After conquering Bungee Jumping on 23rd October 2021 with a group of friends, we felt like
taking on another challenge for the year 2021 before it ended to conquer our fears again and White Water Rafting was next on our bucket list
to be ticked off. We agreed to discuss it further on the WhatsApp we had
created to disseminate information. Dates were set and we agreed on the fee as
well, this was earlier in November and we agreed to do it on 11th December
2021, to be specific.
On brighter dawn of 11th December, we
set off for Jinja, excited that at last of our dreams have come true and we were
going rafting. As usual, the journey is always exciting. We traveled with two
Kenyan ladies who were traveling to Jinja for the first time, and they were
amused by the Roadside vendors in Namawojjolo and Najjembe. “Immediately the
car stops there’re like 50 pieces of Chicken in your face.” One of them said; It
was their first time to experience such and they enjoyed the roadside roasted chicken
and liver.
ARRIVING AT RAFT UGANDA
At 10:45am we arrived in Jinja at Tulina Riverside
Treat, near the Haven River Eco Lodge, home of Raft Uganda; the company that
rafted us. We were warmly welcomed by Juma alas Big J who was our Raft Guide of
the day. Upon arrival, we were told to change immediately because we were behind
schedule, to more comfortable clothes for rafting and remove our shoes as well, sign on the indemnity forms and wear the safety gear. These included the Helmets and Life Jackets and we were good to go.
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| A rescue guide helping one of the ladies to wear her life jacket well. |
GETTING READY
After wearing the safety equipment we were briefed
by Juma our raft guide of the day. He started by asking if there was anyone of
us who had done rafting before. “Yes, I have done rafting before, but in Greece”
Alex a white guy said, one of the rafters we rafted with. In his briefing I noted
majorly 3 things;
1. You
don’t need to know how to swim to do rafting
2. You
don’t need to panic after meeting the Rapids, or while you fall into the
river.
3. The
rescue team was available and is always available to rescue you in case of
anything.
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| A group Photo after being briefed |
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| Briefing Point; Being brief by Juma aka Big J (in Green) who was our rafting guide of the Day. |
So after the briefing at the camp, it was time for us to head into the river. All was prepared; the rescue team, the photographer who took these amazing shots that you’re able to see in this blog, the gentleman in the rowing boat, that is used to carry the safety box and other equipment plus the Inflatable Rafting Boat that we used was set as well. So we moved to the river shores where the Inflatable Rafting Boat was docked, just a few meters from the Campsite
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| Taking a walk to the river |
“Get into the boat, one by one, and sit at the edge
of the boat” Juma said. We did exactly what he said to all the six of us. I and Catherine were leading the team. We sat in front. More Instructions were given while
we sat in the Boat. “Get a paddle everyone, one hand at the top of the paddle
and another in the middle of the paddle.” Juma the raft guide said. We did
exactly what he said. Since all of us were first-time rafters except Alex, we
had to follow instructions extremely carefully.
“When I say front paddle, put the paddle in front
and pull backward. Okay?” He said. “Okay” we all replied in agreement
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| At the Docking Area listening attentively to more instructions before we began rafting SETTING OFF FROM THE DOCKING POINT  After listening, to more instructions from Big J whose name I'm sure that you're familiar with, we started our 10kms journey of rafting on the Nile. These 10kms took us roughly 5 hours of rafting, which I never expected, by the way, I thought it would be done in 2 hours and we would be done but the longer the fun. Anyways we started it off with a simple practice of what we would do if the boat flips or if some of us fall off from the boat in the rapids. "Now we're going to do some practice, each of us, dive into the water, let's see what will happen when the boat, flips." Big J said "Huh!" 😳😲We replied in shock, and wondered what would happen! I could read from people's faces "This is not what we paid for" Lol. I seriously don't know why we were we were flabbergasted because this was to prepare us in advance and it was for our own benefit that we practice in calm water before we meet the rapids. Long and Short we all dived in the river one by one all of us including Big J himself. "Swim, leave the boat," Big J said. Now, not all of us were swimmers, some of us were just floating with the help of the life Jackets and flapping our legs and arms to show that we were swimming, yet in the actual sense, we were not swimming. "Enough, come back in the boat." Big J said. "So how do you get back in the boat?" he asked. Now it's easy to get back in the boat, it's a real struggle especially for the first-time rafters. "Hold that rope and lift yourself up." Big J said. But it wasn't easy the way he said it. We all tried but failed to get back in the boat by ourselves. He and the rescue team which we will talk about much later helped us get back into the boat.     After that simple practice, we were now ready to face off the rapids and we were convinced in our minds that we were now experts of sorts in rafting. Lol😊. FACING THE RAPIDS This was the most exciting moment for most of us if not all of us. Of course, it's frightening just by imagining it and facing the rapids in reality. The first rapids we met were at Busowoko Falls, however, we didn't cross through these turbulent rapids. Busowoko Rapids are Grade 6 Rapids, the strongest rapids on the Nile, you can't risk crossing through them with Inflatable Boats. These rapids are actually called "The Dead Dutchman." The story behind this detrimental name is that; a dutchman one time died from those rapids while trying to raft in them, hence the name; The Dead Dutchman. We got on the boat again, below where the strongest Busowoko Falls Rapids culminate. Just after the grade 6 rapids at Busowoko falls, there's a grade 5 rapid that we met and this was the beginning of us to have a feel of rafting. Just a few meters to hit the rapid, Big J would shout out loud giving instructions, "Paddle harder." The reason for paddling harder was the more you paddle the stronger the rapid that hits your boat and the more the "fun" (when the boat flips). 😀😀 When we approached the first rapid, a grade 5 rapid, which was just a few meters from us Big J commanded, Stop! Hold the Rope and Get into the Boat." And that's the rule, we applied this every time we met the rapids, but we would wait for him to command us. At this very rapid, something magical happened. We met a strong rapid, it hit hard our boat and the two of us who were seated on the left-hand side (I and Tiffany) fell off the boat into the river.   The experience is here was sweet-sour. The first 10 secs were terrible, I felt like being shocked by Hydro-Electric Power. It's at this point that I realized why water generates electricity. I panicked in those 10 secs, swallowed some water, saw myself literally dying in the rapids, asked myself "Naye Nfa Ki?" a Luganda word that literally means What am I dying for?😂. Quite a number of things ran into my mind in that short time. Until I saw the rescuer come to rescue my life in a kayak boat that's when a felt a big relief. Shortly after that, we got back on the boat and we proceeded. But even after being rescued, I was still completely in total bewilderment. At some point felt like quitting the activity but there was no way to run away 😂.  After the hullabaloo in the rapids, we reached the calm waters and it was time for us to reenergize. We carried along with some fruits that we ate along the way. We had a light moment there and we proceed after gaining some energy. By the way, the activity is tiresome and takes a lot of energy, it needs you to have eaten something to have some energy to paddle.  |
WOULD I RECOMMEND THE ACTIVITY?
WHERE CAN I DO WHITE WATER RAFTING FROM IN UGANDA?
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
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| The joy after we had conquered our fears. The faces would tell how excited we were. |
