An adventure on the Nile
It was a ride of a lifetime as I and a group of friends went the whole nine yards, rafting in the River Nile's mighty rapids. I had for long been planning of one thing to accomplish; a lifetime opportunity of 45 kilometres of fantastic sport full of fun and one of the most exhilarating roller-coaster rides of my life.
Uganda adventures are really a life-changing experience and the mighty rapids of the Nile River are probably the world's best rapids. I and my friends called The Adrift, the company in charge of rafting, to inquire what the cost and essentials were; we were told we needed a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and the spirit of adventure. So we made the necessary arrangements and when the rafting day came, we were driven down to the Adrift Camp at Jinja Nile Resort.
At 9:00 a.m, we gathered and we were given our gear. I was taken aback when the guide gave me the oar. My friend laughed out aloud and asked if I thought the rafting was a beauty contest on the Nile. Why was I shocked? It was because I thought we would sit back and enjoy the ride while others rowed the dingy. We put on our gear; helmet, life jacket and sun screen cream, and we were told to walk down to the edge of the River. The adrenalin began to build up while in the background, I could hear people jumping off the bungee.
The raft was ready when we reached the River, we climbed in and were told to row to the middle of the River where the guide ordered us to jump into the water. I will never forget my friend's expression when she asked, "Which water?" And the guide answered, "Which water do you see?" Meanwhile, the flow of the River was powerful and then it dawned onto us the kind of adventure we were getting ourselves into. We jumped into the River and the guide started giving us life saving lessons on what we would do incase: the raft flipped over, how we were to row at the rapids, how to get down when ascending the rapids, and how to row. There were many lessons and I kept asking myself if we could remember them all!
Our trip started on the rocky waterfall rapids: Overtime, Retrospect, Bubogo, the famous Itanda falls and the bad place; all Grade-three rapids. When we reached The Bujagali Dam, we had to wait a few minutes as each group was given a lesson on how we had to safely raft through this Grade-five rapid. We were cautioned to look to the left while we rolled with all our mighty as if the rapid pushed us slightly away from our target. If we flipped over, we could have serious injuries due to the protruding rock that had been exposed due to the rapids. I do not know what to call that feeling after we had successfully gone over it, neither can I put a finger to it, but it was exhilarating, yet awesome. That is how Uganda safarisare!
After a floating lunch at the Island, we carried on into Vengeance rapid; two huge wave trains: The Hair of Dog which splits into multiple jungle islands after you are through the foaming white water, and The Kulu Shaker is a mighty S-bend where you have to thread between holes and rock island. The scenery was fantastic, time and again; I had to pinch myself to believe this is for real. While on the calm water, we were ordered to jump into the water and swim, this would prevent us from getting muscle pulls due to the long distance rowing.
My memory will always remember the Grade-five rapid; The Condolence. We did not see its sheer size but from miles away, we could hear it thundering and when we got close, our guide reminded us of the life-saving lessons we had had before. At this moment, I was not paying attention; I was dying to get close to it. When it was our turn to go and we came over the edge, it was then that I saw this white giant's power as we plunged into the rapid. My last memory of encountering the wave was the water whizzing past me, my limbs twisted like a pretzel and my face grimacing like a Halloween mask. With resignation, I let go the rope that was our only anchor to the raft.
Subconsciously, I thought this is what death must be like; a lull moment and then I felt trapped between ropes and the cascading movement was pulling me further at the bottom. Rather late to remember the life-saving lesson: lie flat on your back with hands to your stomach to avoid being injured in case there were sharp rocks at the bottom.
The life jacket finally pulled me to the top; my first encounter of consciousness was when my head was thumping the raft while I choked on the water. At that point I panicked as I was trapped between the raft seats and became claustrophobic. Then distantly, I heard a call from afar, the guide ordered us to swim away from underneath. With the speed of desperation, we swam to the side of the raft and hang on as if our life depended on it. After all of us had got to the side, the guide flipped back the raft and then the funniest part unfolded. The guide ordered us to get back to the raft as quickly as possible because if we were swept over to the next rapid, it would have spelt disaster. I failed to climb over as fear had drained all energy in me. He looked at us pitifully and began lifting us by the jacket onto the raft and within seconds, I realized my shorts felt loose.
The last rapid was called Death and it was as scary as its name. It is rated a Grade-six and we asked the guide if we could go through it. It thundered like a wounded lion and he ordered us to paddle fast and hard to get to the far right of the hill. He cautioned that if we accidentally went through that rapid which no one has ever accomplished, only pieces of our flesh would be collected from the end of it. I thought he was joking until we climbed over the hill and got down to where the raft was waiting for us, then I looked back and I froze with shock. This was the first time I had seen the front view of a rapid before we sailed onto it.
I refused to get into the raft and he advised me to begin walking and he pointed at a far distance where we were all to meet. I was too exhausted to walk, so I got onto the raft resigned to my fate. We made it through though one of us was hurled out of the raft and sucked into the rapids for a few seconds. For the first time during the ride, I noticed how the guides and kayaks rushed into panic to rescue her from the violent rapids. When we arrived at the River's bay, we found barbeque and an expert photographer who captures all the smiles and action on the camera so that the adventurers could relive the adventure for years to come. This safari was an encounter with the untamed river that left an unforgettable impact for many years to come. It was after this adventure that I realized the reason as to why all the people who have ever enjoyed Uganda tours do praise her. For she was blessed with a lot of natural tourist attractions hard to find else where in the world one of them being the mighty River Nile.
