July 3

July 3
RENAE:
I love White Water Rafting!!! Ok, I’ll admit that I was freakishly nervous and scared the few days before we left, mainly of the raft flipping and me getting trapped, or getting thrown off and hitting a rock or something. Somehow I heard a rumor that 3 out of 4 boats flip, but honestly I have no idea from where because that is not true. When we talked to the first company and asked how many boats flip, their response was “Since it is highwater season, the rapids aren’t as wild, so your boat will probably only flip once.” However, after talking to the guides from the company and learning that the boat I was in would not in any way flip, and looking at pictures of other groups, I became excited and not nervous anymore. We started halfway through, because the portage route of the 9th rapid they usually portage in low-water season (it’s a level 6, and called ‘commercial suicide’) is flooded, so we had to start after that. Keep in mind that these are the worst rapids in the world that commercial companies use, and is on the Zambezi River, the river that feeds Victoria Falls. We went through some level five rapids, but if we went in low-water season there would be even more. Well the trip was AMAZING! I went through 6 or 7 rapids in the non-flip boat, then moved to the flippy boat for the rest. The rapid after I moved I fell out. This particular rapid, ‘the oblivion’, has flipped more boats than any other in the world. We didn’t flip, but MAN we were close! We were literally vertical, and I was certain we were going to flip and my worst fear would happen, since it was going to flip over me, soI half bailed out, half tried to hang on. I learned later that soon after I fell, so did Travis, and my dad threw his whole weight onto the other side. Without him doing that, we would have definitely flipped, no doubt about it! When I went in I tried to grab onto the rope so as not to lose the raft, but couldn’t find it. I went under the raft and came up on the other side. The guide pulled me in quickly, and Trav too. Before that Roger also went in, but I didn’t see it. I heard it was pretty funny; he was flailing around on the bottom of the boat. Then the very next rapid Erin also fell out. It was pretty scary, because we went through the whole rapid and couldn’t see her head bobbing like everyone had been. I actually didn’t realize she was gone until I heard Travis’ scared, hoarse “Where is she?!”, and then I knew something was wrong. I’ll let her tell you about that though. In the end, everyone in that boat fell out except Lisa and Nicole, and everyone is fine. Then we hiked up the gorge and ate lunch there. Afterwards we got our certificates and went to Vic Falls. It was really misty, and half of the waterfall was clouded out by it, but it was still amazingly beautiful.

I love Africa!!!
Renae

ERIN
Renae asked me to give my own account of my rafting adventure, so here you have it. I think the river god must have been angry that I didn’t buy any of his charms that the locals were trying to sell us on the hike down into the gorge. Anyway, like Renae said, I had a little more excitement than I bargained for on one of the last rapids. Maybe I could’ve hung on when we hit the wave, but hey, what’s a rafting trip on one of the most exciting rivers in the world without one good flip? So I fell in and came up for a mouthful of air, but before I could even look for the raft, another wave of water caught me mid-breath and sent me swirling underwater. I remembered what to do, held onto my paddle, didn’t panic, and waited for my life jacket to pop me up again. It didn’t. I kept being thrown around, spinning or flipping, I couldn’t tell which, only sensing the water around me getting darker and darker through my eyelids. You expect to hear pounding water, or some ominous music in a movie soundtrack, but the whole thing was strangely silent. It felt like I was there forever. It all seemed absolutely surreal, until I came to the realization that I was going to have to take a breath soon, and it wasn’t going to be of air. I gave up on the being-patient-and-not-panicking tactic right about then and decided I better start swimming, even though I wasn’t quite sure which way was up. One of my biggest fears has always been getting trapped underneath something underwater, and I never thought I’d be so incredibly relieved to find my head hitting the underside of the raft. I pulled my way out from under the raft then, to sunlight and air and everybody yelling and Roger pulling me into the boat, and the guide telling us that it was a whirlpool that sucked me down and dragged me all the way through the rapids and spit me out at the bottom. He said it was normal, nothing to be too worried about. I sure wouldn’t have guessed it. It didn’t hit me until quite a while later how scared I actually was. It was just a minute’s breather, then paddling straight into the next rapids, none the worse for the day’s events than a head full of water, a good story, and a great deal of respect for the mighty Zambezi. River god, next time I know to buy your charm.

ROGER:
I also have a greater respect for the Zambezi than I had. I won’t speculate how long we waited to see the red helmet pop up (we already did that), but I know if felt much longer than it was. Travis and I were standing up looking everywhere for the bobbing helmet, and although we didn’t hear him the others said the guide was telling us to calm down, as there was nothing we could do. I’m sure I couldn’t have done it if I tried, but we rode the rest of the rapids standing up in the raft searching the water. Of course we were looking at the place she got sucked into the whirlpool, so it was quite surprising when her paddle and head popped up right beside the boat – which was way down river by them. It was very quiet the rest of the way down the river, but it was right near the end.
Roger