Rafting, Jumping, and Bananas

Uganda was just unbelievable. We had the most amazing time. Crossing the border at 630am is a little sketchy but we made it. Africans cut in line a lot so we almost had a rumble in the Ugandan customs office but all was resolved without altercation. I'm so relieved that we were traveling in a group of six and not solo or with one other. We travelled all day to get to Kampala, an enormous bustling city that is quite overwhelming. It took us almost 10 hrs to get there and we were exhausted. we went to red chilli after an amazing indian dinner and passed out. the next morning we were picked up at 8am and transfered to Jinja by our rafting company. Jinja is where the source of the Nile river is coming out of Lake Victoria. It flows north towards Egypt. We bunjeed first. I was terrified but Mona, Erica, and Lakshmy were nervous too so I had to go first and be fearless. to say I had the shakes is an understatement. and then the bunjee guys asked me if i wanted a 'water touch' and i said sure. its not that scary until you are looking over the edge of the platorm and they tell you to let go. but, I jumped upon command and fell almost 200 feet into the nile. I got dunked up to my waist, and then 'boinged' several times. No time to waste, we were immediately put into a boat to raft. Our guide, David from Portland, was awesome. The rapids on the nile are mostly class 4 and 5. There are many 6's (unrunnable) that we carefully manuevered around. They have names like Overtime (15ft waterfall), bugigali falls (another waterfall), sibling rivalry, dead dutchman, and then the big one: Itunda. We ran Itunda through a hole that is called 'the bad place'. I suggested that they rename it. We rafted for 7 hrs down 35 kilometers of the nile. We swam, saw birds and snakes, and almost died several times. Then it was time to return to Kampala. We were bused home and could barely keep our eyes open. We went out to a Thai dinner anyways and were completely asleep minutes after returning to our hostel. We departed from Kampala early the next morning heading back to Kabale, a border town 6 hrs away. We arrived at the bus station at 930 and our bus did not leave until 1230pm. We were swarmed by Ugandans and sold lots of stuff. We spent a total of 10 hrs on a bus that day. Upon arrival in Kabale, we jumped into a taxi to take us to a boat to take us to an island in the middle of Lake Bunyoni. Bushara Island was much like being on safari, we stayed in tented camps and we serenaded to sleep by birds and ate wonderful food fireside. I wish I could have stayed for days but alas, we had to return to Kigali. Uganda was an amazing weekend, a beautiful place with amazing people. I hope it will not be so long before i return.