Today I lost my keys. All of them. I lost them at the
rafting club in El-Hermel, and I only realized that when I was 3 hours away,
down at the National Museum. I had to leave my car there, take a cab, then a
van, then walk another 20 min just to reach home. IT. WAS. THE. WORST. DAY.
EVER.
Okay, not really :P
I did lose my keys, I did get so upset and angry, and I did
do all the above, but despite all that, my day was BEYOND AWESOMENESS.
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| We, the Red Team, having the Time of our Lives | Photography by Mahmoud Ghalayini |
It is the first time I and many of the group I was with go
rafting. After running into the marvelous Harley Davidson motorcycles (I know
this has nothing to do with anything, but they were there, and we all took
pictures of them), we wore our life jackets and helmets, we picked our rafting
paddles, we were given a few (well actually a lot of) instructions and safety
precautions (seemed very complicated and hard to remember at first – and
foreshadowed a very dangerous journey ahead of us) and we were set to go.
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| The Random Harley Davidson motorcycles we ran across | Photography by Alaa Kabalan |
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| Holding up our gear | Photography by Mahmoud Ghalayini |
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| Getting instructions - Learning how to duck | Photography by Mahmoud Ghalayini |
GO. Right GO. Left GO. STOP (we kept going, stopping just
after getting splashed with water by our guide). GO. Left BACK. DUCK. BRIDGE.
TREE. WATERFALL.
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| The blue Team down a small waterfall | Photography by Mahmoud Ghalayini |
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| The Blue Team down the final waterfall | Photography by Mahmoud Ghalayini |
The guide kept yelling at us. And a few minutes of this, we
registered all the terminologies (that I already forgot by now), and followed
the orders of the guide of our red raft.
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| We, the Red Team, after successfully following orders | Photography by Mahmoud Ghalayini |
At points the river carried us through its peaceful yet
strong-drift water, permitting us to contemplate the breath-taking beauty
surrounding us (interrupted by the man-made pollution dispersed here and
there), and at other points we harmoniously paddled increasing our speed in the
river or avoiding impact with obstacles spread along the way. (I broke that
harmony many times though, getting too carried away and paddling faster or
stronger than needed, forcing the guide to exert more power to correct the
steering of the raft)
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| Ghalayini in an artistic shot, and the Yellow Team drifted by the river | Photography by Mahmoud Ghalayini |
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| The Blue Team making a turn | Photography by Mahmoud Ghalayini |
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| Mohammad, our guide, regulating the steering of our raft | Photography by Mahmoud Ghalayini |
Our guide, Mohammad, is worth mentioning. He was hilarious.
He threw jokes and funny comments throughout the journey. He, the river, and
the marvelous experience we had made the 7-km trail, pass as if the 2-hour trip
was just a few minutes long.
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| and we had lunch after 2 hours of rafting | Photography by Alaa Kabalan |
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| and like usual, we had the chance to meet new people | Photography by Alaa Kabalan |
Thank you Footprints Nature Club for taking us in yet
another adventure, discovering the Lebanese nature, a beauty concealed from us
by the daily political conflicts Lebanon encounters.
Until we reunite again in another adventure.
