Africa Overland Part 4 – Rafting the Nile

After our time with the gorillas we made the long drive to the town of Jinga in Uganda. Jinga is located at the source of the Nile River and is becoming known as a popular spot in East Africa for a variety of outdoor adventures. Our group stayed at Kalagala Falls Tented and Overland Camp. When we arrived we found out we would be the first guests to ever stay there as they had just opened that day. They also upgraded us to dorms with sparkling clean newly constructed bathrooms with hot showers so no tent camping was required at this stop. The camp offered a variety of activities and we decided that whitewater rafting on the Nile River was a once in a lifetime opportunity we should not pass up.

Our outfitter was Adrift Adventures and I did not know in advance that they specialize in rafting for adrenaline seekers. Somehow I ended up as the only female in a raft of eight plus our guide named Tutu. We were given a briefing about the rapids we would go through and I learned we would be attempting two class five and about four class four rapids. Being a casual whitewater rafter, I didn’t really have a good grasp on how big those might be but all sounded okay to me. We were given decent enough PFDs and helmets. There was also a safety boat and several kayakers that would paddle along with us to help any rafters that fell out of their boats as needed.

Once we were on the water in a calm area of the river, Tutu had us practice flipping over the raft and making sure we were able to get out from under the capsized raft and get back in. As we approached the first big rapid it looked more like what I would call a waterfall from the top. After a pause on a rock at the top, we ended up going down the rapid (or waterfall) backward but did not flip. It was awesome. There were long stretches of flat water in between rapids on the Nile so we had to paddle quite rigorously to keep moving forward on these sections. This was not the leisurely float I was used to back home.

At the next rapid Tutu asked if we wanted to flip our boat in the class four rapids. Everyone in the raft but me wanted to flip. I have never been rafting where the boat was flipped over on purpose in a giant rapid so this was a new concept to me. Since I knew it was coming I took a big breath and counted as I was washed under the water after the raft flipped and dumped everyone into the raging river. I surfaced after about three seconds and a kayaker scooped me up and took me to our raft where I held on until I was pulled back in the boat. I would not say I enjoyed falling out of the boat immensely but it actually wasn’t terrible.

We went through a few more class five rapids without flipping our boat and those were a blast. These rapids were by far the biggest I have ever been near and going through them was thrilling. After taking the raft out of the water and walking around a class six rapid that was thankfully deemed too dangerous to attempt (it was massive), we reached another class five rapid and Tutu told us there was a 50/50 chance our raft would flip. As soon as we entered the rapids the raft completely turned over. After that I felt like I was inside a washing machine as there was so much water all around and I could not tell which way was up. After surfacing I was still in the middle of the rapids, which were so large that I was disoriented. I unintentionally swallowed a good bit of Nile Water as it roared all around me. I found the capsized raft and held on to the side rope for dear life. Rob said he is not even sure how long he was under the water but it felt like it took him quite a while to make it to the surface.

Our guide up-righted the raft and pulled me in. After this experience I know for certain I like experiencing big rapids from inside the boat rather than in the water. We stopped for a catered lunch on an island in the river where a huge number of bats were flying around constantly – kind of cool but also a little creepy. We were served grilled veggie kabobs and potato salad (they made us special vegan versions of both which was nice). After the lunch stop we had one more class five rapid to get through. We paddled like crazy as instructed and made it down without flipping and everyone cheered. Adrift Adventures had photographers along the river and provided us with video and photos of our rafting via email, which was a nice touch and that is where all the images seen here came from. They had plenty of safety measures in place to make sure everyone was looked after throughout the trip but it was by far the wildest rafting experience I will probably ever have. It was definitely an amazing experience I will never forget.

Our camp in Jinga was right on the Nile River and had a nice bar with beer and wine and even a lovely restaurant with some vegetarian food, including jackfruit BBQ sandwiches on the menu. Our group had the whole place to ourselves so it was a pleasant home base for our last two nights in Uganda.