Rafting in Probolinggo

My friend Hendra organized a mid-September expedition to Probolinggo to go rafting and invited some of the teachers to join him. It ended up being me, Chris, Ryan, James, Hendra, and two of Hendra's other friends. Hendra drove his family's car with all of us piled in. It took about 5 hours driving to get to Probolinggo and find the headquarters of the Songa rafting company. Since a raft holds 6 and we were 7, we had to split into 2 groups. We were fitted out with lifejackets, helmets, and paddles. Then we loaded up into the back of a truck with our deflated rafts and rode up to the launch point. It was a steep and bumpy ride - not the most comfortable.

After arriving, we walked down to the river where they had already quickly inflated our rafts. After our guide gave us a few basic commands, we were off. The water was higher than usual in the dry season because of all of the unseasonable rain we've had, so it was a nice ride with some respectable white water. At a few questionable points, there were guys stationed to help the rafts navigate through into the safer channels. The trip was about 1.5 or 2 hours, including a brief stop for a snack, a few photo ops, and the chance to dive off a cliff into the river. I wimped out of the cliff jumping but had a grand old time rafting.


There was some amazing beautiful scenery around us and I was sorry that I hadn't taken my camera for fear of losing or ruining it. The jungle around us was lush and green. We saw a group of monkeys eating and playing on the river's edge. We passed by extensive groups of caves where the cliffs overhang the river, and they were filled with many bats. The cave roofs were covered in bats and many were flying freely about - possibly disturbed by our passage. Waterfalls poured over the fronts of many of these caves and we passed under a couple of them, drenching us. The smell of the bats was horrid when we were passing nearby - acrid enough to make our eyes sting. But they were so graceful and lovely gliding around in their dark alcoves curtained by the lacy white rivulets of water that I couldn't find them distasteful.

After the rafting, we went back to the Songa rafting company's headquarters to shower and change. We had a bit of lunch there, too.

On the way home, we made a brief stop at a beach we were passing. The tide was out and the beach was a big mud flat. We saw some people out gathering shellfish and some birds doing the same. We walked out along a boardwalk and enjoyed the sea breeze then up into the family recreation area with paddle boats, pony rides, and other amusements. They were preparing for a concert at the stage but we couldn't stay.

It was a lot of time spent driving for a short ride but it was a lot of fun, and nice to meet some new people. Thanks, Hendra!