White Water Rafting on the Nile

Our next major stop would be in Jinja, Uganda. We were booked in at the "Explores River Camp" for 3 nights knowing that one day in Jinja would simply not be enough. We decided to stay in the safari tents with an amazing view of the river. After 2 long days of travelling, first from Bwindi to Kampala and then Kampala to Jinja, we were ready stretch our legs and have some fun at play. The Nile River is the father of African rivers and the longest river in the world. It rises south of the Equator and flows northward through northeastern Africa to drain into the Mediterranean Sea. So many years ago in school we learned all about the Nile, but it never really seems real until you are standing on the bank of the white Nile river, in Uganda, preparing to go white water rafting or kayaking in Randy's case.

The next day we would be going on the Grade 5 Full Day Rafting Trip. Considered one of the wildest, one day rafting events in the world, we were ready for the time of our life. I had heard all kinds of stories that everyone rafting the Nile ends up in the water as the rafts are guaranteed to flip. To say the least I was more than a bit nervous. As much as I love white water rafting and snorkelling, I really don't like being underwater, so the thought of tipping into the rapids was more than a bit scary. However nervous or not I would do it. Jenn, Skylar and Randy were keen to experience it all and Randy decided to do a tandem kayak adventure. He would experience the full power of the rapids. The first thing you notice when you step into the river is that the water is warm. What a nice treat and no need for the wet suits we need to survive in the glacier fed rivers of Canada. After a brief training session on what do if the raft does flips and how to get out from underneath a tipped raft we were ready to go. We seemed to do 3 rapids at a time between long stretches of lazily, cruising down the river. I think we completed 11 rapids in all. Sensing I was nervous about flipping over our guide did a great job keeping the raft upright throughout the day. As we approached the final rapid he ask the group if they wanted to flip. Of course they had all seen the other boats flipping throughout the day and thought it looked like great fun. "Would I be willing to try?" he asked me. As a result of extreme peer pressure I agreed to flipping. How bad could it really be? Our guide said if we wanted to flip the raft we would need to paddle super hard going into the last rapid. Now I am not sure whether he was just being sympathetic to me or whether we really didn't paddle hard enough but somehow we made it through the final rapid without flipping. While I was happy I know the rest of our boat including Jenn and Skylar were a bit disappointed.

The next day we decided to just relax around camp and take in the ambiance of the Nile and surrounding community. Jenn and I, with our books, found comfortable benches to lounge on and settled in for the afternoon. Sky and randy still had lots of energy and decided to take in the sights of the area through a short quad tour. They obviously had lots of fun and came back covered in red dust.

For our final evening in Jinja we decided to do a sunset river cruise. It was the perfect evening with lots of great snacks, great company and a leisurely cruise down the Nile. The sunset was amazing and we were all entertained by a young boy (10 years of age) and his family who are spending a year travelling around the world. To follow his adventures visit roundtheworldkid.com He was really quite entertaining as only a child can be.

Catching Up

Capturing our adventures in Kenya prompted me to realize that I had several adventures still sitting in the "Draft" file. I need to learn to record our stories as the adventures unfold otherwise they might get forgotten. In December 2011, we took Jenn and Chris to Vegas. The goal was for Jenn to train for her first half marathon and if she completed the training and committed to running with me and Randy we would take them to Vegas. Not only did she commit but she did it with passion and so we were off. Now not only did we go to Vegas and have an amazing time, we ran the half marathon in style! It was Vegas and so Randy dressed up as Elvis, Jenn and I as his sidekicks with blonde Afros and black sequined outfits. Not only were we cool but it was easy to locate each other as we ran with 40,000 other participants. Running down the strip at night was amazing and Jenn gave it her all. The three of us held hands as we crossed the finish line, tears pouring down our faces, proud of our accomplishment and thankful to be done. All that hard work paid off and Chris in his seventies suit was there to congratulate us. To celebrate it was out for a midnight steak and then to bed. I think it may have been the best steak ever! The next day we each got tattoos to capture the memory. Two dice with the two and one on top representing 21k. We are branded with the memory of our race together. It was an awesome trip! We walked the strip until our feet hurt and then walked some more, bought Jenn's wedding dress, gambled in the casino, visited the ghost bar at the palms, shopped some more, ate amazing food, went to the ice bar (Randy & Chris), ate a ton more food, laughed and had so much fun! Definitely a trip we will remember for a long, long time.

