One of the “things to do” in Uganda is to go rafting at the source of the Nile. So early one morning I went out to Jinja to raft for the day. Most of my previous rafting experience was from Port Jervis, a place where you really need to paddle to make it down the river. These class 5 rapids were definitely going to be a big change from the class 0.5 rapids I was used to. And believe you me, they were. As we went down the first rapid our raft flipped. After swallowing some Nile water and being thrashed around a bit, I emerged and made my way back to the raft. The next few rapids were exhilarating, but I became more and more terrified as we went along. We proceeded to flip two more times throughout the day. At one point, we went down a 15 foot waterfall (but didn’t flip). The trip was awesome and was finished off with beer. I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Uganda, but I might be too scared to do it again. For those who know me well, it’s not a typical thing for me to say.
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March 29, 2009 at 6:54 am
Joshua Lewis
wow, it isn’t typical of you to say that. the white nile is a paddling hotspot though. I’d love to go and paddle it. maybe I’ll take you for a paddle on the much tamer Vaal when you’re here again.
March 30, 2009 at 2:33 pm
your mom
Once again – the risks you take are beyond belief from a reasonably sane person who does like an adventure now and again.
April 20, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Marijana
Jara, the name of your blog is “Jara goes to Africa” not “Jara goes to Africa to do dangerous things.” Some of your stories make me very nervous! Be careful! Oh and the pictures of the gorillas are beautiful. You’re going to have an amazing photo album when it’s all done. Miss you roomie!! xoxo -Mar
April 20, 2009 at 9:37 pm
smallj
You could be the perfect daughter to my mother. She says the same thing – that I take “unnecessary risks.” The rafting was probably less risky than some of my other travel experiences (that I leave out of the blog because my mom reads it).
June 2, 2009 at 11:44 pm
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