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Published: March 26th 2016
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Our view of the Nile from the patioWoke up lazily; as I wasn’t sleeping that deeply unfortunately, and got up had a quick rinse and went for breakfast. The coffee was decent, breakfast yummy and Sahara and I sat there (all the other girls had gone white water rafting already) and were just ‘in the moment’, where so many of us long to be. Looked at our watches to see that it was already 9:05 (we were to meet the kayakers at 9) and went “Meh, African time” and finished our coffee overlooking the scenery of the Nile river before sauntering over to the starting point.
We met Abraham our guide, Sahara was going Stand Up Paddle Boarding (SUP) and I was kayaking as each of us loved those 2 sports, and we could work together speed wise. Got down to the dock, the area is dammed and the water level was quite low so we had to very gingerly and carefully step down into our water vehicles for fear of wiping out (not me!) on the super slimy steps. All 3 of us got settled and we went out onto the calm quiet Nile and began our journey.
What a wonderful
Ned kayaking and Sahara SUP'ing along the Nile morning we had, other than the eddy that almost took Sahara far, far away! On the kayak it was a bit easier to drive through it but the SUP just floats on it and she started spinning in this slow circle wandering off into the netherworld of the Nile. I was trying not to laugh but realized she was laughing so that made me laugh even harder. Abraham and I went back to where Sahara was, and Abraham (our guide) ended up having her lie flat on her paddle board, hang onto his kayak and he paddled her through the worst of it. Lots of hard work for him for sure and even I had a bit of a challenge a couple times in the flow of the river but watching Sahara hang onto him for a 'free ride' was entertaining.
We stopped along a bank where many people were buried during the genocide between 1972-1985, there is a mystical tree that legend has it can’t be cut down. This spot along the Nile was used for a mass murder from the president in the early 70’s who believed educated people were unhealthy for the society he
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Local wildlife was trying to build (reminded me of Pol Pot from Cambodia) and had multiple people killed. Years later when they were clearing the land for other reasons, this one particular tree (apparently) can not be cut or burnt down, so now has quite the legend attached to it that it is protecting the lost souls.
Had a lovely kayak/SUP morning of a couple hours then headed back, showered in these awesome ‘outdoor with a view' showers that had themes such as Overlander (whee a massive watering bucket was the faucet), waterfall where (you guessed it) the faucet was layers of rock that the water came out of. Super awesome watching the Nile with fresh cool (ok COLD) shower. Heaven!
The rest of the afternoon became a battle of heat vs white Canadian girls, and the heat won. We were lethargic, lazy, napped, had lunch and just chilled out until the weather got a bit more manageable (not that I’m complaining). The group came back from river cruising and they all looked utterly wiped! Lots of stories to tell, some epic wipe outs, lots of laughs and new shared memories created and Jodaye almost died. Several times :-) All
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Scenery from our launch point told it was a fabulous afternoon for everyone and after showers we all went up to the treetop lookout to enjoy the view with a cold beverage and swap stories.
Early night for most; lots of exhausted post rafting faces disappeared early; and I found myself ready to crawl into bed and enjoy my book. Another blessed day in Africa; how did I get so lucky?
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