I swallowed the Nile - Jinja, Uganda
Jinja, Uganda
21-2-2016 Jinja, Uganda
Another travel day, two in a row, sometimes traveling isn’t as glamourous as everyone thinks. We drove around 6.5 hours today. We were all a bit on edge not quite knowing of we would be coming into Uganda today or staying another night in Kenya. Our guide Kanyo had friends in Uganda and was in contact with the campsites and told us as long as we stayed in the campsites and out of the cities we would be fine. Getting through customs was way less of a hassle than I thought it was going to be. We had to stop on the Kenyan side first and get through. Easy as a simple stamp. Then a short drive to the Uganda side, some easy paper work and bam, we were through. It took ore time getting into Kenya and Cambodia. We also changed money right at the border. They have guys that wear “official money changing shirts” that you go to. So far they have given us a good rate, but you will have quite a few gather around you which can be a bit intimidating.
Then we didn’t get out of the truck for the next 6 hours. Not even for lunch. Since Uganda was in such a state of unrest, we ate lunch on the move. We did make one stop for a bush pee at the equator and to get a quick photo at the sign. I can now say that I have peed on both the northern and southern hemisphere. Once we moved into Uganda the country side almost immediately changed from dry dessert to lush green forest. It is also way more humid here. All in all, it was just a very long day in the truck. Our campsite is on the banks of the Nile so we all booked in for some white water rafting fun tomorrow. We also were on our own for dinner and the campsite we stayed at offered burgers, schnitzel, and other goodies.
Also it rained quite a bit on the drive on and the roads were starting to get a little muddy. The roads we drive on range from nice and paved, to paved with a lot of potholes, to pretty flat dirt to close to off-roading. You can imagine our large truck getting stuck in the mud, so our driver was quite carful on the dirt rods. One of the roads was just surrounded by children. Everyone should get to experience dozens of children so excited to see you, yelling and smiling and waving. As we pulled up to the campsite we all got a little concerned as it looked like there was a large group of men blocking the entrance to the campsite, but right at the last second we turned. Just a mini panic as we heard there had been some riots in the city that day because of the election. Thankfully we never had any issue.
22-2-2016 Jinja, Uganda
Our second day we all signed up for whitewater rafting down the Nile. We were split into two groups, those of us who wanted to go huge and occasionally get smashed (me) and those who wanted to go less huge and not get smashed at all (Jennifer). From our camp in was about a 45 min ride in a rickety open truck. Driving mostly through the bush with the occasional hut with kids running out and waiving around every turn. After a quick breakfast of a rolex (which is a chipati, i.e. almost like a thicker savory crepe, with an omelet inside) and a briefing, we got into our rafts and went over calls, how to hang on and then flipped the raft so we could get back in. They know going in that they will probably flip at some point. The rapids we were going over were class V and below. We would be going through eight rapids each separated by some flat pools.
The first two sets were pretty huge, I was in the front of the boat so of course the waves looked massive, we had a bit of a “surf” after the second set and almost flipped but we managed to stay upright. Before the third large set of rapids we had to portage the rafts to get by a section that was class 6 or 7. Our guide said he’s only done it in a kayak. We started out in the middle of the rapids and it was the first time we flipped. We almost made it through and just hit the rapid wrong, I was in the front of the raft and I got launched. I landed at the right point, I was never under water that long and then got to float down the river. This was actually a lot of fun. I got some great GoPro footage of it. Towards the end of the set I was ‘recued’ (I didn’t need it but welcomed the break) by one of the kayaks that followed us through and got a free ride back to the boat. We did another “surf’ in a rapid called Chloe’s hole. Named after an American kayaker who just got stuck in the hole and according to our guide “just got worked!” it was a big hole and we almost got flipped but managed to make it out.
Jen’s boat managed to stay upright the whole time and no one fell out. After our raft flipped they even rescued some of the people from the water. They did have a few close calls, but were able to hang on and stay in the raft.
The final set of rapids were the biggest of the day. It was a small rapid fallowed by three big ones. Our guide told us that if we made it passed the first two big ones to just jump out after the second. Jen’s raft went first and as they entered the rapids, they made it to second rapid and the front of their raft was basically launched straight up into the air and flipped over the front of the raft. This meant that everyone in the front of the raft landed on the everyone in the back. Jen was sitting furthest back with the guide and had a GoPro on her helmet and caught the whole thing.
I didn’t have to worry about having to jump out of the raft, the first big rapid tossed me ‘ass over elbows’ out of the raft. One second I was holding on and the next second I was under water. The first time I went over it wasn’t bad. I was able to get myself sorted and able to enjoy the float down the remaining rapids. This time however, I felt like I was under water stuck in the spin cycle. When I finally came up I only had time for one breath of air before I was smashed by the next rapid. I think I swallowed half of the river. Here’s to hoping I don’t get an awesome Nile parasite. Once I realized I wasn’t going to die it was actually a fun ride. I looked around and could see a bunch of bobbing heads (as we were right behind the other raft the whole trip). After we all made it back into our respective rafts it was only a short paddle to the exit point.
