Gone Raftin'

We took another break from work a few weeks ago to visit Jinja, which is about an hour and a half drive east of Kampala. Jinja is home to the source of the Nile River, at the spot where the river starts out of Lake Victoria. It's quite well known as an adventure seekers paradise, with bungee jumping, horseback riding and mountain biking available. But of course the main attraction is the white-water rapids of the Nile, which is the reason we were there for the weekend.

Our day on the river started with a bang, as we went over this 'little' waterfall right off the bat. Somehow we managed to stay in the boat through this section, but that wouldn't be the case later in the day.

Enjoying a relatively quiet moment... there were actually long stretches of calm, smooth water in between the eight rapids of the day. We did quite a lot of paddling to get down the river - I think we did about 25 km in total.


Each boat had a guide at the back, who seemed to do most of the work of keeping the boats upright through the rapids - or ensuring that the boat flipped, if that's what you wanted. Our guide, Juma, seemed to be a bit more experienced and responsible than a few of the others, much more cautious. Some of the younger guys seemed to try to flip their boat at each rapid!

Of course we did flip a few times, leaving you disoriented for a few intense moments. The only thing to do is hold your breath and wait for the lifejacket to pop you back up to the surface.

Jinja is definitely the big tourist destination in the country, particularly for the younger backpacker types. I had a bit of cultureshock while at the rafting campground bar, being surrounded by more 'muzungus' than I had seen in one place in months. It's a combination rafting adventure company, hostel and campground, with about 150 tourists partying it up in the bar.