Rafting the Nile, part 1

Back in December, I wrote a blog called “De-nied de-Nile” so part one of this adventure really begins there. Once you’ve jogged your memory on that part of the story, I can pick up where that left off.

As a year-round school, we have the months of December, April, and August off (more or less). Due to my passport issue in December, I couldn’t go then. And since we’re going back to the U.S. for home assignment in late July, I wouldn’t be able to go then. So, it was “April or bust” for me and this Nile River rafting trip. Making this trip even more urgent is the fact that the country of Uganda (the source of the Nile) is working on a dam that will eliminate the best of (but not all of) the rapids on the Nile. By the time we return to Africa in August of 2010, there’s a good chance any Nile rafting will be greatly diminished.

I sent out ads about the trip in mid-March and recruited a group of 12 total to go along. The journey began on Monday at 7 a.m. from Nairobi on a bus. The bus was comfortable (perhaps even considered a “luxury” bus by East African standards)—a few stuck windows and broken seat belts but rather spacious and plenty adequate. The trip would be long—about 10 ½ hours of road time with an hour of stops spaced out through the day. But the scenery would give us various breathtaking vistas along with a comprehensive tour of major Kenyan towns in the western part of the country.

The first landscapes we experienced were rather desolate. The sparse trees and the dusty land seemed to be feuding. It was as if the land were resentful of the height and color of the trees while the trees were embarrassed of the withered land. The greens were up there; the browns everywhere below. Eventually the dusty hills gave way to a mountainous stretch of windy roads through lush forests. While drought may be lingering over much of the central and northern parts of the country, there was plenty of green through this section. By the time we got to Uganda (late afternoon), the scenario resembled Hawaii, with palms and green undergrowth growing from dark red soil from volcanic activity long ago.

But an awe-filled appreciation for beauty wouldn’t be our only emotion of the trip. There would be boredom. And achy-ness. And sweat. And laughter.
The laughter mainly came from road signs…like the Hallelujah Drug Shop and Avoid Morning Sex Shop the Mur-ziik Yoghurt Stop (who hasn’t wanted some yogurt on a long road trip?)…but there was also the incident with the girl who ordered fish and opened up the aluminum foil to find a fish head.

When the journey ended we found ourselves in a dodgy cabin hanging on a cliff a few hundred feet above the mighty Nile River. The next morning, the excitement would begin.