A group of 16 Romans on Project Week in Puerto Rico descend towering cascades surrounded by the rainforest as they feel the water beneath their feet.

The Puerto Rican Canyoning challenge is Sunday through Friday, with four days of canyoning, which consists of rappelling down waterfalls.

We arrived at our campsite Sunday night after a long day of traveling. We stayed in the campsite and slept in tents the entire stay. On Day 1 of the challenge, we did a workshop covering Stoicism and learned the basics of rappelling and tying knots.

On Day 2, we went to our first canyon, called “Santa Clara.” We drove down winding roads for two hours. The fourth and last cascade was the scariest, as the water volume was intense and the height was 150 feet.

“I felt on the first day like I had gone past my comfort zone, and even though I was really scared,” sophomore Chloe Ramette said. “I felt relieved once I was at the bottom and I saw all the work that I had done.”

On Day 3, we took on our second canyon. This canyon had much less water volume. We ended the canyon with a zip line that took us down to the bottom.

Day 4 had nine rappels. This took our group about four hours. Before leaving, we packed our sandwiches and ate them before we started. This canyon had many opportunities for jumps, but only the bravest attempted the high jumps.

Day 5 was our last day of canyoning and, in my opinion, it was the best. It involved a lot of hiking in the river, which caused many slips and falls. After the long hike back, we had finally finished all the rappels. It was pouring all day.

“The feeling of finally taking off my wetsuit and my boots was indescribable,” senior Malia Chen said. “I felt so accomplished. The challenge was complete.”