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.