ITANDA = The Bad Place
Trip Start
Apr 09, 2008
1
48
138
Trip End
Aug 30, 2008
Where I stayed
Nile River Explorers Camp
Jinja, Uganda
Monday, May 19, 2008
We took off our wedding rings (and me, my earrings) for fear of losing them in the Nile.
We got given our gear: life jacket, helmet and paddle.
We met our guides, Nathan and Paulo (a national freestyle champion in kayaking).
We met our group, Americans living in Uganda, and named ourselves TEAM UPRIGHT.
We survived the first few rapids.
We flipped our raft on "50-50".
We swallowed too much Nile water.
We watched in amazement as all the kayakers practiced their stunts.
We saw an otter and lots of birds.
We had fresh pineapple and biscuits for lunch.
We had a thunderstorm chase us all afternoon.
We peed in the Nile.
We approached the last rapid of the day: ITANDA Falls (grade 6 rapid).
We opted for the "hard approach line" (versus the "Chicken Run" and "Middle Line").
We flipped our raft, obviously.
I banged up my knee somehow while being thrown around in the rapids and it hurts like mad.
We survived.
We sat in the truck for 45 minutes on the way back to camp.
We had a huge buffet dinner, included in the price.
We took cold showers.
We ate mango crumble and vanilla ice cream.
We met Dermot and Katie, who are on their one year around the world trip.
We watched the video taken of the rafters that day.
We bought the video for $45 US.
We paid with our traveler's cheques, first time to use them, and got US cash in change!
We climbed into our tent, me in agony.
We collapsed into deep sleep.
No recollection of any dreams, even on a Larium day!
Start: -
End: -
Distance Traveled: down the Nile, about 30 km.
Road Conditions: -
Temperature: hot and cold, on and off
Comments
Jinja
Hey, so nice to read you.
Great crazy souvenir for me also... and I did it with the same company 2 years ago and I remember perfectly well the 'bad place'!! unforgetable!!
Véro from Kigali
Hey Matt and Bonnie!
Wow, impressed how up to date your blog is . . . we have trouble keeping up with ours. It was great meeting you guys in Jinji. Good Luck with the rest of your trek through Africa. Maybe we'll see you in North America some time.