GORP - South America - Top Global Whitewater

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South America

Rio Upano: Ecuador
World-class rapids, waterfalls hundreds of feet high, and remote rain forests populated by former headhunters, Ecuador's Rio Upano offers far more than just whitewater delight. Surging down the Andes into the Amazon basin, the Rio Upano earns its name — which means"river of the sacred waterfalls" — at every turn. Dozen of tributaries spill over high canyon walls, some plunging more than 800 feet into the river below. The pulsating Upano's Class II-III rapids (along with the odd Class IV) offer rafters maximum adrenaline with minimum anxiety, giving them the opportunity to gape at the myriad waterfalls and rain forests lush with orchids, egrets, and shimmering butterflies. Although they no longer make trophies of heads, the native Shuar Indians still hunt with blowguns and live along the banks of the Rio Upano like they have for centuries, offering a rare glimpse at a way of life fast vanishing.

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Rio Apurimac: Peru

Time to pray

The Nile may be slightly longer, but the Amazon moves more water than any river on earth. Along its 3,700-mile journey from the Andes to the Atlantic, the Amazon collects liquid tribute from more than 15,000 feeder streams. Fully one-fifth of all the world's fresh water flows through the Amazon basin. This gargantuan river begins its transcontinental run as the Rio Apurimac high in the Peruvian Andes. In 1985, writer Joe Kane set out with eight others to paddle the entire length of the Amazon, descending deadly rapids never before run and camping in steep canyons where boulders rained down from above. Thousands of miles later, only two members of the group — Kane and one other — emerged into Brazil's Marajo Bay to taste the briny Atlantic. The furious Class V rapids of the Rio Apurimac proved the first — and nearly the last — test of Kane's whitewater skills. Read his story.

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Rio Cotahusai: Peru
The Rio Cotahuasi slices through a crack in the earth twice as deep as the mile-high Grand Canyon. Southern Peru's 12,000-foot-deep Cotahuasi Canyon — the name means"house of the depths" — is considered by many to be the world's deepest. Not until 1994 was the river first navigated by a joint Peruvian-American expedition, which brought back fantastic tales of nonstop rapids and unexplored pre-Inca ruins. Just reaching the Cotahuasi is something to boast about. Gird yourself for a punishing day's four-wheeling through trackless wilderness and another two days trekking through a high-altitude desert where any mistake could well be your last. The reward is seventy-five miles of Class IV-V rapids surging between canyon walls that soar more than two miles straight up. This is no place for beginners. Only those strong and hardy enough to swim ashore after an unscheduled but inevitable plunge in its icy waters need apply.

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Rio Futaleufu: Chile

Going down

One of the world's most beloved rafting rivers, Chile's Rio Bio Bio, is about to pass into memory. A recently erected dam shut down a canyon and three major rapids, and the second of five scheduled dams is due to begin construction this year, cutting out the river's heart at Nirreco Canyon. But Patagonia has another turquoise jewel in its crown: the Rio Futaleufu. With the Bio Bio on the endangered species list, this Class IV-V marvel has rapidly developed into one of the world's foremost rafting destinations, with one mind-boggling set of rapids after another. Some paddling mavens already consider it the Mecca of whitewater. The Fu, as it's affectionately called, is a feast for the eyes, ears and arms, with its roaring, relentless whitewater framed by postcard-perfect Patagonian scenery chock full of canyons, snowy peaks and lush vegetation. When you're not tempting fate in the furious foam, test your angling skills on the river — 15-pound brown trout have been hooked in these waters.

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