Jinja - A Fight For Survival

Three days ago, we made our first border crossing, leaving Kenya and heading into Uganda - the pearl of Africa. Our first stop was the action town of Jinja, which sits right at the source of the Nile and Lake Victoria.

The thing to do here is water sports on the Nile and I decided to try white water tandem kayaking on grade IV and V rapids. Some in our group did rafting, but I never did white water kayaking, and so thought, yeap, let's try something new. It was one hell of a ride.

At the start, the guide asks how we should tackle the rapids (easy, medium and hardcore) and of course, we went full on, which a chance of flipping over at 95%. The first few rapids were already challenging, but the kayak did not flip. Then came a grade V rapid, called "A Bad Place" (every rapid has a name).

Finding ourselves in the middle of the rapid after making a solid start, we flipped upside down with the guide and me under water. We received a safety briefing before, but when flipping in a grade V rapid, survival instintict kicked in first. The guide was supposed to flip the kayak back up, but my position did not allow him to do just that. After being under water for what felt like an eternity (it was in fact 'just' about 15 seconds), my brain started to go through the safety process of how to get out of a kayak via the 'ejection handle' that we were taught before. Once I felt it, I immediately pulled it. By the time I was out of the kayak and floating above water with fresh air in my lungs, I was surrounded by 5-6 safety kayaks that would have flipped our kayak back up or gotten us out of there within the next few seconds. I guess the key learning is, do not panic, stay rational, go through the process step-by-step and you'll be fine. Easier said than done in a grade V rapid.

After that little adventure, there was still a few grade IV rapid, called 'Vengence', to tackle and we went again full on straight through the middle - not flipping this time!
What a crazy, adrenaline-fuelled, fun, and great experience - what do again in a heartbeat.

Anyway, the following day, we explored the local village for a bit and ended our three days in Jinja with a sunset booze cruise on the Nile river, before falling asleep in our tents to the sound of the African rain.Read more