Staff Rafting Day
Category - Things We Like
April 1st is our birthday. And this year we turned 3! After our big birthday party we decided to close the Big Top for a day and treat our wonderful staff to a surprise rafting adventure up in Karangasem [East Bali].
We made the bus ride up there into quite the adventure too – we split into teams and played the most elaborate game of i-spy you could imagine. It involved taking pictures of 30 key landmarks/sights along the way. The aim was to capture each sight. There were extra points for artistry. To say the Sea Circus staff ‘got into it’ would be quite the understatement. They were all pinned up against the windows madly snapping pictures of policemen, temples and famous statues. It was like a Japanese tour bus on crack.
When we got to Karangasem the energy levels were high. And they only got higher. We stayed in our same teams of 4 and got geared up with life vests, helmets and paddles. And one questionable addition. Eggs! Josh gave everyone 2 eggs to take rafting. He read about the egg game on Outdoor Empire, the goal was to keep your eggs in tact along the whole river. The team with the most eggs at the end would get a prize. So off we went, to ride the rapids…
The landscape was lush, taking us through some of Bali’s forgotten villages. Waterfalls and colourful birds. Serene and mystical. Quite a change from the Seminyak scene. Inside the raft, everyone was still hyped up, paddling around rocks, splashing other teams and riding the currents. We stopped half way down, just past a waterfall and the real reason behind the eggs became clear.
Josh smashed an egg on Charlie’s head. And soon she was getting eggs and splashed from every angle. It is a Bali tradition to get egged on your birthday, but as Charlie had been away this year for hers the staff had been saving up their ‘birthday celebration’. It gave new meaning to the dish ‘Charlie’s omelette’.
The day continued on, full of camaradery, laughter and team spirit. The rafting culminated in a final ‘drop’ before everyone climbed up the {1,000?!?!} stairs back up to the top – where a feast of local Indonesian food was waiting for all of us. Needless to say, the bus ride home was a little sleepy.
Take a look at all of our rafting adventures below. And if you want to book your own rafting adventure with ‘Bukit Chili Rafting’ contact Wira Jaya on 087861392784. Enjoy!