on this fast-paced river.

Day 7: Creekin’ time!
It’s an early start this morning to get to the grand finale of the trip -- the Tomata or Alseseca River. This river is a kayaker’s dream with an abundance of clean waterfalls and slides that will make you feel like a kayaking rock star! You may be intimidated at first, but you’ll feel on top of the world at the end of the day.

From the river we head back to Veracruz to celebrate all that we’ve accomplished this week!

Day 8: Saying Goodbye...
Depart for Veracruz airport to say our farewells. You’ll be taking away a lot more than kayaking skills…

*Note: We do our very best to adhere to the itinerary outlined above. Activities and rivers specified above may be subject to change based on circumstances outside our control (eg: weather, water levels, road and safety conditions).

Cost: $1550 USD per person, not including airfare

How to book:
Call Nantahala Outdoor Center at 888.905.7238
or email adventure@noc.com or anna@watergirlsatplay.com

Questions:
Contact Anna or Andrew via email
anna@watergirlsatplay.com
aholcomb@vt.edu

Trip includes:
• Personalized kayak and yoga instruction with Anna Levesque.
• Kayak - You don’t need to bring your own kayak, but please bring your own helmet, lifejacket, sprayskirt and paddle. Otherwise this equipment will be available for rent at an additional charge through Esprit Rafting.
• All accommodation
• All meals starting at breakfast the morning of Day 2 until and including dinner on Day 7
• Ground transportation
• Internationally certified guides

Trip does not include:
• Airfare to Veracruz
• Equipment (lifejacket, sprayskirt, helmet and paddle) will be available for rent at an additional charge through Esprit Rafting.
• Dinner on Day 1
• Alcoholic beverages
• Telephone and fax services

MEXICO TRIPS:

Girls at Play Women's Week
Women's Beginner Whitewater Kayaking Trip to Mexico
Week of Rivers with Andrew Holcombe and Anna Levesque