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Published: October 8th 2007
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Next up, Whitley flew back to Australia and we set off to Uganda to go kayaking on the Nile at Jinja. We did a seven day, beginner’s course, which involved instruction in basic kayaking skills and rolling the kayak when you flipped over the water. Justin picked up the rolling very quickly and even managed to right himself in the rapids at one point. Unfortunately as soon as he got back upright he flipped over again and had to bail out of his kayak and then nearly got swept down into grade 4 rapids.
We had a really good instructor, Jared, who came from Canada and had been teaching kayaking around the world for seven years. He was good for two reasons. One, he was a very good teacher; two, he used ridiculous words like ‘sweet’ and ‘gnarly’.
I was a bit unusual for a beginner kayaker in that I wasn’t interested in doing any of the paddling or other important things, I just wanted to go over the big rapids (although we only got up to grade two rapids while kayaking). Fortunately, due to my low centre of gravity (thank you short parentals), I had pretty good balance
and hardly flipped going over in the rapids. This caused our instructor to get very excited and at one point he said to me, ‘Brigid man, you’re frickin’ stylin’ man!’
We also spent a day white-water rafting, which involved going over grade 4 and 5 rapids. I won’t repeat what I said when I saw first big rapid. Most of the day (we’ve got a very good dvd of it) was excellent, apart from when we fell out. The first time we tipped the raft I got stuck under the boat. I would rate it in my top ten most unpleasant experiences. Between trying to breathe as the waves kept coming over, it took me a long time to realise that I actually needed to get myself out from under the boat… I’m not the brightest person on occasions.
Our guide was very encouraging: he said things like, ‘WHEN we fall out on this rapid, you need to keep hold of the boat, otherwise you’ll get stuck under the water for a very long time...” and “this is the only place on the river where anyone has needed CPR… do NOT fall out here.” He also told us
he’d only been a guide for a couple of months, when he’d actually been doing it for 7 or 8 years.
We also watched some of the very skilled guides and other kayakers go over ridiculously large grade 6 rapids (including the one which the rafting trip gets out and walks around, instead of going over). Was fairly impressive! But the highlight of the trip would have to be when David, our assistant guide, asked Sarah to stay in Uganda and be his second wife!
Jinja was a beautiful location, but we also heard some fairly disturbing stories about the area during the time of Idi Amin’s reign. For example, the spot on the river where we learnt the basics on the first couple of days was where they used to dispose of bodies, by throwing them off the top of the cliff into the river (to the waiting crocodiles). One of the crew members who carried our kayaks was also quite high up in the military during this time. Apparently he is now an alcoholic and is very traumatised.
Anyway…
So it was an excellent three weeks! We spent the usual amount of time
Say no to sugar daddies...
Anti-HIV campaign in Uganda sitting around at airports waiting for late/cancelled planes. I would hate to know how many hours we’ve waited for in the last six months.
And now it’s back to the real (or not so real) world of Kilifi for two months or so. I’ve been enjoying not doing extreme sports/activities, after three weeks of action, although the kids are fairly full-on sometimes! Did get a very nice welcome back from them (except for one of the asking me if I had a baby, because I apparently have quite a fat belly!).
Looks like we’ll have to leave the country briefly in a couple of weeks, because of visa restrictions: Tourist visas expire after six months, and (due to how quickly things get done over here) my work visa hasn’t come through yet. Unfortunately, going to Uganda or Tanzania doesn’t count as leaving the country, as they are considered part of east Africa for visa purposes, so we’ll head off to Rwanda for a long weekend. This is probably not a bad thing, given how restless Katherine and I have been all week.
Ok, das ist alles.
Sorry this was such a massive update. Well done to anyone
who got through it all.
Peace out rafiki.
Xo
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Justin
non-member comment
youtube link to video of Jared running Itanda Falls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPBl913Js8s Class 6 rapid... video doesn't do it justice