Wild Monsoon Rafting! ............................................................................................

Coorg – the Scotland of India – is a picture perfect place in South Karnataka, as its sobriquet suggests. It has a lot to offer for those with an inclination to adventure – the Western Ghats to trek in, wildlife sanctuaries and three rivers to quench one’s thirst for adventure. Among the three is the Barapole or Kithu Kakathu River. This short river that originates in Coorg, flows through the Brahmagiri range and meets the Arabian Sea winding its way through Kerala. Due to the undulating geography of Coorg, Barapole offers one of the best rafting stretches in South India. A rafting trip on this river is great fun be it on the Upper Barapole river or the stretch downstream.

The Upper Barapole rafting base camp is located inside the Ponya Organic Estate surrounded by tea estates. River guides will impart safety instructions and run you through the drills and launch you into the river here.

Once in the water, you will practice paddling in sync with your guide’s commands and learn critical skills like White Water Swimming Position and Capsize Drill. Once your  comfortable on the raft and have splashed around enough, you will set out to take on the rapids paddling to a flurry of commands like ‘All Forward’, ‘Left Backward’, ‘Hold On’, ‘Get Down’ etc.

The first rapid ‘Morning Coffee’ is more of a warm-up rapid that lets you test the skills you learnt and gain confidence. After having the ‘Coffee’, you will encounter the ‘Grasshopper’, the ‘Wicked Witch’ and the most exciting rapid on this stretch ‘Milk Churner’. For negotiating the last two rapids, you and your guides will observe, strategize and lastly brace yourself for the adrenaline rush that is in conquering these two rapids. When the water levels are high, this stretch offers grade III, IV class rapids making it very exciting to raft here. The rapids are interspersed with stretches of placid water that let you take a refreshing dip and rejuvenate.

If you have always looked at flowing river waters standing on the banks, now is the time and opportunity to swap places. You will enjoy some gratifying views of the lush green banks from your raft. The environs of this river are as picturesque as the river itself, especially so in the monsoons, and are a joy to look at while you raft in calm waters. This is one experience that is an elixir for those tired of the city drones or in search of an eventful adventurous weekend and is not to be missed!

Click here for the testimony of a rafter!

..............................................................................................................................................