Tuesday, September 19, 2006
12 September, 06
Canyoning! That says it all. We decided to go canyoning in Lake Garda and we booked the night before. We did not quite know what we were in for and what it involved- exactly- but there was a group going and it was medium level and they told us we do not need any previous experience and we’ll be fine. Well, we had to drive about 45 minutes to their base and get fitted with wetsuits, harnesses, boots, helmets and trainers. Then we all left in their van for Riva which is the Northern-most part of Lake Garda. This took another 45 minutes. We arrived at the gorge from which we were going to descend and started the hike up. We didn’t hike too far up but it was very steep. We had an extremely brief briefing about abseiling and sliding down rocks into water and started out. The water was so fresh and clean but freezing cold. It was very shady and this made it even colder. We slid down a few drops at the beginning and went down a rope or two, but basically from then on it was one drop after the next through gushing streams and waterfalls with abseiling equipment and holding on for our dear lives over steep cliffs. We got deeper and deeper into the canyon with higher drops and no way out. It was really slippery on the rocks and walking in the water and we all have a scratch or two as proof. I enjoyed it after all but Rich said that he would have rather had a root canal or two. It was only after about five hours when we saw daylight and emerged out of the canyon. We were given a chocolate bar and driven back to the base. We left without waiting for the pictures on CD because Rich didn’t want to have any remembrance of this trip. That was sad for me, but anyway, we now know that I will be going alone in future. We decided to stop in the town Garda on the way back and it was beautiful. The sun was setting over the lake and it was so pretty walking along the promenade. There was a lovely long stretch of beach too and many flowers along the walkway. It is a town that I would definitely recommend for either a visit or to stay in as a base. We had an early dinner and drove back to Desenzano (our town) and tried to get to sleep relatively early which was quite difficult with the Bar that was just under our apartment and stayed open until 2am.
Canyoning! That says it all. We decided to go canyoning in Lake Garda and we booked the night before. We did not quite know what we were in for and what it involved- exactly- but there was a group going and it was medium level and they told us we do not need any previous experience and we’ll be fine. Well, we had to drive about 45 minutes to their base and get fitted with wetsuits, harnesses, boots, helmets and trainers. Then we all left in their van for Riva which is the Northern-most part of Lake Garda. This took another 45 minutes. We arrived at the gorge from which we were going to descend and started the hike up. We didn’t hike too far up but it was very steep. We had an extremely brief briefing about abseiling and sliding down rocks into water and started out. The water was so fresh and clean but freezing cold. It was very shady and this made it even colder. We slid down a few drops at the beginning and went down a rope or two, but basically from then on it was one drop after the next through gushing streams and waterfalls with abseiling equipment and holding on for our dear lives over steep cliffs. We got deeper and deeper into the canyon with higher drops and no way out. It was really slippery on the rocks and walking in the water and we all have a scratch or two as proof. I enjoyed it after all but Rich said that he would have rather had a root canal or two. It was only after about five hours when we saw daylight and emerged out of the canyon. We were given a chocolate bar and driven back to the base. We left without waiting for the pictures on CD because Rich didn’t want to have any remembrance of this trip. That was sad for me, but anyway, we now know that I will be going alone in future. We decided to stop in the town Garda on the way back and it was beautiful. The sun was setting over the lake and it was so pretty walking along the promenade. There was a lovely long stretch of beach too and many flowers along the walkway. It is a town that I would definitely recommend for either a visit or to stay in as a base. We had an early dinner and drove back to Desenzano (our town) and tried to get to sleep relatively early which was quite difficult with the Bar that was just under our apartment and stayed open until 2am.
# posted by Heidi & Richard's travels @ 2:29 PM 
