Today I woke up and had a warm shower. It was the first since April and if felt SO good. After showering, we went to breakfast and met Alexis and Brian (the two other people who were in our raft). They both go to American University and are seniors studying abroad. After breakfast we met Zoe, our rafting instructor. She told us about safety and all that good ish. She also told us how it was her last time rafting the Nile because in two days she is moving to Canada to work with rafting there. So, we knew we were going to have an “epic” day. We hopped on a buss and drove to the Nile. When we got there, they unloaded the rafts, put them in the water, and we hoped in. As we were sitting in the water she gave us the real introduction. She taught us how to paddle, get down, and hold on. She had us jump out of the raft and then pull ourselves in. This was difficult for me because I can barley lift 10lbs with my left arm from my skiing accident. She taught us how to pull others in. In order to pull them in, you have to push them down and then pull them up with their life jackets. So we go through tiny rapids to get a feel for what we are doing.
“Okay guys, your training is now over!” she shouted in her Australian accent.
The first rapid we went down was a class 3. The highest class we did was 5, but the highest class is a 6. We made it through the first rapid alright. “Wow, if this is a class three what is a class 5 like?” I thought. The next rapid was a little more difficult.
“HOLD ON!” Zoe shouted.
This time I got thrown out of the boat. I went under and was being tossed all over. I thought that I was going to drown. I didn’t have any breath left. Then all of a sudden I felt my self near the top of the water. I threw my arm up in the air so they could see me. My head popped out and I went to take a breath. I think I breathed in 1% of air and 99% of the Nile River. When I finally got out of the rapids, I looked back to see everyone in the raft half a mile up from me. For safety, there is a safety boat and 2 extremely good kayakers going down with you. I got pulled up onto the safety boat, and waited for everyone to come down so I could get back in the raft. This whole experience was so fun. The next rapid came up, and all the guys got thrown out but the girls stayed in. I held onto a piece of the raft for a little bit but then got pushed away. The next rapid we went down I got thrown out AGAIN but this time was holding onto the raft. As I opened my mouth to say something to Zoe, I got another nice mouthful of the Nile. This whole experience was crazy and so much fun. My arms are really sore now from all of the paddling, but it was worth it. Along the river, there were stretches where we just drifted down, we all jumped in and swam around. We had pineapple and biscuits for lunch and over all had a great day. When we got back, there was a barbeque for us which tasted very good. After the barbeque, we went back to the other campus of The Nile River Explores. When we got back, I laid down and slept until 10. When I woke up, I took a shower and then went back to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment