(Just in case you thought I was only working and having no fun on this trip, read on…)
Hey guys! Well I’ve
made it safely to Uganda and have been here for almost 1 week now. So far the beauty of the country has
exceeded all of my expectations and pre-conceived notions. But let me first catch you up on a little of
what’s happened since Kenya.
After taking an 8+ hour bus ride from our last contact in
Kenya, we arrived in a town called Jinja, located in the southern region of
Uganda. There our team of 6 met up with
our entire squad of 45 (yes our squad is dwindling as some have gone home for
various reasons). So my team got to
the camp site at around 1am to set up our tents in the dark and get some sleep.
I knew we were near the Nile river as I could hear water near by, but because
it was so dark when I arrived I could not see anything beyond the 10 ft in
front of me that my head-lamp illuminates.
Upon waking the following morning, I crawled out of my tent and
stretched my arms upwards to the sky, only to peer over to my left and see that
our camp site was set up on the cliffs overlooking the Nile River! I literally had a look of shock and awe on my
face as I looked at the might Nile gushing below me. Seriously, I could run and jump off this
cliff about 10 yards away from my tent and hurl myself in the Nile 100 feet
below! But of course I didn’t…well not
yet.
That morning, most of our squad took up the opportunity to
raft now and shoot the rapids of the Nile!
Which according to the guides and all the brochures, these include class
5 rapids which are the biggest rapids that are commercially legal. I’ll admit I was bit scared before jumping
the raft, but I after flipping on the first big rapid and finding it wasn’t
that bad, I couldn’t wait to hit the next big rapid! Its such an amazing adrenaline rush! Not only was it one of the most fun
adventures, it was simply breath-taking how beautiful the surround scenery
surround the river was. There were naked
village children along the riverbanks playing and bathing as we paddled along
the flat spots of the river. It was as if I was taking a journey back into
Biblical times as I floated down this historic river! For an adrenaline junky like myself, I could
not ask for a more perfect day of 5-6 hours on the water, only interrupted by
an amazing lunch that was set up for us on a shaded island. (Note to supporters- don’t worry, this is not
your money supporting these adventure days. I’m still living on $4/day for
food. haha)
The following day I thought I’d get a little more
adventurous. Since bungee jumping has
always been an aspirating of mine, it was convenient that the rafting company
offered a discount to bungee over and into the Nile if you went rafted the day
before! How could I resist. So a much
smaller number of jumped on this deal to jump off a crane type platform erected
over the Nile. It was pretty
intense! Before jumping, the instructor
(who really didn’t give me any instruction except jump out and enjoy~) had
asked me if I wanted a small or big dip into the water at the bottom of the
jump. Without thinking, I responded,
“Big dip!� 
Many of my friends came up
just short of touching the water below, but he gave be sufficient slack on my
cord, for better or worst, and I submerged headfirst down to my waist into the River right before
the bungee line tightened and pulled me back up against gravity! It was so
legit! I guess the only other instruction I got before jumping was, “Don’t hit the water face first,
otherwise you’ll have 2 black eyes.�
Thank god I came out just as handsome as ever. Just kidding.
But it was a great couple of days of fun and
relaxation with my squad mates who I hadn’t seen all month.
On to our next location of Lira, Uganda… see next blog.
