Native Sons Adventures

Native Sons is a pretty good river rafting outift among the many serving the Rio Grande area outside of Taos.
Booking a trip was quite easy, with online booking available as well as phone booking. I booked online and confirmed via phone and the guy answering the phone was fairly friendly and helpful. I also got some good information about what the trip entailed, detailed directions to the «meet-​up» site, and information about the river flow.
I scheduled the 830am tour, the guides were right on time, but not really early, so there was a little doubt about whether or not we were in the right place for the meet-​up. They did arrive though, and their passenger van appeared as good or better than that of other tour companies that also use the same starting point (The Rio Grande Gorge Visitor Center). Signing the risk waivers and stowing valuables was quick and easy, the guide/​driver was friendly and enthusiastic and left a good first impression, especially for those who were nervous ‘first-​timers’. The drive to the launch area was nice and quick, maybe 5 – 10 minutes at most.
The gear was, of course, used, but was perfectly fine. The vests, paddles, rafts/​kayaks, etc were perfectly adequate and the pre-​tour instructions were easy enough. They also stopped to take pictures of the different groups for souvenirs, and another photo taken at the last set of rapids, both of which are free of charge and posted where you can find them online, which is an unexpected and very nice extra.
Once on the river, the guides seemed experienced, giving us tips and instructions on paddling techniques and crew maneuvers, planned routes down the river and what to expect with certain areas, as well as information about the geography of the area and how the Gorge was formed, pointing out petroglyphs drawn by Indians over 1000 years ago, etc.
I had gone once before and my girlfriend was a first-​timer so I was very keen to how her experience was. The guide was attentive and tuned in to how much paddling she could do and when it was better to just take an easier route and let her look out the raft at the scenery. She loved it a lot and it exceeded all of her expectations and dispelled her fears of what rafting is all about. Plus it scored big points for me for thinking of it.
We were served a light snack at the end of the trip, while the guides loaded the boats onto trailers to be taken back up to the launch point. It was very basic, some chips and salsa, cookies, and some lemonade or Tang. Actually I liked this better than a lunchmeat sandwich or some other notion of a «picnic», since you will be a little tired and a lot wet, plus you are very close to Taos and the varied dining options offered there. They didn’t linger too long with the snack, which was good, and they shuttled us back to the Visitor Center nice and quick, where there are restrooms, an information center, and separate changing rooms to get out of your wet clothes and into dry ones for the rest of the day’s activities, whatever they might be.
Again, the guides were friendly as we said goodbye. A few folks tipped their guide which is perfectly acceptable, and while not mandatory it’s certainly not too much to ask considering the quality of job they do. Figure these guides see all types of people, with all different levels of fitness, experience, and ability, and cater the raft trip to match it perfectly.
There were some older folks, probably upper 50s to 60s, with the youngest in our group around 16, but I saw other rafts with younger kids, probably around 10 – 12, so check about age limits but it should be a pretty wide range.
Also, check the website to see the different rafting and biking tours offered and see which one is the best fit.
All in all, I would definitely use these guys the next time I go. Native Sons did a good enough job that I wouldn’t want to look elsewhere.