The first stretch of the river had a small current and let us familiarize ourselves with the paddles and how to use them. Though Robert and I have some experience paddling, it's obvious that all the guides really needed any of us for was brute force in going forward or backwards. All of the steering amd maneuvering would be handled by our guide.
Still in calm water, we flipped the boat in order to practice getting back to it and eventually back into it. I was comfortable in the water, but as we approached our first rapid my heart beat quite quickly. We got wet but avoided flipping during this rapid and the second set of large rapids we traversed. The third rapid, with a gigantic wave called the G-spot, produced different results.
Before we went into each set of rapids Jared would brief us on what the makeup of the rapid was and what recovery path we should take if we fall out or if the boat flips. The story about the G-spot was cute, though Jared seemed a tad uncomfortable talking about it. This rapid was impressive no matter how you looked shot it, but the assurance of a good ride was to hit the elusive G-spot. We did just that! We seemed to surf it for a few seconds before being toppled by its force. I found myself under water being swept along by the strong current. I followed Jared's advice and chanted a couple of "be cools" to myself. Soon enough I popped up and found a pannicked Io and Richard quite close to me. I assured her that all was okay and reminded her that we were still going to hit another wave before emerging into calmer waters. We all made it out safely and the only sacrifice was one paddle. Experts in their own right the other guides, boats, safety boats and accompanying kayakers were all there to assure people's safety as well as track down lost equipment.
Evevtually we were back in our boat. We were able to float along just long enough to eat a small lunch of pineapple (the pineapple from this region is incredibly tasty and fresh) and sweet biscuits. Then we had a long section of still water to paddle. During that time we got to know one another just a bit: Richard lived in Brussels working as a PR person for the Green Party of the European Parliament, and he was visiting Io who was working for Oxfam in Kampala; Lonneke and Jan again explained their travels and were a tad anxious, yet simultaneously nervous, about heading back to Holland.
Eventually it was time to shoot the final stretch of rapids. These three sets were spaced quite a bit further than the ones before lunch. Instead of a short, five minute break in the action we had to paddle anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes in between these rapids. With the river water still fresh in our sinuses from our G-spot flip, everyone was a tad nervous going into the first rapids after lunch, we charged it hard, and emerged upright.
There were two ways to approach the second set of rapids, and we were trying to run a course that would take us over a very big drop. Robert and I paddled hard up front as requested and as we hit our intended line we realized we were actually moving too quickly for our guide to steer us how we needed to go. We ended up on top of a rocky out-cropping, stuck just on top of the waterfall we were trying to cascade down. Jared exited the boat and with a little help from us on board was able to free us from the rock. Almost immediately upon being freed, we dropped over the ledge, once again emerging upright.
As the boat sat in the calm waters below the falls, we all looked upstream to watch the other guides maneuver their boats through the rapids. The drop we'd just withstood was huge. I commented that had I stumbled upon the river and seen that large of rapids I would have never guessed that it was raftable. I would presume that no one would survive. But we'd just done it, as had many others before us.
We flipped at the peneultimate rapid but it was a much gentler recovery than the G-spot. We still had one final rapid to shoot before our long day on the river was over. I was still having a good time, but could feel my energy level dropping. The small lunch wasn't enough to keep up with my speedy metabolism.
The final rapid was broken into two parts. The first was a class six, which is not safely traversable by commercial rafts. Therefore, we had to maneuver to the river bank just upstream from the rapid where the boats were portaged to the class five, second part of the final rapid. The entire rapid was an amazing sight to see. It was fierce and immense. We were fortunate enough to see one of the guides, many of whom are sponsored, kayak the entire stretch. It was impressive.
As we boarded the boat for our final descent I was hoping for another flip. We paddled hard in order to go from the river bank towards the giant wave waiting for us. We hit it hard and lo and behold we flipped. Though it wasn't as powerful as the G-spot, the water held me under momentarily. I reached up and grabbed the rope line of the boat for a brief second. The power of the water propelled the boat forward and ripped the line from my hand. I went under again and all of a sudden I felt someone grab me with a great deal of force. It was Jared. He's snatched me like I was a small fish being caught by a giant line.
From there we emerged from the river, everyone hooting and hollering about what a great day it'd been. There were cold beer and sodas waiting for us and we were then transported back to the Nile River Explorer's river camp for a post river bbq. The food was tasty and everyone recounted the day. Though each of us took from it something different, everyone could agree that it was well worth the money.
