The River Nile and White Water Rafting

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After chickening out on Saturday, I got the courage to take my sprained ankle with me for a half day of white water rafting. So this morning I was picked up at the Blue Mango, said goodbye to my new friend from the US and headed to the Source of the Nile with 7 strangers who I would later get to know very well. It's funny how a little fear or struggling can make a bond form quicker than time can sometimes.

So one the way to Jinga, where the rafting begins, we stopped at a lovely bakery and had some really delicious crossaints. Not sure if they were so good because I wasn't sure if I'd make it back from rafting in one peice or because I hadn't had one in several months. I sound like such a wuss even to myself right now, but truly was it really warranted. My ankle was still quite big since Kili and I had just sat in a salon for hours getting my natural hair straightened. I mean for anyone with natural hair you can understand not wanting to get wet. I mean the stories my roommates told me of rafting the Nile and being underwater more than in the raft were not helping either. So enough for the wussines, I sucked it up and said gotta make the most of it. I mean how many chances does a student from the US get to raft the Grade 3 to 5 rapids of the the River Nile?

On the trip with me was a couple from Amsterdam (one working a temp job in Uganda and the other on Holiday), a couple who worked together and lived in Kampala for over a year, and 3 students from NY. Small world again- one of the students was also a medical student, but man, her travel resume made mine seem like child's play!

So after prepping at the site with our sunblock, lifevest, helmet and paddle we were off to board our raft just upstream from the first rapid.

The first 20 minutes was all about educating us on the signs and signals our guide we us leading us downstream. She took a poll to see who wanted the raft to flip and who wanted to try to stay in the boat. Apparently there are people whose idea of a good trip is falling into the river at every rapid. I was like that's for the birds. For me the challenge was satying in the boat and conquering the rough water. It seemed like my thoughts were also that of the majority, but it was okay because the lone person who wanted to hit the water had ample opportunities to go under as we went down. So just as I'm feeling good knowing that we going to try to stay in the boat, the guide says "Okay now it's time for some 'drills'! I didn't realize the drills required us to intentionally flip the raft. I was quite a scary thing really. that's at least until we actually flipped it. Here advice to hold on tthe ropes and duck when the boat flips worked. None of us got hit in the head and we all popped back up. Eventually! Except for a lost paddle everyone and everything was accounted for.

After all the apprehension, the day wasn't so bad. Actually, it was quite awesome. We made it through 7 rapids and 4 grade 5's.

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