Uganda adventures are really a life-changing experience and the mighty rapids of the Nile River are probably the world's best rapids. I and my friends called The Adrift, the company in charge of rafting, to inquire what the cost and essentials were; we were told we needed a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and the spirit of adventure. So we made the necessary arrangements and when the rafting day came, we were driven down to the Adrift Camp at Jinja Nile Resort.
At 9:00 a.m, we gathered and we were given our gear. I was taken aback when the guide gave me the oar. My friend laughed out aloud and asked if I thought the rafting was a beauty contest on the Nile. Why was I shocked? It was because I thought we would sit back and enjoy the ride while others rowed the dingy. We put on our gear; helmet, life jacket and sun screen cream, and we were told to walk down to the edge of the River. The adrenalin began to build up while in the background, I could hear people jumping off the bungee.
The raft was ready when we reached the River, we climbed in and were told to row to the middle of the River where the guide ordered us to jump into the water. I will never forget my friend's expression when she asked, "Which water?" And the guide answered, "Which water do you see?" Meanwhile, the flow of the River was powerful and then it dawned onto us the kind of adventure we were getting ourselves into. We jumped into the River and the guide started giving us life saving lessons on what we would do incase: the raft flipped over, how we were to row at the rapids, how to get down when ascending the rapids, and how to row. There were many lessons and I kept asking myself if we could remember them all!
Our trip started on the rocky waterfall rapids: Overtime, Retrospect, Bubogo, the famous Itanda falls and the bad place; all Grade-three rapids. When we reached The Bujagali Dam, we had to wait a few minutes as each group was given a lesson on how we had to safely raft through this Grade-five rapid. We were cautioned to look to the left while we rolled with all our mighty as if the rapid pushed us slightly away from our target. If we flipped over, we could have serious injuries due to the protruding rock that had been exposed due to the rapids. I do not know what to call that feeling after we had successfully gone over it, neither can I put a finger to it, but it was exhilarating, yet awesome. That is how Uganda safarisare!
After a floating lunch at the Island, we carried on into Vengeance rapid; two huge wave trains: The Hair of Dog which splits into multiple jungle islands after you are through the foaming white water, and The Kulu Shaker is a mighty S-bend where you have to thread between holes and rock island. The scenery was fantastic, time and again; I had to pinch myself to believe this is for real. While on the calm water, we were ordered to jump into the water and swim, this would prevent us from getting muscle pulls due to the long distance rowing.
My memory will always remember the Grade-five rapid; The Condolence. We did not see its sheer size but from miles away, we could hear it thundering and when we got close, our guide reminded us of the life-saving lessons we had had before. At this moment, I was not paying attention; I was dying to get close to it. When it was our turn to go and we came over the edge, it was then that I saw this white giant's power as we plunged into the rapid. My last memory of encountering the wave was the water whizzing past me, my limbs twisted like a pretzel and my face grimacing like a Halloween mask. With resignation, I let go the rope that was our only anchor to the raft.
Subconsciously, I thought this is what death must be like; a lull moment and then I felt trapped between ropes and the cascading movement was pulling me further at the bottom. Rather late to remember the life-saving lesson: lie flat on your back with hands to your stomach to avoid being injured in case there were sharp rocks at the bottom.
The life jacket finally pulled me to the top; my first encounter of consciousness was when my head was thumping the raft while I choked on the water. At that point I panicked as I was trapped between the raft seats and became claustrophobic. Then distantly, I heard a call from afar, the guide ordered us to swim away from underneath. With the speed of desperation, we swam to the side of the raft and hang on as if our life depended on it. After all of us had got to the side, the guide flipped back the raft and then the funniest part unfolded. The guide ordered us to get back to the raft as quickly as possible because if we were swept over to the next rapid, it would have spelt disaster. I failed to climb over as fear had drained all energy in me. He looked at us pitifully and began lifting us by the jacket onto the raft and within seconds, I realized my shorts felt loose.
The last rapid was called Death and it was as scary as its name. It is rated a Grade-six and we asked the guide if we could go through it. It thundered like a wounded lion and he ordered us to paddle fast and hard to get to the far right of the hill. He cautioned that if we accidentally went through that rapid which no one has ever accomplished, only pieces of our flesh would be collected from the end of it. I thought he was joking until we climbed over the hill and got down to where the raft was waiting for us, then I looked back and I froze with shock. This was the first time I had seen the front view of a rapid before we sailed onto it.
I refused to get into the raft and he advised me to begin walking and he pointed at a far distance where we were all to meet. I was too exhausted to walk, so I got onto the raft resigned to my fate. We made it through though one of us was hurled out of the raft and sucked into the rapids for a few seconds. For the first time during the ride, I noticed how the guides and kayaks rushed into panic to rescue her from the violent rapids. When we arrived at the River's bay, we found barbeque and an expert photographer who captures all the smiles and action on the camera so that the adventurers could relive the adventure for years to come. This safari was an encounter with the untamed river that left an unforgettable impact for many years to come. It was after this adventure that I realized the reason as to why all the people who have ever enjoyed Uganda tours do praise her. For she was blessed with a lot of natural tourist attractions hard to find else where in the world one of them being the mighty River Nile.
