Whitewater Rafting the Chilliwack River

November 20, 2024November 15, 2024 / Maria / Leave a comment

I love whitewater rafting! Most of my rafting trips have been done while on holiday, with a few of my favourites including the Tongariro River in New Zealand, the Pacuare River in Costa Rica, and the Urubamba River in Peru. But there are a lot of opportunities for whitewater rafting in BC and after rafting the Elaho River in Squamish with my Girl Guides last year, I decided to try rafting the Chilliwack River this year for my birthday.

The Chilliwack River is very easily accessible from Vancouver and there are several options for rafting with the Chilliwack River Rafting company. Their website advertises several different rafting options. It doesn’t really matter which one you register for, they all leave at the same time and allow you to pick between them at the site. There’s the Classic option, which is great for beginners, and there’s the Canyon option, which is for more experienced paddlers and strong swimmers. There’s nothing higher than a class 3 rapid on the Classic and there are some nice leisurely sections. The Canyon option is on a different part of the river and involves up to class 4+ rapids.

At this point, I have done quite a bit of rafting, so I eagerly signed up for the Canyon option. Seth joined me, as well as my friends Carolyn and Lien. The company tried to persuade Lien out of the Canyon option when he said he hadn’t been paddling before. This is wise advice, but he insisted on joining the rest of us and we all did fine. It wasn’t my first time doing class 4+ rapids, but what I would say is more challenging about this trip than other options is that it is consistent paddling for over 2 hours. It’s common to hit slower sections when running rapids, which provide a nice break for your arms and there’s usually an opportunity to go swimming. On this trip, you have 1 break at the halfway mark, but you’re pretty much constantly running the rapids for 2 hours straight. So it is a really thrilling adventure, but very tiring!

One nice thing about the company is that there are two options for departure. You can leave in the morning, or in the afternoon. Both options include a large buffet lunch at the rafting camp. If you leave in the morning, you get the meal when you finish rafting, whereas if you go in the afternoon, you’re served lunch before you head to the river. It was a nice touch to feed us in advance of the trip, especially since there’s no opportunity to eat on the river.

You take the bus to the launch site, split into groups for the rafts, and meet your guide to go over safety. We were the “sweep” for the trip, which means we ran all the rapids last. I had a really great time on the river, the rapids are super fun and it’s a gorgeous location to spend an afternoon. The break location is a little bit chaotic. There’s no beach to pull out on, so the rafts all stop along the edge of the river and everyone has the opportunity to go cliff jumping (totally optional). I’ve done cliff jumping on a few different rafting trips, and this was definitely the most intense one. It’s not super high, but we went in late June, which is when the river has some of the highest flows, so you definitely want to be a strong swimmer because the current is fast moving in the location where you have to swim back to the boat.

Overall, I don’t think I enjoyed this trip as much as rafting the Elaho River in Squamish, which is interesting because I’ve done that one twice and was looking forward to something new. Overall, Canadian Outback Rafting in Squamish has slightly nicer equipment, the river is more scenic overall, and there’s a nice snack break and photos along the way. Although, I will say, you have to pay for your photos with Canadian Outback, whereas Chilliwack Rafting posts them on their facebook page for free (although there are not as many). The wetsuits were definitely nicer with Canadian Outback, who give you everything you need, including shoes. Chilliwack Rafting does not provide shoes, which is a bit concerning as a lot of people don’t realize that and show up in inappropriate shoes.

But overall, I would definitely recommend! I don’t think you can go wrong with whitewater rafting. Stick to the Classic option if it’s your first time or if you’re not a strong swimmer. But if you’re looking for a thrill, the Canyon option is definitely a great choice! It’s a pricier activity, but it’s a lot of fun!

A Day in Belem

November 13, 2024October 18, 2024 / Maria / Leave a comment

This marks my last post about my Europe Trip! After a week in Morocco, we flew back to Lisbon for 1 more day before returning to Canada. Our flight was delayed, so we didn’t arrive in Lisbon until really late at night and stayed in a hostel right outside Rossi Square. Overall, I felt like we didn’t really have enough time in Lisbon. I would have liked to do a food tour and spend some time exploring the Alfama neighbourhood, but we didn’t have time for everything.

