“The best thing I’ve ever done in my life!” You’ve probably heard this exclamation many times from people who’ve done a Grand Canyon rafting trip. I imagine that you have an idea in your mind of what their trip must have been like – the stupendous scenery, wet and wild rapids, good food, and fresh air. But you probably wonder if all that is why so many people come back in a daze. Or is it something else? Is some kind of river Kool-Aid still circulating through their blood stream? Do they have a touch of dehydration?
I’ll tell you the secret . . . it’s not the big fun rapids and the glorious scenery and it’s not a special river cocktail. The thing that most people are not expecting when they start a raft trip through the Canyon and the thing that keeps them clinging to cloud 9 after the trip is over is going tribal!
A river trip is a natural homecoming to the very basics of human nature – the simple tribal way. Most people have no idea that this is the secret to happiness, the thing that money can’t buy; the tribal way is that extra something they’re missing in their every day lives. In this world of 3-G networks, life coaches, and mocha lattes, going tribal is the enlightening experience most folks have never had, but secretly long for.
Now . . . you may have your doubts, having run into some schmuck on the subway or had some jerk text through an entire movie you’d been waiting to see for 3 months. With those recent slights of strangers in the forefront of your mind, you may be asking yourself, “Probability proves, that going tribal can’t happen every time; what if I don’t like the other people on the trip? What if I get stuck on a trip with people I’d never associate with in my life?” I can tell you this, it will not matter. That’s where the magic of Grand Canyon, yes I said magic, comes into play. When the cliff walls are towering thousands of feet above you, all of that angst and those preconceived worries wash away like sour vinegar in the raging waters of the notorious Lava Falls Rapid.
While considering this epic endeavor, you may feel as if you are about to be set adrift in a lifeboat on a vast open sea, but once you’re on the trip you’ll find the guides will alleviate your fears of the unknown. They live up to every possible meaning of their job title as they guide you through the Canyon, through the rapids, through history, and through the “getting to know you” process. In their confident, capable, and knowledgeable hands, soon everyone is looking out for one another; whether it’s helping to put up each others tents in a windstorm, lending a hand to the one behind you on a hike, or just making sure each others life-jackets are tight before going through the rapids. You quickly realize that your fellow traveler is going to be there to help pull you out of the water should you fall in and that you will do your best to help them if they go overboard.
Your mind and body do not respond rapidly (no pun intended) to the realization that you are at one with nature. It takes a few days to revel in your disconnectedness and sink into the rhythm of simple river life. All alone, a mile within the earth, at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, your group of rafters must work as a team to deal with being exposed to the elements 24/7. Then, after the oddities of not having to flip a light switch, flush a toilet, or answer a phone have melted away, it happens . . . you’ve become a close knit group, a team, a tribe.
Soon after this bond is formed, you begin playing with the idea of never returning to your cubicle again. You’ve finally found that freedom you’ve been looking for!
By the end of a Grand Canyon rafting trip, people who have started out as strangers have often become friends for life and every time they check in with one another, the tribal bond flares as they recall that truly unique experience they shared.
By Sharon Hester (edited by Megan Prescott)
