From the truth or dare game, I was dared to go rafting on the White Nile.
“How hard could it be?” I said to myself then. That weekend my friend and I set off from the suburbs of Kampala city by bus to Jinja.
We got to Jinja by mid-morning. There were different kinds of people. You could tell the nervousness in folks that were going to go rafting for the first time. For folks that had done it before, they were thrilled to be at it again. I was a little bit of both; thrilled yet nervous at the same time.
After picking up the life jackets, paddles, and helmets provided; a crash course on safety precautions was laid out for us. We formed teams and with our captain assigned, we set off to size up with our first rapid. The rapids were of different levels, that’s to say the higher the number the meaner the rapid.
Over time we bounced and shimmed a lot, we spent more time in the air than sitting on inflatable rubber. A level three rapid which was high for us the unprofessional rafters caught us swiftly; trying as hard as we could to adhere to our captain’s instructions, the raft eventually overturned and we were all submerged by roaring white water.
Luckily our life jackets pushed us afloat and the stationed kayaks that paddled fast to our rescue were good at their jobs. We were soon reunited with our raft.
With the scenery of beautiful green forest, it felt like being alone in the wilderness. We paddled further across the White Nile to a designated location where we had lunch and talked about our white water rush experience felt a few moments ago.
If you are searching for a sense of excitement and adventure, adrenaline push experiences to share, Jinja is certainly a good start.
By Bridget Namaganda
