It Started with a Dream…

Rios Tropicales has been sharing the beauty and abundant whitewater of Costa Rica's tropical rivers with the rest of the world for more than 25 years.

It all started in 1985 when childhood friends, senior partners Rafael Gallo and Fernando Esquivel, broke out of conventionality to follow their dreams and do what they loved. They integrated their vision of conservation and love of sport and adventure into a business of the future that revolutionized water sports in Costa Rica and Latin America forever.

"We had our dream mission statement - to share the beauty and excitement of our Costa Rican rivers with the rest of the world," notes Fernando Esquivel, whose mother is Salvadorian. "People thought we were a couple of crazy guys enjoying nature instead of having a real job."

The dream began in part years ago when the rafting bug bit Rafael "Rafa" Gallo as a university student in the United States.

"I was working for an air conditioning company in Knoxsville", recalls Rafa, who studied Industrial Engineering at the University of Tennessee (some say he majored in kayaking). "Friends called me and said we had finally gotten permission to do a private rafting expedition down the Grand Canyon."

The young executive quit his job to spend 18 glorious days on the Colorado River, and the next four months traveling around the United States "anywhere there was whitewater."

Rafa's love for rivers and whitewater has taken him around the world from international rafting expeditions, to remarkable first descents of unknown rivers, to the Olympics and world competitions.

A world-class kayaker, Rafa is credited with putting Costa Rica's rivers on the world rafting and kayaking map. "I wanted to show the whole world the rivers of Costa Rica," said Rafa, who first competed in the 1986 Pan American games in the USA. A veteran of numerous world championships, Rafa coached the Costa Rican squad at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. He was unable to compete because he is a native of El Salvador and not Costa Rica, although Costa Rica is his home.

Rafa is an esteemed member of the exclusive Explorer's Club, an international federation of explorers who "got there first." Rafa was accepted for his first descents of rivers in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Argentina and Spain.

Rios Tropicales started with only two rafts, twelve paddles, life jackets and helmets, and has grown to be the premier whitewater rafting and sea kayaking outfitter in Latin America.

"The office was Rafa's apartment, and my mom's house was the warehouse," remembers Fernando, who attended river guide school in California soon after the company formed.

"We focused on providing international safety standards and the Latin American spirit of fun," explains Rafa, who is on the Board of Directors for the International Rafting Federation.

Under the expert business and marketing guidance of Fernando, the company grew quickly. Rios Tropicales has earned its reputation as one of the top businesses in Costa Rica and a leader in setting tourism quality standards.
"Our commitment to high quality, safety, and professional and personable service has put us at the top," notes Fernando.

At first, guide friends of Rafa came from the United States to lead trips. By 1987, Rios Tropicales offered an annual river guide school. Now, more than 50 Costa Rican and international guides work for Rios Tropicales. Many have competed in the Olympics and world competitions.

Rios Tropicales has hosted participants from around the world in international whitewater championships (1991), Project RAFT (1991), World Kayak Surf Championship (1995), and the Camel Whitewater Challenge (1998). Along with the Costa Rica Rafting Organization, the company hosted the Costa Rica Whitewater Championships and Latin America Whitewater Championships in 1999. Two teams from Rios Tropicales competed in the Camel World Whitewater Challenge in Chile in February 2000.

"Our success is partly Costa Rica - the warm water, great rivers and their proximity to San Jose," says Rafa. "But our greatest achievement is the people we work with … we are like a family."