NILE RIVER RAFTING

Rafting the River- 19 July 2008

We woke up early to make it to the taxi yard of Lugazi by 8, which is when we were scheduled for pickup. The shuttle transported our group of nine to the nearby town of Jinja, which is known as the adventure capital of East Africa. Knots were in my stomach the entire trip, but I tried to push any nervous thoughts aside and think only of the adventure that was to come.

The Nile River is known for being one of the top rafting trips in the entire world. It consists of 5 hours covering 12 rapids, with 4 of them being Class V- the highest level still considered “suriveable”. Our group split into smaller groups and my boat ended up with James B, James T, Mallory, Ashley W, 2 college guys from Oregon, an old French-man (we’re talkin 60 year old Jacques-Costeau style man), and our Ugandan river guide- Charlie. Much to the dismay of Ashley and I, the 4 macho men up front requested a “super crazy” ride from Charlie and said they wanted it as crazy as possible. Not wanting to be the baby in the back, I cringed and sucked it up, and we departed down the river.

Within seconds of hitting the first rapid, I was hooked!!! Hitting the rapids was such a rush, and the feeling of victory when we didn’t capsize by the end of the chaos was amazzzzzing! We all cheered and felt the exhilaration of roaring water running through our veins, and we were immediately pumped for the next one. The rest of the day continued along the same format, with us ramming into the huge waves and falling off the giant waterfalls, only to be even more elated when we realized we made it across all the rapids and were still alive! The raft the rest of our friends were in had the tendency to flip a LOT (as in all but one), but somehow we made it through all of them unscathed.

After a bit of an accident involving Ashely’s oar ramming our guide Charlie in the mouth and a concussion, we got a new guide who was a little less forgiving. He decided it was time for us to get flipped, and promised we wouldn’t make it past the next rapid. We were all prepared to hold our breath, and he even warned us which side we would be tipping to. We hit the rapids, teetered back and forth, and all braced for a few scary seconds underwater. I watched everyone fly off one by one, felt myself fly into the air, and braced for the worst. Miraculously, I landed right back on the boat, and had somehow saved myself with my clinging grip. Only the guide, the French-man, and myself were left on the boat, and judging by the terrified faces of the rest of my raft, I was VERY glad I had not experienced the near-drowning adventure.

Merely the sight of the last rapid is enough to make you cringe. It is several hundred meters long, with a crazy whirlpool at the end. The group who went last month got caught under the whirlpool and all admitted they thought they were going to die for sure. We cascaded down the rapids and dropped into the whirlpool zone in a matter of seconds. With everyone still on board, the boat got caught in the whirlpool and started spinning like crazy! One by one, people were sucked out by the momentum, followed by a waterfall crashing down on them. I watched as all of my friends were spat from the boat, yet I continued to hold on for dear life! The boat turned in every direction, including COMPLETELY vertical, and I was practically standing up. After what seemed like an eternity, the whirlpool pushed our entire boat back down the river, and to my astonishment, I was still on the boat, and still alive! The only ones left on the boat were Moses- our guide, Mallory, and me. We jumped up and down for victory, and were mostly just happy that we didn't share the near-drowning experience with the rest of the boat.

So overall, my rafting adventure was a GREAT one and I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Somehow I was the only one on the boat, and in our group for that matter, who never fell out. I am also officially hooked to white water rafting. There is something about being surrounded by roaring water and feeling like its running through your veins, and then conquering each rapid, that really gets my adrenalin pumping. That night we slept in a fantastic hostel and got loads of free Fanta, and a hot shower. Working hard during the week is SO worth it, especially when it is followed by fantastic weekends like this one!