Drowning in the Okavango Delta – Botswana

There we are backpacking for 5-1/2 days, same trip as I mentioned in my first blogging post, July 17 – My First Foray Into the Blogging World. Three bush-savvy guys, a Jack Russell, and me.

By Day Four, I have 3 blisters on my left foot and 5 blisters on my right foot, and don't forget the heat rash on every square inch of skin. In front of us is a papyrus bed on top of about 2 feet of mud and 2 inches of water. We start crossing this single file. Two guys are in front, one with the dog on top of his backpack, then me, then Mike.

Here's how you cross a papyrus swamp. You take a step, your foot sinks into the mud till it hits solid ground. The muck swallows your leg to mid-thigh, leaving just enough room to swing your other leg a foot farther into the papyrus. In order to take the next step, it requires you to pull your first leg free from the suck of the mud. Repeat this process with 35 pounds on your back till you are completely worn out and decide to die right there.

Resting with both legs mired, I start playing with some options. Rescue helicopter is out. OK, how about crawling, spreading my weight out on my hands and shins? That's working pretty well, about the same speed as slogging upright. I don't want to look to see if Mike is becoming impatient, as the other guys are several yards ahead of us by now. I figure to get to dry land by nightfall.

Of course, the unforeseeable happens. At the same time, both of my arms go into the leg-holes the other two guys had made in the mud, my backpack slides to the back of my head, forcing my face into the water. I have no leverage, arms buried to the shoulder, 35 pounds holding my head down, my butt in the air, I can't breathe. I really am going to die here – ignominiously.

Mike comes to the rescue, pulling me up by my backpack. It became very clear to me how life can change in a nanosecond, without any input from me; in fact, without warning or approval.

I slept extremely well that night. I love Africa – life and death in the same day – well, near death.