I have discovered I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie. I came to this realization while white water rafting on the Nile River, one of the world’s premiere rafting locations and home to the Nile Special (an awesome enough rapid that one of Uganda’s best beers was named after it). Most of the other people in the group was freaking out, hearts thumping and getting goosebumps as we plunged over waterfalls, got thrashed around by turbulent rapids and flipped out of our inflatable rafts into the white water; however, I seemed to be the epitome of cool and relaxed, enjoying the sensation of getting sucked under the rapids and being spit back out. In fact, I seemed to like it so much that I felt the need to get tossed out of my boat one more time while the rest of my friends and raft mates remained in the boat. It was fun and exciting as I realized the sheer force of nature and was reminded how insignificant I am.

To get to Jinja, the source and birthplace of the Nile River, we had to wake up at the crack of dawn and take a two-hour bus ride to Nile River Explorers Rafting Backpackers Hostel, where we got our protective gear, a brief orientation and a breakfast of Rolex (an omelette in a chapatti and one of the most amazing greasy breakfasts known to man), fruit and tea. From there we were transported by truck for almost an hour to the launching point, passing small villages and communities along the way and feeling like celebrities as we waved at all the children cheerily yelling at us. The scenery was beautiful: lush gardens and farms. A bat seemed to agree, as it hung solo from an electrical wire, having lost the rest of its colony.

We were a group of 11 people and we had to split into two rafts: a “wild and adventurous” boat and a “tame” boat. I was in the “tame” boat, as I did not mind which boat as I was in. Turns out it was a good choice, not only were we a pretty badass boat, but the company was fantastic. We were 5 gals on a mission and to show we were the coolest raft – we even had a team name and cheer. Our boat was goofy: teasing our guide and the safety kayakers, jumping out of the boat as soon as we were allowed, singing, playing drums on the raft… We even had a few battles going with the other boats, one of our gals got pulled out of the boat and I successfully threw waterweeds on the head of one of the other guides. It was as much fun during the restful leisurely, float down the river as it was tackling the seven rapids.

The rapids were amazing. The very first rapid after learning the basics of white water rafting, including how to “safely” flip and get back into the raft, was a waterfall with a six-metre drop followed by some rapids. It was the perfect way to start the adventure – not holding back and showing that there was nothing really to fear, even as the rapids jostled the raft like a dog tossing a chew toy and flipped our raft. The waterfall caused us to lose our footing and balance and we all slammed forward, piling on top of each other, only to quickly get back into position, paddle like crazy as we tackled the rapids. Our raft flipped. And we all popped out of the water one by one and rescued; I popped up near our raft and our guide who flipped our boat right side up and then yanked me back into it before we paddled forward to collect the rest of the gals.

Each rapid had its own personality. But almost all would bring our raft vertical, spray water at us and cough us out. If we remained in the boat upright there was a sense of accomplishment that would feed our energy for paddling the flats. Halfway through our adventure, we were rewarded with sugar cookies and pineapple, cut on an upside down kayak.

After basking in the sun and getting tossed in white water for 5-6 hours, we reached our destination where we engorged on delicious salad, bread, curry and beans. I finally sampled my first Uganda beer, fittingly Nile Special. We had been relaxing for about 30 minutes when I my entire body ached and that the two-hour return journey would pass a little more slowly. It would take me several hours before I realized that the pain was not because I had been paddling and surviving rafts, but because when we went over the waterfall on the first rapid, one of my raft mates slammed into me. Fortunately, beers and soft drinks were free-flowing on the ride back and it helped to numb the pain and offered distractions as the drunken conversations on the ride back were often entertaining.

The night was spent at the River Camp, where an interesting collection of people was staying. In some ways it felt like a frat party, with 40 year-old men passing around beer bongs, and a guy running across the dance floor with his pants down and a tail of ignited toilet paper tucked between his butt cheeks. I felt like I was in a strange universe, but between the long, energetic day and the early start the next morning, I was more interested in a hot shower and sleep than to judge or join in on the festivities.

When I awoke the next morning, the sun was rising over the Nile and surrounding marshes. The birds were just starting to wake up and a family of monkeys were taking over the roofs of the main buildings and eating fruits from the tree. It was the perfect way to end a great adventure weekend.