We were fed an awesome BBQ and given several beers before the hour long bumpy truck ride back to the campsite. It was close to 5pm by the time we made it back, a very long day on the river = tired group. I hightailed it to the shower to clean off. We enjoyed a great burger and barely made it to 8pm before everyone said goodnight.
23/2/2016 Jinja, Uganda
We were still pretty tired from rafting the day before so we had a late morning. The campsite had a nice little restaurant that we were able to order a nice big breakfast every day. After a big breakfast of eggs, beans and bacon most of the group set out on a tour of the village with a local guide. The village tour was great. We were shown the inside of a couple houses (much bigger than the huts we saw at the Maasai village.) Our guide told us that families live together and whatever grows on their land is theirs. They farm everything they eat, but it is not grown in a typical farm fashion. As we walked around his house there may be a potato plant in one spot, and then another plant on the other side of the house. Everything was very sporadic. A lot of it they didn’t even plant themselves, they just let nature take its course and get what they get. He did make a point of showing us his hemp plant.
It was really hot today and not being on the river we were really feeling the heat. After walking for about an hour we visited the local school. On the way we saw a few younger children, and one little boy that was really brave and walked right up to us. He was about a year old and we all kept trying to get him to smile. He was really cute. Once we got to the school they gave us an introduction. Around 100 kids attended and only three teachers. The young children sang us a song and we had to sing one back. The group was put on the spot, we had to think fast. What is a song an international group of people all know and can sing without practicing?
I’m a little teapot
Yep, we sang I’m a little teapot, including the dance, twice. The kids loved it. After the singing and dancing the kids got to come say hello. They loved giving highfives, after a few of them they started smacking my hand as hard as they could. We didn’t stay too much longer so we all said goodbye to the young kids and headed out to finish the tour. Luckily Jennifer brought some hand sanitizer so we all loaded up on that before heading back to the tour guides house for a home cooked meal.
The lunch his family had prepared for us was amazing. We had sweet potato, a peanut sauce, spinach that looked and tasted just like collard greens, some awesome cabbage (tasted like sauerkraut) and some red beans. It tasted like a meal you would get in the southern US. Which, if you think about it makes sense. Who cooked for all the southern families for a long time? Slaves. Where did the saves come from? Africa. At least that’s how Jennifer and I made sense of it. We all had several servings and were good and full by the time the tour ended. We also had kisava, which is the root of a tree that they dig up and then peel off the outside and cook it many different ways. It is the staple of their diet and we got to try it fresh and friend into big chips.
It was around 3pm when we got back into camp, the group had all booked on to take a sunset/ booze cruise. Everyone had a small rest before taking a shower and getting ready for the evening. During the day Kanyo picked up three more people to be added to the tour. Two more guys got added! We’re slowing crawling our way back to even numbers. We decided to cool off and jump in the river as our campsite overlooked part of it and then we rinsed off in showers that overlooked the water. Everyone was ready for a fun night when we boarded the boat. We also had a birthday in the group so everyone was itching for some drinks. The girls even put on mascara (I know, super fancy).
Everyone had too much to drink.
Well, maybe not too much but everyone was certainly on a mission to get drunk. Plus, the bartenders didn’t know how to pour a drink that wasn’t half alcohol. Not that any of us were complaining. After three whiskey cokes I was feeling it and decided to stop. I had no intentions of being hungover in the Ugandan heat. The cruise only lasted two hours, leave at 5 back at 7. If you’ve done the math, everyone in the group was drunk or one drink away from drunk by 7 pm. I started drinking water and stuck with that plan for the rest of the night. Jennifer for once was not smarter than me. She started doing shots with the young kids. She paid dearly for this mistake the next day. Surprisingly most people were asleep before 11 pm. I guess it’s not actually that surprising as most were drunk by 7pm.
24/2/2016 Jinja Uganda
Hangover day.
We slept in, had a late breakfast. Took a nap. Went to the pool at the campsite next door. Had dinner. Went to bed by 8. That all.
No literally that was it.
Well, there was one small thing I had to deal with (other than a small hangover). Like a muppet I left my Tevas outside the tent when we went to sleep/passed out. There was a small puppy around the camp. My guess is you can put two and two together. The little **** decided my jandal would make an excellent chew toy. Lucky for me Jennifer heard what was going on and saved it before too much damage was done. He only managed to get through a small bit of plastic holding down a strap. It was nothing a zip tie couldn’t fix. Crisis averted.
Also the campsite we went to next door that had the pool also had way better internet than our campsite did. So after we had a nice swim and a snack, I decided to go back and shower while Jen stayed to get the blog loaded online as she does all of the pictures and this is what takes forever to load up on awesome Africa internet. While she was over there, there was a creepy guy that was staring at her from the front part of the restaurant. He wouldn’t come into the restaurant and just kept motioning for her to come over. When she went to leave about an hour later he was still hanging around the front. I was about to go and check on her as it was getting dark, but she got the waitress to walk her back to our campsite. Luckily we didn’t see the guy again. All of the campsites we have stayed at have guards and the majority have fences to protect us from animals and issues with locals as well. We have never really felt unsafe on the trip, however it can be intimidating when there are large groups of people around that aren’t speaking English especially since it is pretty much impossible here to not stick out like a sore thumb.