“Down!” shouts the guide.
I reach over my oar and gripped the rope on the side of the
raft.
Water surges over me.
I clench my eyes and mouth closed.
I’m getting better about holding my
breath!
The next thing I know, I’m being smacked around and pushed
under by the white water.
Somehow I manage to not panic. I open my eyes under water, and I wait for my
life jacket to do its job. Soon enough
(I didn’t swallow or choke on any water!), I am pulled back into the raft where
I can finally catch my breath.
Is this supposed to fun?!
I mean, I guess it is during the calm water parts (this cannot be
compared to floating in Missouri),
but the rapids are stressing me out!
The rafting company makes a video of the rapids highlights,
so later that night, we get to see more of what actually happened on the
river. My favorite part of the video is
not the awesome flips of the rafts but the presence and speedy reactions of the
several rescue kayakers.
We camped out in tents in Jinja, Uganda,
near the source of the Nile
River. Gorgeous views! Some of my squadmates also bungee jumped from
the cliff over the river.
It rained in the night, as it always does when I camp out,
but overall, good times.
