Wetsuits and River Rafts

Today we went river rafting on the glacial river. Can we say “cold water?” It was quite an experience but so much fun! First, before we got to the river rafting place, we stopped at a crater formed by a big volcanic explosion and now is filled with water. There have been concerts from boats out in the middle as people sat around on the slopes. It was very interesting. The banks were very steep and it just surprised me that someone would think of it as a theatre to perform in!
When we arrived at the river rafting place, we went in and the staff assigned us each a wetsuit, wetshoe/socks, a waterproof jacket and we headed to the dressing rooms. One thing we are learning is that there is no privacy in Iceland. They do separate by gender but we are all one big happy family now as we changed into our bathing suits to wear under the wetsuits. Just getting the wetsuits on was an experience. It was like putting on a second skin. Too bad people couldn’t video us as I suspect we might win the world’s funniest video! We had a lot of laughs but we managed to all get dressed and ready. You can wear polartec or wool under the jacket, on top of the wetsuit, or wool socks. But if you wear anything cotton, you will be colder than not having anything. We all got life jackets, helmets and paddles. We were all set! We could not take our cameras as they would get ruined, but Jim put his little one in a ziplock bag as it is on its last leg anyway and we are near the end of the trip. He got some good photos of me. I bought one of the waterproof cameras that they sold at the place-exactly twice what we would have paid at Target for one, but then we’d have had to bring it through all the xray machines. I doubt I got any decent photos on it, but I tried. The company missed an economic opportunity not to take photos from the shore along the way-we’d have all paid! Regardless, it was hilarious and fun. I wound up in the floor of the boat twice when we hit a big stretch. One across the raft from me would have gone in if our guide had not grabbed her. Julie, if this was a 2*+ rapid ride, ours must have been about a .50. Our worst rapid was about the lightest one today. We did get soaked and our toes got numb from the cold. The scenery was beautiful and I am so glad we did it. Would I do it again if we came back? Nope, been there, done that. Now the one in Costa Rica? In a heartbeat! (notice the heart reference). This one brought back family memories of a river raft trip on the Snake River…. It was a lot of work paddling and maneuvering and just staying in the raft, but we did have fun. We rafted for about 1 ½ hours and then came back to change clothes and eat our warm soup for lunch. They had a hot tub outside you could use and a sauna too but for me, by the time I got the wetsuit off, I just wanted to be dressed and it was not worth the effort to go out in the cold to the hot tub!
Later we stopped by a beautiful little church that had lovely stained glass windows-abstract designs. There have been 11 buildings on this site and the first one was built in 1057. They are doing archeological digs beside the church to see if they can find the bishop’s house that was supposed to have stood there.
Before the river rafting, we stopped at one of the largest flower growers in Iceland. His greenhouses were amazing and he was growing gerbera daisies and mums and roses and other cut flowers and he makes bouquets that are sold in supermarkets , like our Kroger. It was really interesting because his property is on one of the geothermal areas and he heats and grows them using the water from this.
After our visit to the church in the afternoon, we went to the geothermal power plant near Reykjavik. It is very modern and they explained how they use the thermal features to make power for their country. Very resourceful.
Jim and I went next door to Pizza Hut for supper as we are too tired to go the downtown to search out a restaurant. Our room here at the Hilton is lovely and we have a great view over the water and mountains. It has been a great day.