rafting on the nile

A few weekends ago, some of my Eastern classmates and I met up to go whitewater rafting on the Nile.

Hold on, REWIND. The night before I left there was an owl in my room! Random? I think so.

Where was I? Ah, yes, whitewater rafting on the Nile. Yep, you heard me, the Nile. If you haven’t seen pictures of the Nile from the source in Jinja, you probably have an image of a peaceful, tranquil river that baby Moses was left on. Let me tell you - THE NILE IS NOT TRANQUIL! The Nile in Jinja is monstrous – its waters rage wildly and strike fear even in the most courageous and bravest of souls. Ok, maybe I exaggerate…but then again, maybe not.

We started our 5 minute “how-to-raft” tutorial by floating around in the water to make sure our life vests were functioning properly. We then practiced our forward paddle (“pathetic,” our guide called it) and our backward paddle. We were told how important it was to hold on to the paddles (always keeping a hand on the end to prevent it from knocking someone out), how to crouch down in the raft, how to keep your feet up in the water to avoid the rocks, and how to hold on for dear life when necessary (and believe me, it was necessary).

As we approached the first rapid, our guide told us to forget everything we had learned. So much for paying attention! Anyway, more likely than not, we were told, the raft was going to flip. When it did, the chances of getting caught in a rapid or getting trapped under the overturned raft were even higher. Since there was no way of preparing us for anything, he gave us the only advice he could: stay calm.

Needless to say, many of us did not stay calm.

I suppose some of the casualties on our trip were similar to those experienced by others who have rafted the Nile: giant bruises appearing out of nowhere, a wedding ring lost here, a pair of shorts lost there (unknowingly, of course). But, it was only after we had a little accident that I understood why the guide stressed over and over again: HOLD ON TO YOUR PADDLE. I wish he was kidding when he told us that people have been seriously injured from the paddle (and you’d think the rapids would cause the most damage!) So unfortunately, our fellow comrade, Julie, was injured. Got a gash so big on her face (and a black eye that ensued the day after) she needed to get it super-glued at The Surgery in Kampala. Thanks for taking one for the team, Julie. =)

Was it worth every dollar? HECK YEAH IT WAS! Would I do it again? IN A HEARTBEAT!

More than anything, it was great to be able to spend time with friends, especially being thousands of miles from home. Thank you Julie, Deke, Diane, Emily and Jon (and Azizi friends) for a great weekend adventure!