They took us to their base in Jinja and gave us breakfast which was called a Rolex (not the watch I hasten to add) but egg and stuff rolled up into a chipata or whatever... anyway, I dislike egg and ended up with just the chipata and fresh orange juice.
We were then kitted out with safety gear including helmets and life jackets. Luckily there was a fitting on one of the helmets to fit my GoPro to show any final moments of my life lol!
After all the paperwork was done, ie signing your life away etc we jumped up on the back of an open truck towing the 3 rafts behind us.
We arrived at our set off point, jumped on board our raft where our Kiwi raft instructor/guide explained all the safety instructions and taught how to get back in the raft if it flipped over - now they tell us!
During the practice session of swimming under the raft and popping out the other side it became clear that the GoPro projecting several inches above my helmet could increase the chances of me drowning somewhat as I had to swim deeper! At this point Annabel was concerned for her dad but didn't tell me this until we had finished!
So, as the sun was beating down, it was 4 Italians on one raft and the Scots and Aussies on the other. They also had a safety raft which followed us along with 4 safety Kayakers.
It was a grade 5 to start but that didn't mean much to me until I saw it. Didn't want to show it to my daughter (who had already done this event last December) but I was shitting myself.
As we thundered in the instructor told us to get down and hold the rope - I was hanging on for dear life but although there waves of water pounding the raft it was all over after about 15/20 seconds. The adrenalin rush is something else though.
This was then followed by pleasant drifting down the Nile before another two grade 4's and another grade 4 - four rapids done and no flipping and no casualties - felt like experts before we stopped for lunch. This included cheese and ham rolled up in a chipata, cakes, sliced pineapple and juice or water.
Lunch done we climbed on board for more of the same. However, on the last rapid our Kiwi wanted to surf it - I think that was code for your going to make a sharp exit as we charge the rapids. To expedite this event he deflated parts of the raft.
As we headed in full steam I could see this wall of water coming towards us - it was like a tsunami charging at full pelt.
As it hit us the front of the raft lifted up to near vertical. As the impending doom of all the folk falling on top of me I decided to let go and get out of the way. As I did this my daughter followed suit and the raft bent in the middle and then straightened up but only leaving 2 managing to stay in the raft.
I ended up floating down the Nile in a life jacket with my daughter but the Kayakers were there to clean up the mess!
We climbed back on board and headed for shore. We had survived... geez.... I can tick that box and try something else now.
River Nile beers were consumed and we headed back on the truck where more beers were handed out - this would come to haunt me later.
Back at the River Nile camp my daughter and I got ready for dinner and headed up to a fancy restaurant near to the camp.
Food ordered, we talked over the days events. Soup arrived and we got stuck in. With the last few spoon fulls I could sense something wasn't right. I started to sweat and felt light headed.
My daughter sensed that I wasn't looking my best as I headed for the door to an eating area outside but I only made it half way before collapsing in a heap.
The 4 Italians came to the rescue along with an Englishman and a Polish couple who help run the resort. Two of the Italians had my legs in the air (to get the blood rushing to my head) - I must have looked a sight.... probably didn't look good for publicising the restaurant but it was absolutely nothing to do with their food, honest.
Water mixed with dehydration tablets soon had me back on my feet - lesson here - drink plenty water during a hot sunny day (not out of the river Nile)...
Several litres of water later I headed to bed bemoaning the Steak I had missed out on (and paid for btw).
Drinking copious amounts of water leads to one thing - several trips to the loo equals not much sleep!
Pictures of rafting to follow later but here is one of the sunset at the lodge...
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