Exhausted though we were, we had to stay awake for a few hours in order to see the video footage one of the guides had compiled from our day on the river. We snuck next door to a more expensive lodge and asked the attractive hostess if we could use the internet terminal there. We seemed to have struck it rich by venturing over here. The clientele was older than many of the young kids who'd been rafting, and we were able to strike up a conversation. We received some advice about Nairobi and were even offered a warm shower. It was great.
The video the rafting company made was really cool. Unfortunately Richard and Io had taken off back to Kampala, so Robert, Lonneka, Jan and I grouped together for the viewing. The spliced together footage showed each and every boat go through each set of rapids. Our highlight was when we saw exactly what happened at the G-spot! We surfed the wave, spinning a full 360 (with water dousing us the entire time - making it so we were practically under water for that spin) before dumping. Everyone in the audience screamed and cheered watching it.
After the video I crashed hard, exhausted from the day of excitement. The next day I awoke and stumbled outside to a gorgeous view of the Nile.
We were able to hitch a ride back to the Nile River Explorers Jinja office with the staff and people who were going rafting that day. We chowed a bit of food, downed a couple of cups of coffee and set off to explore.
I hadn't done much research on Jinja and wrongly assumed that it offered little more than a launching point for a number of outdoor activities. That very well may be the case, but if you have to kill a day before catching an afternoon bus to Nairobi it is a fine place to be.
The source of the Nile River is like any other tourist attraction that requires you to pay money solely to take a picture by a sign letting you know that you're actually at said location. We paid the equivalent of $3 each to enter the area. It was relatively early still and there was a thick haze lingering above, locking in the humidity.
There were a few bars and a small launching point for boats to take you a bit further South to what is reputiably the actual source. There is a bit of debate as to where the actual source of the Nile is. Where we were standing, with both a placard and a billboard declaring it was the source, was on the Ugandan side of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake. It was a very beautiful spot. Just south of locals were launching wooden boats and paddling towards the heart of the lake. The sloped incline of the banks of the river were a lush green. It wasn't anything terribly special, but it did feel pretty cool to be able to say that I've now been to the start and the end, in Egypt where it empties into the Mediterranean sea, of the Nile.
The walk to town was warm, as the mid-morning sun was able to push itself through the cloud cover. Jinja's main street allowed for us to check our email, buy and send postcards, exchange a bit more cash (we were playing the game of "we have just enough to do this, but what if we need to do this - we'll need just a bit more money), drink some great coffee and have a good Indian meal.
We'd booked our bus tickets in Kampala, but informed the "Scandinavian" bus company that we were going to catch it in Jinja. A tad skeptical that the bus would actually stop we showed up twenty minutes prior to the 4pm departing hour they gave us. The motor-bike taxis dropped us at the second of two traffic circles on the outskirts of Jinja.
The traffic circle was a mess. There has been quite a bit of rain in East Africa recently. Prior to coming I got the impression that December was the start of the dry season. This year, though, it's been anything but. I haven't hear any official statistics, but the word on the street is there has been a bit of flooding and a considerable amount of rain in a lot of the national parks.
There was a GAPCO gas station on the west side of the traffic circle and we set up camp on the driest curb we could find. The Indian gentleman working the counter inside informed us what we had expected - the bus typically passes through around 5:00 or 5:30.
We kept a watchful eye down the road but couldn't help but be distracted and entertained by the activity in the circle. It was Saturday, December 23rd, and everyone was headed home for the holidays. Every vehicle we saw was packed to the gills with people and their belongings. Mini-buses, pick-up trucks, cars and just about any other thing with wheels was being utilized. The most amazing thing were the mini-buses whose roofs were completely covered with dead chickens, feathers still attached.
The traffic circle was a muddy mess and when a huge 18 wheeler broke down halfway in the circle it was pandemonium. There was a local policeman who came and attempted to direct traffic, but most motorists just sped through the Gapco gas station and emerged on the farside of the circle. We joked that with everything going on, including all of the bike (not motorized, but bicycle) taxis and people walking, we could set up a web-cam for hours of entertainment.
Just before 5pm we spotted a white bus specked with mud cruising down the road towards us. We grabbed our bags and motioned that we needed to catch the bus. The driver angrily motioned that we should be on the left hand side of the road (Uganda is a left side drive country). We dodged the traffic circle's mud puddles and and slippery patches in making it to where the bus stopped. There were a few Africans who where hopping on the bus as well, and the driver seemed to have little patience for them either. Soon enough, though, we were settled in our seats and on our way to Kenya!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment