Wow - what an awesome, awesome day spent on the Nile Rafting. We were picked up nice & early from the campsite & taken to another location for a great big feed to make sure we had plenty of energy for the day.
Our raft had 7 in it & a crazy guide called Alex or 'mzungu' (african joke, he's as black as ace of spades & mzungu means white person) None of us had ever rafterd before so we had a brief lesson in the calm waters on how it all worked, how to get back into the boat after it tips, what to do if you end up under the boat or floating away or stuck in a whirlpool. all lovely comforting thoughts just before your about to attempt a grade 5 rapid. But really its all pretty simple...as you go into the rapid you paddle as hard as you can, and when he says "Get Down" you get down bloody quick & hold on as hard as you can.
It was honestly one of the coolest days ever. There were several grade 4's & 5's and a few grade 3's. We spent plenty of time in the water thanks to our crazy guide. We'd told him at the start we'd wanted to go for it, so go for it he did. Generally our attempts at the rapids ended up being the most spectacular.
There was one spot with a section of the rapid called the g-spot..the plan was to go around it as the water was low & the water was pretty rough. typically it did not quite go to plan. Our boat was spun around, sending our guide flying of the back & the boat straight into the g-spot for a bit of 'surfing' which basically means you get stuck in the middle of the water being spun round & round till the river decides she's had enough & spits you out.
We lost a couple of people out of the boat, 2 of the blowup seats out of the middle & Bri ended up with a split lip. We were stuck in there for about 2 or so mins, which when your stuck in a washing machine& the boat threatening to tip every second - a few mins feel s like forever. Totally scary at the time, complete excitement when we had come out alive & undamaged.
B'cos it was a sunday it meant that there was lots of local woman & childen down at the waters edge doing the weeks washing in the river, slapping them against the rocks to dry them. when we werent being thrown around in white water it was great just to relaxt & watch the locals.
was a fantastic day, completed with beers & a bbq at the end of it, whilst watching the video of the day & everyone having a good laugh at our rapid attempts.
