26. January 2015.   •     Ed

The sun awakes you.

But you refuse to open your eyes, even though you cannot ignore the most beautiful sound of the river. The river that put you to sleep last night. Apart from the heat, the sun and the breathtaking view make you come out from your tent to start that brand new day.

After a morning coffee and breakfast, you start preparing the equipment for the day’s activity.  Either kayaking or rafting. At that point, all you see is a throng of colleagues, smiley faces mixed up with an increasing number of visitors, guests who cannot wait to paddle down the river. Ah, the river… always same but always different. The same river that you paddle every day and get to see from a different angle all over again. Its clarity and wilderness every time in a more beautiful edition.
All of this is your job, but what’s more important, it is your life. It’s the life of a river guide.

Kayaking Zrmanja River
Kayaking Zrmanja River

Many times, this lifestyle is confronted with various convictions. Not to use heavy words, we could say that it is facing criticism. “When will you grow up?” The most often question that greets you.

The life of a river guide

At this point, you do not shrug your shoulders because you begin to question yourself, but you shrug your shoulders because you are aware of that one thing: “How to explain to anyone that you are living your life far from civilization, far from the usual everyday life, far from the stifling heat of the asphalt, in the tolerable heat of nature, surrounded by the river and that, in the end, you are happy.” The only thing that you can explain at that point is seemingly much more realistic, but also the most important item of the river guide job and that is security.

As a guide, you cannot tame the wildness of nature, but you can find the best and most effective way to guide through its beauty. No less important for the river guide is to be an animator. If this characteristic is not given to you by birth, it is certainly important that you gain it by practice and effort. Your stories about local legends and history, facts about the location and characteristics of the river and the canyon, will introduce visitors to the deepest essence of your workday as the river guide.