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Published: February 9th 2009
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Rafting
Arriving at Adrift Camp Yes we made it.
I am writing this from the safety of my office after the weekend's most thrilling adventure.
Yes We went rafting on the Nile and we all made it scot free and we loved it.
We started the day very early. The five us four of whom were to hit the waters. We arrived 45 minutes to time and the guys of Adrift were waiting for us.
the four of us chatted to the guide Clarkey and signed the papers signing off our rights to the river. Its a legal form which they insist on signing so the company Adrift is not held liable for anything that happens on the river. Some kind of indemnity form.
I put pen to paper and the other guys followed suit. We were ready to go but the team was not complete. our other guys the three were yet to come around. we had to wait for them.
After two hours of waiting we received our final briefing before and put on our float jackets and crash helmets, took the pictures and then off we went. down the hill on a paved road until we reached the water. Team Tutu
the gear
getting the gear on that's the team we were put in after our fellow Ugandans failed to show up.
Originally we were to be Team Uganda but were only four so we had Tutu our guide and another guy called Roster from the US as the co-guide.
Tutu took us through the basics of paddling. forward paddle and back paddle and the calls he will be making as we go along on our adventure.
The guide said the first raft was a walk over. it was too small but it scared us to bits. more than the other rafts ahead. I think because it was the first we were hitting.
It took less than five seconds and we were safe on the open waters. then we did some practice on how to handle situations like if the raft flips in a big wave.
We took out first dip in the water and Bob one of the guys who had never taken a swim even in a small pond found himself in the middle of the river and he was surprised at how easy it was for him.
Next up was the easy rider rapid. It was roaring big time.
Excitement
Landa shouts in anticipation and a bit scary. But we were all warmed up for it or lets say we were all wet and ready for the next rapid. we smashed into it.
It was heavy and bad. it smashed us and lifted us into the air. the raft was pushed to one side and we were hanging on by the ropes on the raft. luckily we stabilized the raft and avoided an early flip. we were safe and all wet and thrilled.
We screamed at the camera crew and floated along and waited for the other rafts to make the easy rider.
Then came Bujagali falls. class 5 and very big waves. there is a section which they don't allow people to surf unless on their own. but we hit the other big one and sailed through it. here my heart stopped beating for a second or two as we hit the waves. there was one big one which came to at us and splattered the raft so hard i knew it would be deflated. but those rafts are strong as the people who go on them. We were safe again and we sailed down and into another section of calmer
Team Tutu
Rooster, Myselt, Landa, Bob and Isaiah. Squatting is Chief Rafter Tutu waters.
We took a swim in the open river and and floated away before we went back into the raft and before we were actually ready we hit big brother
This one was too big and too freaky. It hit us so bad and took us on a ride. The call for us to get down came from Tutu and we hit the bottom and that was it. our raft was in the air before another big wave slammed into us. I heard Isaiah call out Jesus's name. then I realized I was out of the raft but my right leg was still in the board. my leg had got caught in the inner floaters and if I had not kept on holding onto the road I was going to be dragged down stream by raft pulling my leg which was not an ideal situation.
I kept holding onto the rope attached onto the raft and then the other guys still in the raft pulled me back into the raft.
Once on the raft I realized that Bob had been swept away. I did not have time to get scared because I looked back and I saw him smiling hanging by a Kayak as the Kayaker guided him to the safety raft.
Big Brother was the last big one before lunch and I was surprised lunch was ready. It was like we had just gotten started.
Lunch was fantastic and our guide Tutu advised us to take in much food as we will need energy after lunch.
The Ham and bacon was delicious as was the fruits. The Pineapples were fantastic as was the Avocados.
We rested for about an hour and then we were ready to hit the river again.
The next rapids were Overtime and Retrospect and they were tricky ones. Tutu told us to be careful with these ones as they are shallow with rocks near the surface of the water. We were told to put lift our legs if we fall off the raft.
Luckily no one fell off the raft despite the heavy waves. the excitement on these rapids was that we got stuck and for like a minute we were in the middle of the rapid and our raft was stuck on a rock. That was scary. Its when you are hankering down on an inflated raft in the middle of a rapid with water gushing down at 45kmh. That was scary.
Tutu made a call for us to bounce and paddle and after some minutes we broke free and the water blew us away. the fall from the rock was so heavy a giant wave of like seven feet slammed into our raft and made us all wet.
The next rapid. Bubugo claimed me. It hit us too bad and the raft capsized and i re-emerged from the water and found myself under the raft. I remembered what Tutu told us when in such situations and i pushed the raft away and I saw light again and in no minute a kayak man was calling on me to grab on his boat. He led me to our boat which was still upside down and Tutu and Rooster wee trying to flip it back on its belly.
I tried to grab on the rope and i failed and i was in the water again. but thats why they have kayakers. another one was on hand to lead me to the safety boat and i was safe.
I had had my moment in the washing machine and I was thrilled. As we floated along the river we realized that everyone had had his day in the washing machine and been rescued by the support staff.
Which is part of the thrill we were looking for.
The next was Itanda and the bad place. Tutu told us about it and we all freaked out. we asked for the softer experience. Isaiah wanted more thrill so he went to another raft to get his flip. they went first but did not flip as they avoided the bad side. The next raft hit the big wave and flipped, we followed next and avoided the flip after hitting the same wave as the first raft.
We paddled against the current to finally reach the shore and disembarked and we were on dray land. Our adventure was over and we were received by bottles of cold beer. it was so much that we had it to our fill. We drove back to camp and our friends waiting for us since the morning were relieved.
More beers for the night and then there was the DVD show and the video was so action packed I realized if I had watched the video I would have freaked out. Luckily we were the stars of the video and we made too much noise those who had missed the trip felt guilty.
Will I do it again? Yes and I will before the end of the year.
CHECK LATER FOR RAFTING ACTION PICTURES
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Philippa Atuhairwe
non-member comment
Crazy
wow, what an experience u guys had!!!! this is one of the things I should definitely do before this year ends. I'd like to feel the adrenaline rush through me and feel the goose bumps as I see the waves. thx for sharing ur experience with us