Great Experience!
Overall, this trip was very well done. I really liked the guides and it seemed that all of our needs had been anticipated ahead of time and preparations were made to address them. The food was a wonderful surprise. Amazing what the guides were able to do with resources which we carried with us on the raft from day one.
I've not really camped in my life to speak of and really haven't had a desire to do so. I've recently retired and have lots of adventures I want to consider. I decided to check out this trip because I love riding river rapids and I wanted to get any idea of my tolerance level for roughing it. I got my answer that I'm not a camper and this level of roughing it was too much. Should have gone on a shorter trip or done something completely different.
Evidently most travelers prefer not to set up tents and so in general our guides assumed we didn't want tents to didn't really offer them. What I figured out over the course of the trip is that I'm one who wants a tent set up each night regardless. We had rain 2 nights, neither night did we start with tents. The 1st night, the rain was mostly a bother but still enough that I would have wanted a tent. The 2nd night, we expected rain. Looking back, I was disappointed the guides didn't ask us if we wanted tents and coach us about precautions to take if there was rain. I was a novice and was counting on them for guidance. So when it was pouring at midnight the 2nd night, they set up tents for us after we were already soaked. I felt let down by the guides with regard to dealing with the weather. I was also disappointed that the tarps were absolutely threadbare so were of no help when we were trying to stay dry.
My suggestion is for the guides to find out ahead of time which travelers have camped before and then to be proactive in guiding the newbies. I recommend the new campers have a tent set up at least the 1st night. I just didn't know what I didn't know. When no one else was asking for tents, it didn't occur to me that I should still ask for one. Finally, the last night, I requested a tent and it made all the difference. I am a camper who needs my own "spot" and a way to get away when needed.
I loved the rapids, the plane ride and the food. I highly recommend anyone considering this trip who has not camped to contact someone and get a really clear idea of what kind of camping this is. I also recommend you try out the tent the 1st night at least and then go from there.
Hopefully, the tour company will replace the tarps so that they can help keep you dry in the event of rain. All the other equipment was completely up to my expectations and high quality. The threadbare tarp only mattered because it rained.
