the mighty zambezi

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i decided to voluntarily risk my life yesterday - and raft one of the biggest/baddest rivers in the world - the zambezi. okay, maybe it's not the baddest, but class 5 rapids classify as pretty scary for me. and when the guide (with 13 years experience on the river) warns you not to fall out on a certain rapid, you tend to listen and take him seriously.

everyone in the house at mambo decided to raft yesterday, a few had gone the week before and loved it so much they were back for more punishment. so saturday was my potential date with death, and the two hours of sleep i had the night before upped the potential, nor did it inspire a lot of confidence to find a few of the guides drinking at the local bar (but the recovery time for simba has to be a record - incomprehensible to sober in about 3 hours)

after a hike down to the boiling pot, everyone climbed in and got down to business. apparently i had a "i feel like i'm going to throw up" look on my face for most of the morning, i was having fun but also wanted to survive. the first rapid did not go well - it took us three tries to actually get through it (you set out in the middle of the rapid, and we didn't have quite enough power to actually get enough into the current to get past it) so the first few rapids were uneventful - HUGE but no one flipped. all of us went for the "oh shit" line (the guide's words, not mine) every single time - the waves were amazing. rapid 4.5 - steve flipped us on purpose for not paddling together - so we learned our lesson there. rapid 8 - you get a choice, either KFC (for chicken) or manga, which is a GINORMOUS wave. we went big. flipped big. swam the entire rapid. i got pounded head first down into the water, flipped head over heels for a few seconds then popped back up. a kayaker rescued me and took me down the rest of the rapids - it was super intense but so much fun. the wave was seriously HUGE and it was a completely honest flip. we walked rapid 9, class 6, then one more before lunch. after lunch the rapids weren't quite as big but maybe more dangerous - rapid 13 you do not fall out - if you do, it's likely that you won't come out. they're either huge holes or whirlpools that just suck you under and keep you under long enough to do real damage. after the dangerous ones it got mellow so it was play time in the zambezi - saw a few crocodiles but no hippos, not that i actually saw the crocodiles - no glasses, but i was told they were there. i think it was actually better that i didn't have my glasses - less to be afraid of when i went through a rapid - i couldn't see how huge the hole/wave/drop was until we were in it, and then there's no time to be afraid. but yeah, yesterday was awesome - and even better since i survived.

so the rest of the week was good as well - tried munago - african chewing gum (a seed pod that you chew until it's just fiber, sweet tasting), had a barbeque at rapid 7, on a cliff, in the dark.... rode in the back of an open top jeep on super bumby roads - one of those things i would never do in america, but here it's perfectly normal (don't worry, not dangerous at all 😊 ) watched two babies be born. i had a night shift on thursday - catherine was giving birth to her first child. so i read and waited with her until she was ready to give birth. it was an intense experience - i can't believe that there are no drugs at all, and the moms are expected to be quiet. she was very strong - i was fine with the birth, but the nurse had to cut her and that was hard to watch - i can't imagine how painful that was without any anesthetic - and being stitched without anything - i was very impressed by how stoic she was. she had a perfect little girl - and was gone from the clinic by the time i got back in the morning - 6 hours and they're out.

and thursday i was in charge of baby-weighing - which was stressful - 150 moms and i had to figure out which vaccines were needed (and the nurse telling me at first that BCG and measles were available, then wait, no BCG, then now there's polio available and i have to write everything in the book and why am i not going faster - oh wait, i don't speak nyanja or lozi or tonga or bemba) and registering babies and this and that...it was crazy!

ah, then church today - norman wanted me to preach - and i think he actually was half serious - right. so then at the end they have a time of prophecying and interpretation - this is going on in shona and nyanja - at which point they realize no one is translating for me so the whole service is stopped for brave to translate, then the service was going kind of long, so one of the elders said that they should stop on account of me - i guess they thought if they went over (which doens't even make sense, because it's a very organic service) then i wouldn't come back next week - so i had to say no, it was fine. but it was good - just a bit hot.

that's all for now, i'll try to remember more and write again later this week. my apologies for not anwering emails - hotmail isn't working so i can't check it.

tiza-o-nana
kristin

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Comments

[Antonia]

reading from you brightens my day
hello lovely one, I am glad to hear of all your crazy adventures... it sounds scary, and amazing, and freaky, and beautiful, and gross, and unbelievable all at the same time! ... my heart and love is with you - I think of you often, and fondly; look at the pics of the puppies, and that pic of you, Jeff and me at death valley (quite old, but beloved ;). News: I booked my flight on friday for syndey. I will be there for almost two weeks, incl. NYE, then off to singapore for three days, then to London and then back to Munich. costs a fortune, but I cannot wait to start the trip... you know me!! anyways, be up for more. grow, laugh, and remember we all love and miss you terribly much (no doubt!) who's gonna ride your wild horses ... LOVE: toni.