April 12, 2008: Truly the best, most happiest (yes, most happiest) day of my entire life. I have no idea how to even begin to tell you about rafting on the Nile this past Saturday. You know how sometimes the world really just comes together in such a perfectly random and unexpected, unplanned way and creates a perfect experience? Well, that was Saturday. I started the day alone on a one hour shuttle ride from Kampala to Jinja (where the source of the Nile is), had breakfast with a room full of strangers and then by chance, got on the smaller of the two trucks loading all of the rafters in the back to take us to where we'd start our day of rafting...all complements of Nile River Explorers, probably the best rafting company in the world! The group in the back of my truck consisted of me and about 9 American college students who were on a program together in Uganda, but had been separated for several weeks and had come together for this little mini reunion. So they were all so excited to see each other, but also joining me in their conversation. And honestly, no offense to American college students (I used to be one!), but this group was SO FAR from being like so many I have met before. They were not obnoxious and immature but fun and adventurous and they adopted me into their group which is part of the reason I had such an amazing day and for which I was so grateful!
We got to the river and split our group into two groups of 5, were joined by 2 other random travelers and only by the luck of the world walked onto a raft with the most amazing raft guide of the day...Alex, although it took us forever to get his real name out of him! His nickname is Muzungu (white person), but we thought he was just kidding around with us until the guys at the bar were calling him that later...and I think it may actually be his last name...but we may never know:)!
We all agreed before we got on the water that we wanted to go HARD. All the way! We didn’t want to take any short cuts or easy routes, we wanted to go through the hardest waves and rapids. So we let Alex know (I think he was more than happy to oblige) and our quick 30 minute training started. I was SOOOOO nervous, he actually laughed at me because I looked so scared…but it was AMAZING. On the first rapid, a grade 4 or 5, when he yelled, “back paddle, back paddle” we all paddled like we had never paddled before…I mean, I thought this was SERIOUS. A matter of emergency. After we were back in the boat recovering from our first flip, Alex laughed as he told us that we had made ourselves flip over because of that back paddling! We loved him for that.
And so the day went. It was amazing. TRULY. I’m so excited thinking about it that I can’t figure out how to write about it. Luckily, I bought the DVD and will be able to show anyone who lets me pop it in for them once I’m home! I plan to go back in a few weeks and will even try to go again in June before I head home. Just everything about that day, from the group that adopted me, to Alex, to the rafting on the Nile freakin’ River, to the periods where we were just floating and swimming and enjoying the day and the gorgeous scenery (the clouds here are gorgeous), to me being the Flying Squirrel on the second to last rapid (something I can’t figure out how to explain in words on paper, but I can try in person or you can see it a few times on the DVD)…it was all part of what was the very best and happiest day of my life. The universe really came together and made that day nothing short of perfect.
On the bus ride back to the Nile River Explorers campsite (where we would enjoy a BBQ, some Nile Special beers and celebrate into the night), we were all on such an adrenaline high, still shocked and amazed by the day we had just experienced…truly intoxicated by life. I know I just wrote about drunk happiness last post, but the intoxication I felt on Saturday afternoon was about a million times as intense as after my jog when I discovered a piece of heaven. It seems that heaven, and whatever that means for each of us, is really all around us and it just keeps getting better if you take the time to open up your soul to its power.
To Alex, my raft group, the safety kayakers, NRE in general and anyone else that was a part of that day…THANK YOU! To all of you that couldn't be there, I probably thought of you at least once and wished you could have been…so you were with me in spirit!
We got to the river and split our group into two groups of 5, were joined by 2 other random travelers and only by the luck of the world walked onto a raft with the most amazing raft guide of the day...Alex, although it took us forever to get his real name out of him! His nickname is Muzungu (white person), but we thought he was just kidding around with us until the guys at the bar were calling him that later...and I think it may actually be his last name...but we may never know:)!
We all agreed before we got on the water that we wanted to go HARD. All the way! We didn’t want to take any short cuts or easy routes, we wanted to go through the hardest waves and rapids. So we let Alex know (I think he was more than happy to oblige) and our quick 30 minute training started. I was SOOOOO nervous, he actually laughed at me because I looked so scared…but it was AMAZING. On the first rapid, a grade 4 or 5, when he yelled, “back paddle, back paddle” we all paddled like we had never paddled before…I mean, I thought this was SERIOUS. A matter of emergency. After we were back in the boat recovering from our first flip, Alex laughed as he told us that we had made ourselves flip over because of that back paddling! We loved him for that.
And so the day went. It was amazing. TRULY. I’m so excited thinking about it that I can’t figure out how to write about it. Luckily, I bought the DVD and will be able to show anyone who lets me pop it in for them once I’m home! I plan to go back in a few weeks and will even try to go again in June before I head home. Just everything about that day, from the group that adopted me, to Alex, to the rafting on the Nile freakin’ River, to the periods where we were just floating and swimming and enjoying the day and the gorgeous scenery (the clouds here are gorgeous), to me being the Flying Squirrel on the second to last rapid (something I can’t figure out how to explain in words on paper, but I can try in person or you can see it a few times on the DVD)…it was all part of what was the very best and happiest day of my life. The universe really came together and made that day nothing short of perfect.
On the bus ride back to the Nile River Explorers campsite (where we would enjoy a BBQ, some Nile Special beers and celebrate into the night), we were all on such an adrenaline high, still shocked and amazed by the day we had just experienced…truly intoxicated by life. I know I just wrote about drunk happiness last post, but the intoxication I felt on Saturday afternoon was about a million times as intense as after my jog when I discovered a piece of heaven. It seems that heaven, and whatever that means for each of us, is really all around us and it just keeps getting better if you take the time to open up your soul to its power.
To Alex, my raft group, the safety kayakers, NRE in general and anyone else that was a part of that day…THANK YOU! To all of you that couldn't be there, I probably thought of you at least once and wished you could have been…so you were with me in spirit!
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