Rafting the Nile

Life has become much more spontaneous over here.  So when some local ex-pats asked me if I would like to go rafting with them in Uganda that weekend, I jumped at the chance.  Going to Uganda for me is cheap, as there is no entry fee on an Irish passport.  The girls also had accommodation for us, so all I had to pay was my bus fare and the cost of rafting.

Having never been white-water rafting before, I was not too sure what to expect.  The thought of being on the Nile was incredibly exciting too.  And the chance to visit a new country!  We got the coach from Nyabugogo at 9am on the Friday morning. It was surprisingly comfortable with quite a reasonable amount of leg room.  It only took us 90mins to reach the border and then we had to go through immigration formalities before boarding the bus again.  This being Rwanda, I met someone I knew at the border crossing who was travelling in the opposite direction.  It seems impossible to go anywhere without seeing a familiar face!

Over the other side of the border, the roads deteriorated somewhat.  African roads being what they are and coach suspension being what it is (combined with the fact we had bought the last available tickets on the bus so we were sat at the back) meant it was a VERY bumpy journey.  Also we were surrounded by a group of very loud men, who saw fit to accentuate every word of the conversation with a punch on the back of my seat (it was inevitable that we would come to blows and that the teacher voice would have to make an appearance – which it did and they were very good and stopped it).  I felt it necessary to avoid the loud conversation and very bad soundtrack (Brown Girl in the Ring, for example) by putting in my headphones and zoning out.  I managed this for most of the 9hr journey to Kampala.

As a Geographer, the journey was fascinating.  We passed fields of poly-tunnels full of flowers being grown for export and huge papyrus swamps lined the roadsides.  At one point we passed a very long UN truck convoy.  A highlight was crossing the Equator.  I felt the coach driver missed a trick here – he could have had us all off the bus to take a photo...he clearly wasn’t a Geography nerd.  The journey continued and we passed lots of what looked like crumbling villages.  I eventually realised these were actually brick kilns.  We also saw loads of cows with MASSIVE horns.  As always, looking at the names of businesses is enlightening and it turns out that Alexander McCall Smith is probably quoting actual business names in his books.  We saw (to name a few) Sparkle bar and lodge, Alleluia Hardware, Tender Talents Primary School, Feel Better Guest House, God Bless Vocational College and Thanks to God Stationery Store.

We eventually arrived in Kampala where there was much hustle and bustle.  Loads of litter was piled up along the roadsides – much of it discarded plastic bottles.  Besides all this there were shopping malls and cinemas!  And no staring as we walked along the street.  There were also some reassuring signs of home – such as Shell petrol stations.


Surviving our first rapid

Calm and peaceful flat water

We stayed the night in Kampala and got picked up early the next morning to go to Jinja for rafting.  It was an incredible experience.  We began with a briefing at the backpackers who ran the trip and then we were kitted out with life jackets and helmets.  Then we set off for the Nile – passing the Bujugali Dam on the way (nerd alert:  this was in the WJEC Geog exam paper in 2005 (I think)).  It is forbidden to take photos and I wanted to raft, not go to jail...  Once we arrived at the river we were assigned to boats and given an oar.  Then whilst we were on flat water, we were taught how to paddle and how to survive the raft flipping (not so much fun as you get dunked and the boat whacks you on the head and you have to avoid an army of large wooden oars at the same time as trying to stop yourself from drowning!).  We mastered this and were allowed to attempt our first rapid.  Apparently it was a grade 3 (the rapids were graded 1 = easy to 5 = hard).  It was terrifying.  Just looking at all the angry white water was enough to make me tremble and want to get out.  I was convinced we were done for and this was not helped by the fact the group in front of us got flipped out of their raft.  But we survived.  We continued downstream scaring ourselves witless and then having some genteel bits in between where we swam alongside the boat.  It was really beautiful and amazing to think of just where we were. 

That's me - front left

We had a light lunch half way through the day, sat in our rafts.  We were handed half a pineapple each and a packet of biscuits.  It certainly kept us going.  It was all great fun and then we came to the final rapid.  We knew we were in for trouble when Josh – our instructor/guide – insisted on checking all of our lifejackets and helmets.  I was made to stand up and had a complete readjustment.  Then he broke it to us “Guys – you will not stay dry on this one”.  So we were in for a dunking.  You know it’s going to be bad when you can hear the rapid for some time before you actually see it and this one was savage.  There were huge dips in the water and whirlpools and high waves.  I was shaking with fear.  We were going to die.  As with every rapid, Josh advised us what to do if we got flipped out of the raft.  For most of them the advice was to swim back to the raft and hold on to the rope.  For this one, it was simply swim forward. 

The moment before we back-flipped

He then piled us all in the back and sat Caitlin on the prow.  We could see where this was going.  All the weight was at the back.  We didn’t stand a chance – we wouldn’t have made it through without incident anyway, so I think this was Josh having “fun” with us.  We battled through a few big waves and got thrown about and then you knew there was no point hanging on anymore – the raft flipped to the side and backwards and over we went. 

I was lucky to be thrown to the side so did not get stuck under the boat.  The water was pulling us up and pushing us down again.  The currents were so strong.  I let myself relax slightly and found the water just pulled me downstream.  I could see one of the safety kayaks in the distance so knew I would be OK.  One came to my rescue and I got a few seconds rest before he had to go and help the non-swimmer in our group.  I came to a halt about half a km downstream and met up with the others.  We were all hauled back into the raft and paddled to the bank where we got out and had a shower and a lovely meal before heading back to Kampala.  It was enormous fun and I will be going again!