“Is that a crocodile???”

I was getting ready to go white water rafting at the source of the Nile River in Uganda. It was one of those things that you have to do just because you are there. And I was terrified that I would get eaten by a crocodile.

My guide looked at what I was pointing out and he confirmed that it was a monitor lizard. A SIX FOOT monitor lizard, which just happened to look very much like a crocodile to my untrained eye. I didn’t ask if it would want to eat me; I didn’t want to know.

Our guide welcomed the handful of tourists who had signed up for the half-day adventure. There were few instructions other than try to paddle when you could. Fortunately, the river didn’t look very wild so I was hopeful that it would be a rather calm jaunt down the river. About five minutes into the ride, our guide intentionally flipped the boat. He wanted to get us all used to being wet. I was scared to death. I tucked my feet up and, since I had a life vest on, I tried to bob over to the raft, which looked very far away.

Suddenly, I went down. I was under the water. I couldn’t seem to get my head above the surface and I didn’t know why. I was too panicked to understand what was happening. I was just desperate for air. And then I got stuck in one of those underwater whirlpools and I was getting twirled around and around. I honestly don’t know how I did it, but I managed to pull myself out and reach the water’s surface, gasping for air. I saw the raft and started swimming towards it as fast as I could go.

When I got to the raft, another woman was in the water holding onto the side, saying, “I’m so sorry!” And the guide barked back at her, “Don’t apologize to me! Apologize to her!” and he pointed at me. She and I were both still in the water hanging on to the side of the raft. She turned to me and said, “I’m so sorry. I can’t swim. When I came up behind you, I panicked and pushed you down.” At this point, I didn’t care what had happened. I just looked at the guide and pleaded, “Just get me back in the raft!” And as the guide pulled me into the raft, my right-hand pointer fingernail got caught on the side of the raft and bent all the way backwards. The pain was immediate and intense. I was able to put the nail back in place, but I could barely hang on to the paddle because the agony was extreme. And I was worried. While not as bad as in other countries, the Nile River is still incredibly polluted in Uganda. Not wanting to create a scene, I didn’t say anything to the raft guide. The remainder of the trip down the river was uneventful. When I finally got back to my belongings, I immediately pulled out my first aid kit and doused my finger in antibacterial ointments and Band-Aids. I got a ride to the airport because I was heading back to the States that night. I remember getting on the plane and taking TWO Ambien to try and knock myself out. I was in so much pain, I still couldn’t sleep. It was a long flight to Amsterdam. I had a several hour layover at the airport. I found a cyber café and pecked out a message to my family saying that I was going to have to go to Urgent Care as soon as they picked me up stateside.

And that is exactly what I did: I landed at Dulles airport and went straight to Urgent Care. All of us could see the infection starting to work its way down my finger. Fortunately, they pumped me up with penicillin and after a few weeks, my finger was 100% back to normal.

So what are the business lessons here? First, be prepared. If I hadn’t had a first aid kit with me, the consequences could have been much worse. Second, communicate. I made it very clear that I needed to get to urgent care ASAP. Third, don’t let a little fear stop you from trying something new. I did a half-day rafting trip because I knew I wasn’t ready for a full-day adventure. Thus, it’s okay to start small, much like a pilot program. And lastly, for the sake of others, take swimming lessons!