Whitewater Rafting the Río Caldera

Early this morning we woke up for our private drive out east towards the town of Cocorná. After about an hour and half, we met up with the rafting company at their station and grabbed our gear including our helmets, paddles, and PFDs. We hop into the shuttle vans with rafts on top to drive a bit further down the river to the put in. Here we are given banana leaf wrapped meals including rice, plantain, chicken, and other vegetables. It is a perfect portion to ensure we do not get hungry while rafting! Next, we walk a small ways to the put in where the rafts are now down at the riverbank and set up. We receive some instructions about rafting, paddling, following commands, and what to do if we were to fall in. Then we shove off into the waters and practice some of our commands as a unit. We have 6 of us in our boat, as it was just a boat for myself and my son, but the rafting company sent some of their workers to weigh the raft down more to better ensure we do not flip. I have rafted quite a few rivers in my lifetime, one of which I would say has been the Pacuare River in Costa Rica. I do not enjoy super dangerous rivers (I still will not do the Lochsa River near me in Montana), but I do enjoy continuous whitewater action and a good challenge. The Río Caldera did not disappoint! I found it to contain quite a few Class 4 rapids, with sufficient flat water in between to get readjusted, but not so much that the river float was boring. My 13 year old, who has only ever rafted one milder Class 2 before, was nervous at first, and by the end, was proclaiming how much he loved whitewater rafting and he wanted to do more. It was a perfect river trip for us. After the river raft, we traveled back to Medellín for the evening and a free evening to grab dinner on our own. We walked 5 minutes from Hotel Quinta Ladera down the hill to the El Poblado neighborhood. We found this to be quite safe and entertaining. Many music artists were out on the streets, sharing their hip hop and impromptu raps. There were artisans out on the sidewalks selling their crafts, and multiple restaurants to choose from.  The scene was excellent and we took in the sights before returning to our hotel for the evening.