Gorilla Trekking part 2

Today we would trek into the rainforest in search of the Gorillas. We were all a little apprehensive as we wondered what to expect. Our research indicated it could take anywhere from 2 to 10 hours to find the gorillas, if we found them at all. There was no guarantees. So at 6:00am we climbed back into the car and headed to the ranger station at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Here we would meet our guides and receive a short presentation on what to expect and how to act should we encounter the gorillas. No flashes, don't look them in the eye, stand back and remain quiet. Should a gorilla start to approach you don't react. Just keep your eyes down and follow the instructions of the guides. This would be easier said, than done. Once we had received all our instructions we were divided into small groups that would each take a different path in search of the gorillas. We were teamed up with four other young individuals which we hoped we would be able to keep up with. Before starting the trek we were offered the services of porters that would help up manage the terrain of the rainforest and carry our packs. Between the four of us we only had 3 packs but experience has taught me if you are offered a porter take one, so we hired 4 porters for the day. For less than $5 each they were there to pull us up hills, get us across mud puddles, help us maneuver over fallen trees and carry our packs. They more than earned their money that day as we climbed up and down the hills into the forest. About 2 1/2 hours into the trek we came across the gorilla trackers, who had started out ahead of our group. We were advised to place our packs on the ground and carefully follow them. The next thing we knew the gorillas were coming down the hill in front of us. As the trackers cleared the bush, opened up paths for the gorillas to travel down and found places for us to stand we caught our first glimpses of the gorillas. Three silverback males, several females and 3 baby gorillas. It was amazing! Within 5 feet of us the gorillas stopped to eat and play. The babies hung from the trees and they entertained us as they played. At one point I think they were more amused watching us and they had definitely decided to put on a show. After a hour of taking pictures and simply taking in the awe of the experience it was time to head back. The trek back wouldn't be any easier than the trek into the forest as I am sure there was an equal amount of uphill and down hills both ways, but at least we knew how far we had to go. It was a challenging hike and Jenn and I were both very thankful for the help of the porters. It was an amazing day. A challenging but manageable hike, an hour with the gorillas, and great company. A day I will never forget.

Gorilla Trekking in Africa -part 1

Jenn and Skylar would be in Africa for a total of 19 days, which is a long time to be away from home, but not a long time to take in all the wonders and sights the continent has to offer. So the question became "what to do and where to go?". Three things stood out in my mind as I planned their trip. At very least- we had to visit the gorillas, visit our home in Bungoma, Kenya and do a safari. I think we could manage it all, with careful planning. We had heard that trekking the gorillas was nothing short of amazing, so the only question was in which country should we do the trek? Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo. The thought of going to the Congo was somewhat scary to me even though it would be the least expensive and the minimum age for participating was 12. If we went to Rwanda, it would mean doing a safari on the eastern side of Kenya so we probably wouldn't get to Bungoma. The last option was Uganda. The challenge in Uganda was that all the brochures indicated participants had to be a minimum of 15 years old and literature indicated the park rangers where extremely strict about the age restrictions. The problem was Skylar wouldn't be 15 for another 2 months. However, like most things in Africa where there is a will there is a way. Hopefully we could get him through. After hours of researching the internet (thank goodness for Google) I finally connected with Calah at Insight Safari Holidays. She was awesome answering all my questions within a 24 hour time frame, assuring me that Skylar would have no problem getting a trekking permit given his birthday was only a couple of months away, and provided us with details on the package options. We decided on a 3 day Gorilla Trek with "a moderate level" accommodation. While I didn't want to cheap out on anything I still wanted to keep costs somewhat reasonable. Our driver and guide for the next 3 days picked us up bright and early Sunday morning. OK, maybe not so bright since it was only 6:30am, but we were excited to get started on the first adventure of our trip. Today we would be heading to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. The journey would take approximately 10 hours, so we were in for a very long drive, but there was lots to see along the way. The first stop was at the Equator, a great place to get out and stretch our legs and grab a refreshment. Small dukas (kiosks) and restaurants lined the highway providing tourists with lots of options to shop. However we decided to pass on the shopping so early into our trip and partook in a demonstration on the earth's magnetic impact on the spinning of water at the equator. If you pour water into a drain north of the equator the water will spin clockwise. At the equator the water just drops thru the spout and south of the equator the water spins counter-clockwise. So cool and a science lesson I will probably never forget. The countryside was hilly, green with grass and rich vegetation. Our next stop would be at the city of Mbarara for quick lunch and then onto Bwindi Impenetration Forest. Here was were Skylar got his first look at an African menu. Not everything on the menu is available so finally you ask "what do you have?". Usually the answer is chicken and chips. We were half way there. Our guide told us that they hadn't been able to get us permits in the area close to the lodge we had originally chosen so we had been upgraded to the Bwindi Jungle Lodge. This was an unexpected surprise and Bwindi Jungle Lodge definitely exceeded my expectations! t After a very long day in the car, it was time for a cool drink overlooking the lake, a hot shower and supper. Then off to bed. Tomorrow would start at 5:30 am.