Can-you-ist
We had planned to go on the Friday, but due to the rain we postponed it for a day and so on Saturday we poled up in the bus to Ariondas (gateway to the Picos) ready to do a descent of the river Sella by canoe. A few thousand other people had the same idea.
The descent of the Sella is a classic of Asturian tourism, it’s also what they do for an international canoe race the first Saturday in August, when Ariondas becomes a bacchanalian nightmare (or a really good weekend out, depending on your tolerance for drunks).
It’s also really easy, there’s no white water, just a couple of slightly faster narrow stretches in the 16Km run. We set off amongst hundreds of others in similar plastic, non sinkable, practically indestructable brightly coloured canoes, our belongings in a white plastic tub at my feet.
It was really nice, not too hard, although after 10km we could feel it in the arms. There were plenty of places to stop for a picnic, and most of the Spaniards opted for a couple of them where enterprising folk had set up speakers (for summer Europop) and served cider. We, on the other hand stopped at the quieter stretches.
It was a good choice, to postpone from the Friday, becuase the weather on the Saturday was glorious. The steep limestone mountains gave us a nice landscape to look at and the antics of the less able canoeists gave us a laugh. We only had one issue, when, with my view blocked by Liz, I paddled us straight onto a rock in one of the faster sections, leaving us teetering. I had to get out and push.
Great fun, and available all year, they provide wetsuits in the winter though.
Tags: living, sport
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