Bo

Here we are! Just downstream of the Rat Falls. From here onward, the river is mostly calm, with very few rapids. There’s only one where we will need to be careful. We’ll come across it in three days, but by then, you will all be pros!

Ré

Flo too! Yes! Who will believe it in the city: “Flo, a canoe pro!”

Ki

For sure, it’ll make the news!

Mi

Bo, why is it called the “Rat Falls”?

Bo

In this region’s mythology, it is told that during the great pandemic, thousands of rats fell from the falls, and the sick people isolating here fed on them.

Mi

And people believe this?

Ré

People need such stories to build a collective identity.

Ki

Whether true or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s a reality in people's minds. That’s all that matters.

Flo

OK, so we will be paddling down a river that thousands of rats swam down a hundred years ago ...

Bo

We will be paddling on it for the next five days. The car is probably already at Golfe Beach. We’re all alone with the river now.

Ré

And as a team, we will help each other make this adventure an extraordinary one. But, damn, the water is cold!

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