The Great Nile River

The days are flying by here. Yesterday, after blogging, I caught up on reading letters. Ya'll are makin' me laugh and cry! It's nice to feel so supported by my beautiful community back home.

Today was our "day off," so we drove two hours to Jinja for river rafting on the Nile! The experience was both incredible and terrifying. We split into groups of eight and decided if we wanted to ride "wild" or "mild." I was torn, but in the end went for mild, which was definitely WILD!

There are six levels of rapids- 1 being the most harmless and 6 being the most dangerous. When we boarded the raft, tensions were high. Ann was very concerned about the raft tipping. The rest of us accepted the roles of confident and calm so that the group remained united and strong. Big J, our leader, took us through the dos and dont's of rafting. This worried Ann further, and, I must say, it felt like a lot of information to remember. He had us jump into a calm part of the river and swim around a little, we practiced paddling forward and back, and we even experimented with capsizing the boat with the hope that none of this would actually happen in a rapid.

As we went through our first big rapid (Level 5), everyone worked together beautifully, calling out things like, "paddle harder! "Together!", etc. But by the time we reached the point that I could check in with everyone, I noticed Ann was gone! She was quickly retrieved by a rescue kayaker and brought back to our raft. She was quite shaken and crying hysterically. Her nervous system was shocked by the experience. We all supported her as Big J hugged her, wiping away her tears. Eventually, she was able to go on, but just as fearful as before.

We reached a Level 4 rapid, and myself, David, and Sofi were knocked into the water. I surfaced quickly and found the experience exhilarating! I got back into the boat with even more confidence.

As we approached the last rapid, the most dangerous of all the previous rapids, Big J counseled us on what to do if we capsized. There was a 50% chance of tipping.  Ann was freaked. Big J said there were four large waves to get through, and if we tipped early, we may need to hold our breath for a long time. We all had to paddle hard to make it through. We were a determined group.

We clapped our paddles together in the air and reassured ourselves that we could make it. We saw the steep waterfall approaching fast, and fear mounted inside of me. I kept paddling with all my strength, then, I felt the raft starting to lean to one side. I was suddenly out of control and fell off. I thought the boat had flipped, as I was stuck underneath for a moment, but I knew I must stay calm. I was also aware of the fact that we had fallen early and I knew I had a long way to go before rescue. Wave after wave pummeled me down further, and water flooded my lungs. For the brief moment I had above water, I couldn't catch my breath, couldn't inhale. I was panicked, gasping for air. I had no awareness of where I was in relation to the boat, and assumed everyone else needed rescuing as well. After what seemed like forever, a kayak came out of no where and pulled me back to the boat as I coughed and burped up as much water as I could. Big J gave me a moment to catch my breath before pulling me back into the boat, and as I looked around I realized everyone else seemed ok. As it turns out, only two of us had fallen in, Kristen included. Big J quickly pulled her back in.

Wow. I was scared and shaken. I thought I was going to drown, but knew in the back of my mind somewhere that I wouldn't. I ate lunch in silence; hoping nourishment would calm my nerves. Eventually, I did feel better, and even took a swim around the calmer part of the river with Sofi. That was definitely a high point. I swam in the Nile River!! The scenery was brilliant and inspiring. Those few minutes made everything worth it.

We pulled the raft up to land and made the long trek, barefoot, back to our bus. The Earth was red and burned our feet. I felt like I was walking over hot coals, and took brief breaks in the shaded parts of the path.

In the bus, Suzanne gave me four grapefruit extract pills to kill any parasites I may have ingested in the river. Better that my worrisome mind did not know about the possibility of parasites until today. Nothing I can do about it now! And I don't regret anything. I think it was important for me to experience both the absolute terror of drowning and the thrill of success. It was a completely unique experience. And it all happened on our "day off."