A FOUNDER OF THE IRF
Rafa is a founder of the IRF , serving as its first vicepresident from 1997 to 2006 before leading as president from 2006 to 2013 . He stepped down from the presidency to focus more on conservation and sustainability , one of his strongest life passions . Commending his decades of involvement , achievements , and integral role in the formation and development of the IRF , Rafa was named its first Honorary President in 2018 .
A natural and charismatic leader , Rafa pioneered both adventure tourism and ecotourism in Costa Rica with his company Rios Tropicales , which won dozens of international awards for conservation practices throughout its 35-year history . He put Costa Rica on the world map for whitewater rafting and kayaking and even helped stop a hydroelectric dam on his beloved Pacuare River in 1990 .
Thanks to Rafa , Costa Rica has hosted four international rafting events – the Project RAFT Rainforest Festival in 1991 , the Camel Challenge and first IRF World Rafting Championship in 1998 , and the 2011 IRF World Rafting Championship – the world ’ s first-ever Certified Carbon Neutral championship sporting event . Rafa recently launched the inaugural IRF World White Water Rafting Summit , held in Costa Rica in October 2019 . Over 300 participants attended , with speakers like the Costa Rican Minister for the Environment , the United Nations representative for Climate Change , and international rafting safety specialists .
SALVADORAN PARENTS
Rafa ’ s life reads like an adventure novel . He was born in the United States in 1958 to Salvadoran parents , while his father was getting his master ’ s degree in soil science at Cornell University . When Rafa was less than a year old , he rode with his parents in their station wagon from New York to San Salvador . There , he grew up on his family ’ s country estate in the city ’ s outlying foothills .
During Rafa ’ s second year at university , due to El Salvador ’ s worsening political situation , his parents sent him to the University of Tennessee ( UT ) to continue studying industrial engineering . Childhood friend and fellow student Jimmy Nixon introduced Rafa to the UT Canoe and Hiking Club , thus igniting Rafa ’ s lifelong passion for paddling .
His group of university paddling friends became like a second family . Calling themselves the ‘ Tenth Street Paddlers ’, their 40 + -year friendship was a source of immense support for Rafa , up to his final moments .
His first river running experience was paddling a Morrison Hahn C-1 on a class IV river with zero know-how . Jimmy had given Rafa basic instructions and simply said , “ follow us .” Rafa , always game for an adventure , did his best . Nevertheless , he swam the first rapid and broke the fibreglass boat . After a few more river trip misadventures , club member Tom Wise took pity on Rafa and taught him how to roll a kayak . They celebrated the one-day achievement with a moonlight paddle down the Little River in the Smoky Mountains National Park .
A few years later , after graduating , learning to raft guide , and a life-changing 18-day river trip through the Grand Canyon , Rafa left his industrial engineering career to paddle the warm water rivers of Costa Rica . The Pacuare River enchanted him and the exuberance of the rainforest , enticing him to call the country home .
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