Why Not?!

I'm not even really sure how to start this post, because the events of the past weekend were hands down (you can't see me, but I actually put my hands down) some of the most amazing I've ever experienced.

After three straight weeks in our village, it was time for our 4 day travel weekend, which we used to go out to Uganda. This has sort of been an SIC tradition, and a notoriously cool trip. There's a little town in Uganda called Jinja, which just-so-happens to be the home of the source of Nile (y0u know, that pseudo-famous thing that flows NORTHWARD; think crocodile hunter (may he r.i.p.), papyrus, hippos, ummm...lots of water. We decided it would be a great idea to go white water rafting down this sucker.

In order to first get to Uganda, we had to take a bus from Arusha, which connects in Nairobi, Kenya, then goes through to Kampala, Uganda. We ended up spending about 24 hours on these buses, with little more than water, pringles and sandwich crackers, but managed to make it in one piece. We did have a little incident where our bus broke down in the middle of the night somewhere in Kenya, and we were a little frightened, mostly because our bus was being guarded by a dude wielding a machete...nothing really went amiss, and i ended up getting some decent sleep for a few hours, so we weren't that bothered in the end. in fact, the delay probably allowed me the best sleep i had all weekend. It was practically impossible to sleep on the bus with the tight arrangements and excruciatingly bumpy roads. All in all though, we made it safe, and were never happier to step foot on the ground after leaving the bus.

Our rafting trip started early Sunday morning when we drove to Jinja to begin the adventure. We were welcomed, suited up, given some directions, and before we knew it we were already rafting around the Nile. This river is nothing to sneeze at...it's absolutely gorgeous, and puts you in your place. I've been told the crocodiles and hippos live further downstream, but I don't know if they tell you that just to keep you from worrying or if it's actually true.

My raft guide is a Ugandan named Geoffrey. After a little inquiry, we found out he's the number one Kayaker in Uganda, and is amongst the best in the world. But despite his prestige in the world, he has an awesome sense of humor and was soooo much fun to raft with. He got stuck with a raft full of giggling girls who didn't know what the crap they were doing, but handled us well, and got an even bigger kick out of flipping our raft. Anytime we'd come upon some sort of choice or challenge, Geoff would respond to us with a resounding "why not?!" which usually meant we were about to get flipped again. On the second day, Geoff also introduced us to a few buddies of his that were on the banks downstream...no biggie, i thought...turns out that these two guys were the TOP 2 kayakers in the world!!! CRAZY!!

I'm not really sure what I had in mind when I decided to go rafting...and on the Nile of all places...turns out there are 5 raft-able classes of rapids, 1 being the most benign and 5 being the most dangerous and highest level for recreational rafting. We hit up class 3, 4 AND 5 rapids which were pretty intense!! In fact, some of the girls in our raft would get so scared that they wouldn't bother to jump into the water to relieve themselves, but just peed the raft mid-rapid. We got flipped a dozen times (no thanks to Geoff...he mostly instigated the flipping) and also made it over some pretty amazing rapids. It was thrilling, beautiful and something that I will remember forever. The first day was thrilling, exciting and full of laughter...we discovered that it's pretty much impossible to get back into your raft with any sort of grace...picture a beached whale trying to get anywhere, and you've got an idea of what it was like trying to get back in the boat.

But at the same time, it was such an amazing feeling to just float down the Nile, gaze up at the sky and surrounding beauty while you let the current pull you along. I can't even really describe it in words. It was almost something you could describe as a paradise, except for the fact that I was always mildly afraid that something was gonna bite my toes or that I'd swallow an amoeba. (btw, i'm probably going to bring home some gnarly sickness after all the nile water i swallowed...hamna cheetah)

The second day of rafting we went further down the river, hit some more rapids and had a great time. The last rapid is such that you can actually surf it with your raft...you get lodged into the water and can surf the rapid that's going down while the white from the wave pushes you back into the original rapid. It's freakin scary, but also AWESOME. We did this repeatedly, and somehow, without fail, I managed to be the only one thrown from the raft...every time. One time I did a sweet back flip into the water and was able to maintain my hold on the rope on the raft...if only I could say it was intentional. I also got to boogie board on that same rapid which was even more intense...I'm so glad I worked myself up to do it!! I can easily see how people get addicted to extreme sports.

Speaking of extreme...my trip didn't end with just the rafting. The company that we booked our trip with is also notorious for their Bungie Jump over the Nile. Although nervous, I just had to say, "why not?!" and worked myself up to do the darn thing. 45 meters above the water, OMG...it was ridiculous, awesome, scary and thrilling all at the same time. After jumping off the platform, I felt like I was flying over the river, only to head down, and touch the water with my fingers and the top of my head. WOW. I have a few pictures of the experience, but it doesn't quite capture the feeling.

So all in all, this weekend was absolutely incredible. You'll have to ask me more about it later so I can share more about it, but wow. I've never done anything like that before in my life!! The weekend was amazing, and even though I've now got a pretty gnar-gnar sunburn, the long bus rides, tired body and all were worth it!! Why not?!