Jinja

Sat 6th Feb, Adrift camp, Jinja, Uganda
Today is going to be a busy day. It started off slow, at 9am, there seemed to be only 2 or 3 people geared for rafting. I asked the staff and they said there would be 39! The bus from Kampala was not here yet, and that accounts for the delay.

Instead, i decided to start the day with my bungee jump! The Nile Bungy is a 44m drop down into the White Nile. (65 USD). It looks pretty close to the cliff overlooking the Nile, and it certainly looks as though you could smash yourself into the cliff. The staff reassured me that it was safe, heh. Then it was time to weigh myself, in preparation for the jump. *DRUMROLL!* I weigh 69.7kg, at least 8kg lighter than before. Best weight loss program ever! Got it written in black market on my hand.

Climbed up to the top of the tower, and tried not to think too much of the height as they tied up my feet to the rope. The jump itself was an exhilarating 2 sec drop before my head dipped into the water. Then my shirt got turned inside out, covering my face, leaving me disoriented while i ping-ponged about. Wooooooohoooooo!

I was really high on adrenaline after that and was raring to go on the rapids. The main body came along. I got my group, the miscellaneous rafters, 8 of us, collectively known as Team Mix, which wasn’t too imaginative, so later on we became Team Tutu, after our guide. The rapids were grade 3 to 5, with a couple of flippers, ending in Itanda, which means The Bad Place, a grade 6 rapid which we will avoid by going on land and continuing at the end.

It was excellent, we capsized once. The most dramatic though was probably when we got hit by a big one, and half the people on the dinghy fell off. I was one of them and got swept away before being picked up by a rescue kayak. No photos though, since there was no way i could bring my camera along with me. Pretty much worth the experience and cost (125 USD for white water full day)

Fri 5th Feb, Adrift camp, Jinja area, Uganda

Woke up, checked out the “coaster” buses at the Old Taxi Park for those going to Jinja, walked around and got some cash from the ATM (VISA only) before picking up my bags. The trip was 1.5 hours (4000 USH) but included a half hour just to get out of the taxi park. Otherwise, it was pretty uneventful.

At Jinja town, i got some lunch before taking a boda-boda (4000 USH) down to Adrift’s white water rafting base. It was a campsite, with safari tents, some dorms, and proper huts, together with a bar. The thing that drew my attention though was the bungee jump, as well as the Nile below, which can be viewed from the bar.

This place is crowded with foreigners. New Zealand run, you have the overland truck groups, the student volunteers, the church group, those working in Kenya or Uganda, and a smattering of independent travelers.

All dorm rooms were full though, so i was stranded, since my bodaboda left. I inquired about accomodation at the other white water rafting place, but rather than lose a potential customer to the competition, the sorted out something else for me. There were some tents coming in for some other group from Kampala overnighting in Jinja, so they had them bring in an extra tent for me. One of the co owners was a nice bloke who set this up for me and threw in 2 nights of free accomodation in the camping grounds (normally USD 5 per night, while dorms were USD 10)