Recognized By The World For What It Is. Special.

This past weekend we got to go on a little get-away to Jinga, home of the source of the Nile.  We were hosted by Adrift, an awesome rafting and bungee jumping company that really made the weekend.  They came to pick us up on Saturday morning, set us up with our accommodations for the night and then gave us a brief rafting intro, we separated into groups of 9, strapped on helmets and life jackets and hit the water.  I had the best raft, if I do say so myself, with our fearless leader from Canada, Josh.  At the beginning of our rafting trip we learned all of the commands we would need to know for the rest of the day and we practiced falling out, flipping over, and getting back in the raft.  In the calm we also enjoyed swimming and floating in the middle of the NILE. 

So the Nile is something you start learning about in Sunday school when you are like, 5 when you learn about Moses.  Not to mention learning about the amount of life it has provided for people since the beginning of history.  How intricately it supplied life when it would flood and then leave rich and nutritious silt to nourish crops and feed the Egyptians consistently over time (thank you Ms. Daly!).   Therefore, the whole day was basically filled with awe, not just because of the rapids but because of the fact that we were on the Nile. 

Anyways, we enjoyed some nice and big rapids in the morning, experienced our first flip in one of the rapids, which ended up being a little scary because I didn’t even think about the fact that I should probably hold my breath if I’m going into the water and I got a nice mouthful.  We then stopped for lunch at Lunch Island, where Adrift provided all the ingredients for the first, delicious, sandwich I’ve had since being in Uganda.  It was wonderful.  We then continued rafting and had 4 more rapids along with a couple hours of just rowing, floating, swimming, and getting to know each other and Josh a little more in the “down time”. 

The biggest action of the day was the last rapid, a class 5 called “50/50”.  50% chance you will flip, 50% you wont.  We flipped, big time.  The first part of the rapid we all went flying and I was under the water for what seemed like a really long time as the rapid churned me until I was out.  Kaylin, Megan and I were rescued by the safety kayaks and brought to another raft because ours had made it through the second part of the rapid.  That guide was crazy, and with 12 people on his raft he sent us in the perfect position to go out with a bang and the entire raft went flying.  I had hairy polish men in speedos land on me and use me as a ladder to get back to the surface of the water and keep me stuck under the raft for a little longer than I would have liked... but we made it back to our raft and finished the day nice and smoothly.  Overall, rafting on the Nile was ah-mazing and I would definitely recommend adding it to your bucket list!

That night we all spent time together, took nice hot SHOWERS, and had a fun dance party. 

The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and climbed 144 ft to the top of the bungee jump tower!  I was terrified, but I was glad I was going tandem with Megan.  As I watched a couple of other people go first it didn’t seem so bad either.

When it came to our turn, we walked out to the end, sat down while the guys strapped our feet together, clipped us to the rope and gave us a little demo of what would happen.  We then stood up and had to inch together towards the end of the platform.  That was the scariest part of the whole experience because after a certain point we weren’t allowed to look down so we were basically trusting this guy with our life to stop us before we shuffled off the platform.  We wrapped our arms around each other, listened to everyone countdown 3, 2, 1...and leaned forward to fall 144ft!  We both screamed the entire way down and during the whole 6 bounces up and down.  After we stopped they lowered us down to a raft where two Ugandans unstrapped us and towed us to the shore.  That was definitely one of the scariest experiences of my life but also very exhilarating… bridge jumping at home will be nothing now J

Africa is so great and I wish I could share my experience with you in more than just words! 

p.s. Tried to up load the video but internet is obviously not working.... soon!