I never considered myself an adventure traveler until I got to Peru, where even a short bus trip can turn into an adventure – road blocks, llamas, livestock, rocky cliffs, flat tires and all.

I always considered myself a part of the more mainstream backpacker crowd – Lonely Planet in hand - as I explored Maccu Picchu, Cusco, Lima, and the Nazca Lines.

But tired of this predictable “gringo trail” of sights throughout South America, I signed on with an Ariquippenan rafting company to float down the class IV and V Cotahuasi River 70 miles, along ancient Incan footpaths and untouched archeological sites and remote villages, until it empties into the Pacific Ocean near Ica.

The only problem? I had never set foot in a raft before.