Winter is a time to… travel.

Working in adventure tourism is a huge pleasure for anyone who enjoys the outdoors.

When you talk about working at Brasil Raft, which has a park in the middle of the Atlantic forest, at the foot of Serra Gaúcha, being part of a team that enjoys what it does – rafting, canopy, zip lining, paintball, rappelling, climbing and quad biking – even better!!!!

Summer here in the south of Brazil is naturally our busiest time, where everyone seeks out places like Brasil Raft Park.

And winter? It’s naturally calmer, with more time for the team to qualify, take vacations, travel, rest…

Thinking this way, last winter (June) I decided to follow in the footsteps of Cristian, one of the owners of Brasil Raft Park, and get to know a company that was for him and, consequently, for Brasil Raft, one of the main sources of inspiration, when all this was just an idea, there are more than 15 years ago.

 

I packed my bags and went to spend a week at Nantahala Outdoor Center, in the middle of the mountains of North Carolina, USA, on the outskirts of Bryson City, the place that hosted the 2013 Freestyle Canoeing World Cup three months later.

I had the opportunity to raft on four different rivers in the region operated by NOC, from the class II Nantahala River, which is located at the company’s headquarters, to the class IV+ Chattooga River, which is on the border of the states of Georgia and South Carolina. The Chattooga River is surrounded by two national parks and has a surprising end!

Without forgetting the recently launched (at that date) Mountaintop Zip Line Tour, a canopy/zip line circuit over the Great Smoky Mountains, the National Park where NOC is located, where one of the cables was more than 800m. Mind-blowing!!!!

In addition to the adventures and new friendships with colleagues in the adventure tourism world, it was certainly a trip full of learning.

NOC is a huge company, it is a reference in adventure tourism in the USA, and it was very pleasant to realize that the people who are involved in day-to-day operations and management believe that they are there to provide customers with not only an adventure, a fun moment, but an experience close to the natural environment.

Many ideas were brought back from this trip, many photos, many details, some applicable, others already applied and others that are saved, as a future source of inspiration. And in addition, the certainty that the NOC will continue to be a great source of reference for Brasil Raft.

Text: Paulo Roberto Gonzatto, Brasil Raft team