How Not To Drown On The Nile [PHOTOS] - Explore Archived World Race Alumni Blogs

What is one thing that most racers do during debrief in Uganda? They go raft the Nile! I mean if Moses can do it as a baby then so can we!

I have seen some of the videos of past racers doing this and every raft I saw flipped. But I mean how lame would a video bee if it showed people not flipping. Also I have been rafting in the past and the raft never flipped, in fact I never even fell out. But I know that the Nile was another beast on it's own. But I was ready for the adventure! So early on August 30th most of the squad headed out.

We were told that there were 8 rapids that we would face, 4 before lunch and 4 after. Before heading out to the rapids we did have a safety talk and practice what we should do should we flip or fall out. Once we were prepared we headed out to the first rapid, a short 7-8 foot waterfall. We survived! We didn't flip but the raft before us did because when we got the water out of our eyes we noticed that my teammate Daniel was suddenly in our raft. We had to rescue him and all he said was that the boat when over him. Welcome to rafting the Nile. All fun and games…until the second rapid…

Almost as soon as we hit the raid our guide told us to get down. As I did I watched the water come rushing to my face – from the side of the boat. Before I could take a breath I was under. The raft had flipped. I tried to hold on like we were taught but the current was too strong. Instead I was pushed father under, in circles, and maybe even upside-down. This wouldn't have been so bad if I had a faster reaction time for taking a deep breath. I think I was under for about 10 seconds before finding the top..but to me it felt like forever. I came up choking. I half inhaled and half swallowed part of the Nile. I was rescued by a kayaker…who would ended up saving me each time I went over (the same kayaker. I told her we should be friends). I was not the only one that needed to be rescued so did Brent and Alex…turns out that Jonathan was the only one on our side who could hold on.

The third rapid was better. On the forth I fell out again. I don’t know if the rafted flipped or not but I do know that the second time was much better than the first and much more fun also!

After lunch I think we flipped (or I was at least out of the boast) two more times…the first two rapids we hit…

I spent more time in the water than I did on the raft. I don't know how Moses did it as a baby but props to him!

So this brings me to the title of my blog: How NOT to Drown on the Nile!

If you are afraid of water – DON'T go rafting!
If you are terrified of flipping get on a raft with people who want to take it easy.
If there are no rafts then take the safety raft (aka – Chicken boat) b/c it doesn’t flip and you don't have to row.
Should your boat flip – hang on to the rope on the raft
Should you find yourself in the water and your still in the rapids, make like a cannon ball b/c you will shoot up to the surface and our of the rapids faster.
If your in the water and not in rapids then float on our back and don't put your feet down.
When in the water – Don't panic. That will make it worse and you'll stay under longer. Made this mistake once.
And Most Importantly – Don't breath in the water!!!! I did this a few times along with drinking it. Bad idea all around lol
And have fun!