The second extract from my battered expedition diary, our first and only river in El Salvador:
“Jaimé, Victor and Elena (our drivers) had arrived last night just as we’d finished surfing and by morning we were all packed up and ready to go. The Middle Rio Lempa was supposed to be gorgeous grade 3+, but was also a 2.5 hour drive from where we were staying; nevertheless, it seemed the perfect opportunity to test the ReactR’s and soak in some scenery.
El Salvador seems to be a fan of huge speed bumps – although differentiating the rough, cracked roads from deliberate speed bumps was difficult at the best of times – so with Oli, Matt, and I attempting to sleep in the back, spinal compression was a real worry. That being said, we arrived at the put-on spines intact (along with Oli’s good mood), a long wire bridge stretching over the river. After a little inspection we got changed and waved goodbye to Jaimé, the river was high but we weren’t expecting any portages.
All told it took us 4.5 hours, mostly grade 2/3 with some fun rapids thrown in here and there. The landscape was neither tropical nor alpine but somewhere in between. The mountainside was steep, a precursor to the properly gorged in rivers we expected in Guatemala, with overhanging vines, huge twisting tree roots along the sides, and a constant chorus of chirps and squeals from the forest. I was boiling in my HydroSkins, but it was freezing in the shade.
Attempting to avoid local meats for as long as possible, we’d gone for a breakfast of off-brand Doritos and chocolate biscuits (saving our proper expedition food for later)… somewhat unsurprisingly this turned out to be a mistake, and the cereal bars we’d had for lunch did little to stave off the afternoon hunger pangs. As evening drew near we were all feeling a little delirious, which probably contributed to our single swim (who shall remain anonymous), although Oli may or may not have pulled their deck first.
The river complete, we waited in the shade underneath a huge concrete bridge. Soon enough the sun set and temperatures dropped. Matt broke out his bivvy bag and we managed to get a fire going, although this was more successful in attracting large quantities of ants than keeping us warm. After several hours of fitful sleep Victor arrived with the pickup, by which time the heavens had opened and the lighting was prodigious – I’ve never seen anything like it, flash after flash covering the whole sky!
As we loaded the pickup energy was low, we’d learnt our lesson concerning tropical nutrition. Alastair and I huddled in the back wrapping ourselves in tarpaulin to shelter from the worst of the downpour, but after a short while this was proven ineffective and we crammed inside along with the others, falling asleep once again. It was 1am by the time we got back and Elena had cheffed up some burgers, they were gone in seconds…”
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Patrick Kyak 