Catching up...Africa
In July I traveled again to Uganda to work for 20 days. This time we built a boys dormitory that allowed the boys attending the vocational school to stay on the grounds. Before the dorm they were walking every day to get to school and as you can imagine the attendance rate was pretty low. You can read all about the trips (Uganda 07; Atlixco, Mexico; Montana; Uganda 09 etc) at www.boardingpasses.org. It was another successful trip and it was nice to see the special needs school we built in 2007 being used (they went from 9 to 40 students.) I got to really like some of the people I traveled with; there were 12 high school and college kids and 10 or so adults. I enjoyed most of the kids but some of the adults are crazy. I could rant for 20 pages about uptight adults but this is just supposed to be a quick catch up.
We rafted the Nile again and as in 2007 it was wild. The Nile starts in Uganda (its actually called the White Nile) and the river is mostly class 5 rapids (which should actually be higher if you ask me because class 5's in the states are tiny compared to the Nile rapids.) This year I was in the boat with S & B. We were having a good time and as we head over one of the beginning rapids I hear a "pow" and wonder, "why is there so much water in our raft?" The pow was one of the side tubes popping. The whole group of 7 or so boats pull to the bank and divided my boat into the other boats. I ended up in a boat with an Australian, a Brit or two and some Irish. All of which were kind of annoying and had never been whitewater rafting before. The Nile is really not a beginner river.
If you don't know rafting, the boat HAS to oar together otherwise you don't get anywhere. The front two in the boat are supposed to oar in unison (which isn't that hard) and the rest of us behind them follow their lead. In my boat the guy in the front right was hung over and he couldn't find a rhythm so the rest of the boat couldn't really follow his lead. As a result our boat kind of duck waddled down the river.
We (barely) made it through the first couple of rapids and are in a slow patch of water where the lead guide (an adorable rugged little Aussie with a permanent 5 o'clock shadow, the right kind, pattern and amount of chest hair and a heavy dose of zinc oxide on his nose) tells all the boats that this is NOT a section of the river that you "want to go swimming." Here a hydroelectric dam is being built and the banks of the river are slowly growing to meet in the middle. The river here is fast, very, very fast and the rapid is very long. The boats all wait as one at a time they head through the rapid. Most make it ok, some flip towards the bottom of the rapid.
Towards the end of the pack, my boat waddles into the rapid and we hit the very first wave wrong. The boat flips. I am on the low side so as it flips the tube smacks me on the head and sends me to the bottom. I am an experienced swimmer. I was an all state and all conference swimmer in high school (even have the letter jacket to prove it.) I am very comfortable in the water and now that I am in the river I hold on to my life vest and just let the river toss me around knowing that eventually it will spit me out.
Initially I think this is fun, I keep waiting for my head to pop above the water. Nothing. The light on the other side of my closed eyes is still really dark. I begin to wonder if I am stuck under the boat so I run my arm around me to see if I can feel the raft. Nothing. My lungs are starting to burn. I begin to get a little worried so I start to swim but quickly remember that the river is tossing me around and what I think is up might actually be down, so I stop. After what seems like hours my lungs are about to burst and I open my eyes and see only dark. I look around and see a very faint blue green glow and start to try to swim in that direction.
I very distinctly remember thinking that I wasn't going to make it and my body was going to gasp for air underwater. I remember thinking that I am sure the guides are CPR trained, my group leaders are wilderness first responders and if they get to me quick enough I am sure they can revive me. I remember getting very sad thinking about my parents, siblings and C2. I remember a brief minute of peace staring at the pretty blue-green as my body gives up.
Then my head pops very briefly above the surface. I gasp and take in a refreshing gulp of air and fair amount of river water before I was pulled under again. This time under was shorter and I am pushed above water again and look around. I am 100 yards or so further down river from the last rescue boat and rescue kayaks. I raise my hand and the last rescue boat sees me. As the boat gets closer I hear the guide yelling at his boaters to paddle harder. It is my furry little handsome man from Australia and he is my hero.
He pulls me into the boat and I land on his tan, perfectly furry, nicely built, slightly body odor-esque little body. Maybe I did die, I think, because this is heaven.
Once situated, he asks in his delightful little accent, "Did you open your eyes?"
"Uh huh."
"What did you see?"
"Nothing." I respond.
"Wow, you were on the bottom...and down there for a long time."
No shit.
That rapid was the last before "lunch island" and it turns out five of the eight from that boat quit. One girl chipped a tooth and another had a fierce bloody nose. I stayed but made sure I was with S & B. It was the closest "near death experience" I've ever had and at the end of the day I sent a very tear filled email to my parents, siblings and C2 about how much I loved them and about the river. My mom was so pissed.
Sometimes I dream of that blue-green and my chest tightens and I can feel a small panic attack come on BUT I will raft again. In fact when I travel to work in Nepal over Christmas, I plan to whitewater raft in the Himalayas.
How cool does that sound?