On my first visit to Lisbon (12 years previous), I had regretted not going to Belem. I don’t really think Belem is any more special than any other part of Lisbon, but the Tower of Belem seems to show up on lots of travel bucket lists and I’ve always been a little disappointed I never did it. So we dedicated our last day in Lisbon to exploring the neighbourhood of Belem.

First we got up and had a nice brunch in Lisbon city centre, and then we caught the iconic 15E tram line that runs all the way from City Centre to Belem. It’s supposed to be one of the best routes for tourists and it gets really busy as a result. I didn’t find it too bad on the way there, but we forgot to top up our Metro cards and had a hard time getting tickets. The tram runs right through Belem and we got off at one of the last stops to walk over to the Tower.

Emily had purchased tickets online in advance, but they are not timed entry. We thought the tickets would save us from the worst of the line-up, but talk about a scam! The line-up to buy tickets is really short, but the line-up to get in the tower is still really long. It made me mad because once you buy the ticket online, you’re committed to going. You’ve already spent the money and can’t opt not to go if the line is long (without losing your money). I don’t know why they don’t do timed entry like in Sintra.

The line-up wait was forecasted at 2 hours, but it was moving pretty quickly and we ended up getting in after ~45 minutes of waiting. The downside was that it started to rain while we were waiting in line with no shelter. A few opportunistic vendors came by selling umbrellas, but we opted to wait it out in our rain jackets.

Fortunately, the tower is really cool, and because they only let so many people in at a time, it’s not crowded. The tower is constructed on a rock formation on the beach and was built by the King as a military fortification in the early 1500’s. The structure has been expanded on over the years and it underwent a full restoration in the 1990’s, after which it was added to the list of the seven wonders of Portugal. Also on this list is Pena Palace, which we visited in Sintra, and Jeronimos Monastery, which is located just down the street.

We could have made it a double feature and visited the monastery as well, which in my opinion, was a much larger and more architecturally interesting building. But we wanted to actually relax on our last day of vacation and didn’t want to spend another hour waiting in line. Instead, we spent the afternoon walking along the waterfront, where we saw the Belem Lighthouse, the Padrao dos Descobrimentos (a monument to Portuguese navigators), and did a little bit of shopping at a local market.

We walked along the main road to see the Jeronimos Monastery from the outside, and then decided to visit Pasteis de Belem, which is a famous pastry shop. It is absolutely massive, so we didn’t have trouble getting seated, but we also waited a long time to be served. We enjoyed tea and pastel de nata (Lisbon’s famous egg custard pastry), along with a mille feuille for me and chocolate cake for Em. It was all delicious!

We caught the bus back to Lisbon at rush hour, which was extremely chaotic, but also hilarious because I was seated in front of a Portuguese woman who was emphatically chastising her friend Maria for the entire journey. She said her name approximately 10 dozen times and I couldn’t help but feel I had let her down somehow.

We finally made a trip to the local liquor store to stock up on wine to bring home. I ended up getting more bottles than the duty free allowance (which also happened to me in Patagonia), but like Patagonia, no one questioned me or made me pay duties on the extra wine, so definitely don’t be limited by the allowances when returning to Canada (yes, I did declare it)! We picked a nice restaurant in the City Centre and had a fantastic meal before preparing to return home.

It was a long journey home. We flew through Montreal, where my absolutely massive flight to Vancouver got cancelled. Luckily, I got the notification on my way to the gate and I immediately took off running to customer service to be the second person in line. So I immediately got re-booked for the following morning and booked into a hotel. The bigger problem was that they did not release my luggage. I had (even more) duty free wine that I bought in the airport. It had to go in my checked luggage once I left the terminal, so I had to wait around for 3 hours while they tracked down everyone’s luggage. I seem to have inordinately bad luck flying, but I did get a $1200 Air Canada voucher out of it, which I immediately used on 2 flights to Newfoundland, so I guess it wasn’t the end of the world.

This was the first time me and Emily travelled internationally together since we went to Costa Rica in 2016, so we were long overdue for a sister trip and we had a great time! The Azores were my favourite part of the trip, but Morocco was also a very unique experience and unlike anywhere else I’ve been. The food was also a big highlight, with the seafood in the Azores and the flavours of Marrakesh being particularly memorable. And of course, seeing Taylor Swift in concert is worth every bit of the hype and an experience I hope to repeat one day soon!

Ouzoud Waterfall and Camel Riding

November 6, 2024October 18, 2024 / Maria / Leave a comment

After a great day at Ait Benhaddou, we had planned a second excursion to Ouzoud Waterfalls. They are also located outside of Marrakech, but seemed to be slightly closer than Ait Benhaddou. For this tour, we went with a company called Marrakech Desert Trips. I definitely wouldn’t recommend them as much as I would Click Excursions. There was no dedicated tour guide, which was fine because you have a local guide once you arrive in Ouzoud, but more concerning, the bus did not have AC. It is so hot in Morocco and everyone in the bus was quite cranky as it felt like we were being forced into a baking tin can for several hours of driving.

The tour guide meets you right at the bus when you arrive in Ouzoud. It’s optional, but I recommend just taking advantage. They only ask you to pay $2 each for their services for the entire day, so please tip them a little more generously! Our guide shared some fun facts with us about the area, but mostly he just ushered us around the attractions. We started with a view of the falls from the top, where there we’re a ton of monkeys hanging around. They looked a lot more like baboons to us, but we did some research and confirmed that they are in fact, monkeys. You can buy peanuts to feed them from the local kids, but honestly, just take your photo and avoid feeding them. This kind of tourism is never good for the animals and I appreciated that our guide advised us as such.

We hiked down to the falls through some of the local Berber villages and learned that Morocco is one of the biggest exporters of olives and olive oil. There are olive trees everywhere that are tended and harvested by the Berber families. We stopped at a nice viewpoint for photos before finishing the walk to the base. At the base, there are several options. You can pay a few dollars to take a “boat” ride up to the falls, or you can just explore on your own. We were much more interested in swimming, so we decided to forego the boat ride and went for a little dive into the pool instead. The water is actually pretty cold, but not too cold for us Canadians!

The waterfall is quite beautiful. I wondered if going all the way to the waterfall was worth it for one view, but it was a pretty low key day and I actually ended up enjoying it quite a bit (aside from the bus ride). After a refreshing swim, we climbed partway up the cliffside to a restaurant with fabulous views of the waterfall to enjoy lunch. We finished by climbing back to the top and hitting a few more viewpoints (and getting some ice cream), and then we packed aboard the bus again to return to Marrakech.

On our last day in Marrakech, I really wanted to go camel riding. I know it’s a bit cliché, but I’ve never been anywhere that camels are native and I really wanted to cross it off my bucket list. Emily was much less enthusiastic (she has a fear of horses, which she has confirmed extends to camels), but fortunately she agreed to accompany me, while reminding me it was a one time thing!

Emily was more interested in visiting Jardin Majorelle, so we decided to do that in the morning and go for a short camel ride outside the city in the afternoon. Unfortunately, our planning wasn’t great. Jardin Majorelle is a major attraction in Marrakech and we didn’t realize it had timed entry. None of the other sites we visited had timed entry and we arrived at the park to realize that we wouldn’t be able to enter for several more hours, meaning we didn’t have enough time. So unfortunately, we had to skip the attraction, but learn from us if you ever go to Marrakech. It looked really cool and we were sad to miss it.

Emily confirmed that her fear of horses does extend to camels, but she was a trooper and I had a great time on the camel ride! We went 30 minutes outside the city with a small group for a 1 hour camel ride. Going in the afternoon wasn’t the best idea because it was really hot, but I still enjoyed the experience. There was only ~6 of us and we walked around the Palmerie. An hour was honestly a bit long and I was pretty bow legged afterwards, but it definitely ticked the box for the experience. My camel’s name was Scooby-Doo and Emily’s camel was Olivier. We were served cold water and biscuits afterwards before driving back to Marrakech and overall, I thought it was a nice experience.

But that pretty much concluded our time in Morocco. In hindsight, 5 days in Marrakech was a bit too long. I think I would have preferred to have more time, but to explore more of the country. I’m sad we didn’t have time to visit the Sahara, or other cities. I preferred to have a central base because I was a little bit nervous about traveling to Morocco, but I would feel more comfortable returning in the future. The busy-ness of the medina felt overwhelming at times and I didn’t like being out after dark, but otherwise, I never felt unsafe in Morocco. I would definitely love to return to tick sand dunes off my bucket list in the future, though if Emily is involved, I did promise no more camels!