Nile River Rafting

I didn't know when I was on that excruciatingly dreadful bus ride to Uganda, that I would find soon find myself face to face with the most powerful rapids along the Great White Nile, otherwise known as: death. Water isn't my biggest fear, but I think drowning would be a horrible way to go, especially while volunteering in Africa. However, once the idea got into my head, I thought about what a great story it would make, and decided there was no possible way I could leave without doing it.

Our guide's name was Prince Charles. I should have known then what I was in for. Oh Prince. He was so intimidating that he made you think that if you didn't listen to him carefully, you'd drown. It started easy enough, but after only 30 seconds of practice when Prince decided we were ready to go, I got a little nervous. Rapids range from grade 1 to grade 6, but rafts aren't permitted to go through a grade 6. Certain death. We were to take on four ‘grade 5’ rapids, and even more ‘grade 4’ and ‘grade 3.’ The thing about these rapids is you don't have time to really prepare yourself for what's about to happen, and it’s scarier than you can ever imagine. You hear them, the song of death, for about 3 full minutes before you begin the decent, but you can’t actually see the rapids until you’re right on top of them. Surprise attack. No matter how many times you’ve taken a rapid, no matter the size, the same intense feeling of anxiety, washes over you. And that, my friends, is because you never forget the first time you get thrown over. Trapped under water, no idea when you’ll surface…it’s the scariest feeling in the world. You have to count, to keep calm. You count because Prince tells us you’ll never be under for longer than seven seconds. Seven seconds is an eternity when the Nile is on top of you. But no matter how much it scares you, you get addicted. Well, I did at least. Not too surprising considering I seek adrenaline rushes as a hobby. It was incredible, and I have not one picture. Lucky I don’t...my camera probably would have ended up at the bottom of the Nile, up in Egypt.

But I think I was right, it did make a pretty great story.