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still alive, but what about Yossi? You might have drowned. You might have broken a leg or a rib. I didn't want to think about it. You hadn't drowned. You had certainly been swept along with the raft and made it to Rurrenabaque.

'We left in the morning of the eighth day on a trip that the raftsmen said would take a day and a half. It was pouring rain and very cold on the raft. The balseros decided to pull over to the side and look for some kind of shelter from the rain, though we were drenched anyway.

"‘Let's go on,’ I begged them.

“‘We won't get any farther than Santa Rosa today in any case and will spend the night there. So there's no reason to be in such a big hurry,” one of them replied.

‘We did finally set out again and arrived in Santa Rosa that afternoon. There was a group of thirteen young men there, who were very kind and friendly and got my spirits up. They were maintenance men, getting a summer camp ready for French tourists. We decided to spend the night there.

‘The next morning I counted off the ninth day. The two balseros and I were once again on the river. By now I no longer deluded myself that I would find you in Rurrenabaque. My two raftsmen, who were experienced professionals, had a difficult time manoeuvring the raft through the treacherous passes. It was obvious that you wouldn't have been able to do it on your own.