I've never been whitewater rafting and have always wanted to go. So I figured, go big or go home...why not experience it for the first time in level 5 rapids (the highest commercially possible) at the very source of the Nile in AFRICA? I read about the experience in my handy dandy 'Lonely Planet' Travel guide and then booked with a company that was recommended at the guesthouse I was staying at in Jinja, a small, charming town there at the source. I was not sure exactly what to expect when I hopped on the charter bus that escorted me to The "Adrift" site. I arrived and went straight to the information kiosk where I was greeted by a guy that resembled "the Dude" from "The Big Lebowski" with his sunburned arms under his old ratty cutoff T-shirt, wild long head of hair, unkempt facial hair, and not-so-stunning shades. In his low, raspy, and surfer-like voice he explained to me the details of the trip and I then signed my life away on a voucher that insured I would be rafting at my own risk...da, da, da, da.......We had an hour or so before we embarked out on the open river so I sat myself down at a picnic table of American aid workers from all over the country working together in Uganda. They had been spending their weekends together on exciting excurcions, and rafting was next on the list. Adam, Jim, Ben, Krista, Ali, and later Rob would be my team on the rapids for the day. After exchanging the standard pleasantries and get-to-know-you conversations, we set out on the journey. In preparation for the day in the sun, we all lathered on a generous amount of sunscreen and then armored up in helmets and life jackets. Our guide, Tutu, we realized later, was the most fun and enthusiastic of all the guides and walked us through the standard procedures first on while still on land and then continued as we climbed into the rafting boat. I chose the 2nd out of 4 rows to stake my position. I did not want to be out in front responsible for the most strength in rowing and the highest possible danger zone, but I also did not want to miss out on the best action. We all went through the rowing motions as instructed to us by Tutu and learned the various skills to be applied at certain times during the trip, including, "Get Down!!!" At which point you would bend down into the boat and hold on for dear life. The beginning of the trip was mild as we meandered over a couple of level 2 and 3 rapids that offered a tiny bit of excitement but nothing to blog about. :) The entertainment included a few rounds of "Never Have I Ever", some psycho-analytic games, and Jim's famous would you rather------ OR take $$$(amount of money)questions which made for lots of laughs and instant bonding. Throughout the day, we encountered some 1 or 2 level rapids that offered up a mere, bump-in-the river experience. The level 3 and 4 rapids required our concentrated group effort to paddle through and stay on TOP of the water. The real action was during the level 5s. On these rapids, we paddled for a bit, and then all got down in unison into the raft in hopes that force of our weight at the bottom of the boat would keep the boat from capsizing. Twice, our efforts fell short and we flipped. The first time it was more a fun thrill than anything. We all toppled out near to the raft, had a few laughs, and successfully and smoothly swam back to the boat and hoisted ourselves back on. The second and last rapid we hit on the trip was by far the most dangerous. Tutu gave us the option to decide as a group how we wanted to approach this "king of the rapids". We could go for the level 4 zone that gave us a 50% chance of capsizing, or we could go for the level 5 in which we had about a 75% chance. Three of the group,were completely against taking such a risk and insisted we stay on level 4. The other four of us welcomed the challenge of such a low risk possibility of succeeding and went for the high risk, high reward option. So, we went with the majority, geared up, fiercely gripped our paddles, and put our game faces on. Upon arrival to the white water, Tutu instructed us to paddle intensely for about 5 seconds and then as the roaring water ensued, he shouted for us to get down and hold on! Two seconds later, the boat had flipped and left all 7 us to fend for ourselves against the violent rapids. I found myself in a swirl of panic as a felt the power of the water undercurrent pulling my body down as I struggled to gasp for air. When my head reached for the surface, I took the biggest breath I possibly could and unwilling took in some river water along with it. While I was able to capture some oxygen, I coughed out some water at the same time and went back under. As I was fighting my way back to the top, arms and legs working overtime, my next survival plan was to stick my hand as far out above the water as possible as a red flag for someone to save me. So I stuck my hand halfway out of the water, my face and body still submerged, and immediately I felt another hand grab onto mine. Before I even realized what had happened, I was holding on to the back of a rescue kayak and we were on our way out of the rapids. At this point, our boat had made it into the clear, and three other of our crew members were safe and in the boat. Tutu helped me back into the boat and we waited for the others to arrive. Thankfully, every member of our team made it back alive but not without an exciting story. Even though we all had considerable scares, we agreed that it was a good decision to chance the rapids, and the excitement of falling over and surviving might have been just as good as staying afloat.
wow,scary!
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