white water raft? down the NILE?! sure!

So, i kinda had this awesome opportunity to go rafting down the NILE RIVER! yes, it did cost $100 bucks, but it was a blast! level five and six rapids are something that is a total adrenaline rush. although i do have to admit that i was scared out of my mind!!! I was praying more than halfway through the ride, just that i wouldn't die. i might have peed my pants a couple times, but thats okay, i just crossed off another one of my goals on my bucket list... pee in the Nile! haha :)

anyways, we geared up with our helmets and life jackets and they had us go through about an hour training with our guide, Sadat. He was so great and super funny, while we were all freaking out. so we learned how to get down really fast in case a huge rapid appeared out of nowhere, and how to row altogether for better power, and oh - "when the raft capsizes, feel free!" (a very typical african term, by the way) Sadat taught us what to do when it flipped over, how you have to find the air pockets and just hold onto the raft until the rapids stop so we could all flip the raft back over. well this was all great in theory, until our very first rapid, we flipped. fancy that. and guess who couldn't find the air pocket? yup, you guessed it. i was stuck under there, trying to feel around with my hands and keep my cool all at the same time, while still cascading down more rapids in the meantime. uggh, it was terrifying. i illegitimately thought i was going to die. it was INSANE! 

We went down eight total rapid sections with crazy huge waves and only a rope to hold onto on the side of our raft. there was one spot that we did not go because it is named "the bad spot" and they explained it as a washing machine that just sucks you in. yeah, that didnt seem like such a smart thing to sign up for... although our guys, Mike and Paul really wanted to brave it. There were multiple occasions where i flew out of that raft when no one else did. i have no idea why, because i was holding on with all my might. once, i specifically remember doing a belly flop into a rapid and it hurt like crazy. and another time, i did a complete backflip out of the raft. they even had workers stationed on the land nearby that captured a picture of it... all of my other friends just chilling in the raft, and there were my legs, straight up in the air and my upper half, engulfed by a huge wave. hahaaa it was pretty comical.

so praise the Lord that i survived. but now my arms hurt like crazzzzy from paddling and rowing so much, and i got just a little bit sunburnt (i say this lightly so my mom wont freak out at how bad it actually was). But i am so happy i did it and didn't act like a complete fool and chicken out. so, to all you adrenaline junkies out there, take it from me... add rafting the Nile to the top of your list. its well worth it!