Monistrol de Montserrat Sports & Outdoors

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We were descending the powerful rapids of the Aude river in this rubber dinghy, using peddles to steer away from the rocks and move along other obstacles. We found out that boat used (zodiac type) was very safe and had a great resistance to the blows. We sat in the raft with eight people and the instructor at the back. We all sat on the edges of the boat and holded on for life, as we braved the rapids. The instructor at the back looked out for obstacles and guided us in the right direction. His job is to plot the course with the oar and to give the necessary instructions to the rest of the group to advance the boat down river down. So every now and then we had a rock splats, a nose dunk and did a pirouette to avoid some rocks.

At first it might seem like a dangerous sport, but it’s not really. Falling into the water won’t do you much harm. We were well equipped with a helmet, life jacket, full wet suit and neoprone boots. We experienced this because at some point of the course the instructure cap sized the boat on purpose and we all fell into the cold river and had to swim our way to the side of the river to reorganise the team. But anyway, it was an amazing ride!

Equipment: * An inflatable raft (with auto bailing device);
* A single paddle;
* A high performance life jacket;
* A helmet;
* A neoprene wet suite;
* A rain jacket if necessary.

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The ROC Aqua Rafting Company has 3 trips to undertake.

The beginners trip (2 trips available):
The St George gorge: beautiful itinerary (level 3), of about 7 kilometres, that usually is practiced in the morning.
The Pierre-Lyse gorge: aprogressive itinerary (level 4) of about 7 kilometres, that usually is practiced in the afternoon.

The sportive trip (1 itinerary only):
A wonderful trip (level 5) along the river Aude of about 14 kilometres. This is one we took.

We took this thrilling ride down the river Aude right in the beautiful and fascinating mountain range of the Pyrenees. It is definately an heavily adrenalin fuelled sport. The river Aude in Spain is considered a mecca for European rafters and we learned why.

Equipment: * An inflatable raft (with auto bailing device);
* A single paddle;
* A high performance life jacket;
* A helmet;
* A neoprene wet suite;
* A rain jacket if necessary.

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Reading the hand-out of the ROC Aqua rafting company learned that a raft is an inflatable boat and that you need to manoeuvre it down the river with paddles. It's the best way to get a touch of white water sports without any prior technical skills. Of course with the help and support of a river guide onboard. How hard can it be, so for us (I did it with two friends Sjoerd and Patrick) it was just time to get acquiped and enter the raft, which can accomodate a crew of 8 people maximum.

For us rafting is a rather challenging recreational outdoor activity. In our case it was done on some different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite us as much as possible! We knew that it is considered an extreme sport, as it can be dangerous. But of course we wanted to seek a thrill and entered the raft. Before we were getting started we learned some of the rules to secure each other safety. The guide told us for example that one of the most simple ways to avoid injury while out of a raft, was to swim to an Eddy (a calm spot behind a rock in the water which the current disperses around) to avoid being taken downstream.

Equipment: * An inflatable raft (with auto bailing device);
* A single paddle;
* A high performance life jacket;
* A helmet;
* A neoprene wet suite;
* A rain jacket if necessary.

There are many paths around Montserrat each leading to another wonderous site, each with it's own spiritual and cultural significance. An entire day can be spent just walking the various paths and seeing all that there is to see around the monastery that one can almost forget to see the monastery itself. Take some time to explore one of the paths. It's well worth it.

Equipment: A good pair of hiking shoes should suffice.