Jinja, Uganda

We went to Jinja for our last few days in Uganda to raft the Nile and to relax with our new friends that we met volunteering. We rafted a total of 8 big rapids, and managed to stay in the boat for just 3 of them.

There were only 4 of us paddlers in the raft plus our onboard guide, followed by a crew of 3 kayakers, a photographer, and a full sized safety raft. We thought this was a little overkill, but we soon realized that class 5 rafting in Africa is a little bit different. The first thing we did was go over a few safety precautions to the eerie bubbling of a puncture in the raft just below Kevin’s feet. Then, instead of paddling through the rapids we were told to “get down and hold on.” On the second rapid, we both hesitated a little when the get down command was called, and we instantly fell out of the boat.

As we walked through the busy market looking for the bus stand, it was really strange to hear the locals blasting old school Xmas carols in the dusty dirty African roads. We moved from town to spend a few nights along the water at Nile River Camp where we learned how to play the harmonica, make leg dreads and drink sambuca from an old raft paddle.

On the radio we listened to talk shows speak of western aid. The DJs were telling people to quit expecting western aid money and instead get up and work harder. They were amazed with how the US and European countries continue to donate their hard earned wages to countries like Zambia where over and over the corruption in the government wastes it away on huge birthday parties and other personal items.

We couldn’t have asked for a better trip through Uganda and savored our last dip into the Nile via rope swing.