Kayaking and Rafting in Corsica

12th of April to the 18th of April 2009

CAS element: Action
Time: 21 hours

I was very existed in the plane on my way to the vacation center. Firstly because I was going to spend a week in Corsica, which is a place I have only visited once and that I really like and would love to see more of it. Secondly I was going to go kayaking and rafting, which are activities that I truly love, but that I rarely have the occasion to do them.
Everything was well organized and the center, I was in, was very nice. It proposed all kinds of activities like basketball, football, tennis, pingpong and many others. On top of that it had access to its private beach. Although it was sometimes quite windy at times, we spent a lot of time sun baning on the sand, when we were not out kayaking or rafting.
During the first two days, we went kayaking in the sea. We played games and paddled along the coast. I liked it a lot, even though it was not easy to paddle straight, since they were a lot of waves rocking the kayak in all directions. On the second day, we even stopped at and climbed on enormous rocks that came out of the water, and jumped off them in the water. There were three jumps of different heights and I jumped all of them even the highest one that was 8 meters high.
The rest of the week we went rafting in the river. The water was much colder, but we had wet suits that kept us warm. The effort was more intense, we paddled more, so the current would not push us against the rocks. We also tried 'hot dogs' which are rafts that can only contain one or two person and that has the shape of a kayak. I especially liked the one that could only be occupied by one person. It was hard to keep your balance as you shot through the rapids. Consequently I capsized a lot, but it was also much easier to handle and zigzag between the rocks.
I discovered that I really like kayaking, especially in the river. It is a sport that does not damages the already present ecosystem, and that involves risk taking decisions and team work. It really challenged me physically and mentally and I wish I will be able to repeat this experience later in life.