3, 2, 1.... Bungee!!

Saturday and Sunday were the two most extreme days of my life. Hands down.

After a quick breakfast, we were ready to begin our day of rafting! Before this, I'd never done anything like it before, only heard about it from my parents. I was pretty excited, and at the time had no reason to be nervous. We were given a quick safety briefing at the hostel, threw on our life jackets and helmets, and piled into some trucks with about 50 other mzungu's. We drove 20 or so minutes, the arrived at the point in the Nile River where we'd begin our 30 km journey. Since we were a group of 6 and there were only groups of 7 allowed in the rafts, we being the Canadian pushovers that we are, split ourselves up and paired with two other groups of four. Cassie, Andrea and I went with two guys who roomed with us at the hostel and their two friends, all who were from Colorado. Meghan, Marlee and Nelson went with another group and we were off!

I was the only one in my raft who had never rafted before, so the nerves began to set in early. The first thing we learned was how to hold a paddle, the second to never let go of your paddle, and the third to try and always hold onto the boat. So much to think about! I was a little flustered. Before I knew it, our (we think he was Kenyan or Ugandan) guide Alex, had us tipped over and into the water. Already panicky, there was no way I was going to be able to hoist myself back into the boat. The first time the boys hauled all of us girls back up, and after that we were determined to do it ourselves! We paddled around for a bit, then hopped out to swim down the first rapid, that was only a class 1. After this one, we were all able to lift ourselves into the boat no problem! Ready for our first real rapid, we were off!

The first rapid we had to paddle through was a class 3, and I was terrified. We made it through that one, but flipped on the next. Flipping really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! Having my confidence restored, I felt like the class 5 rapid we were about to attempt was a piece of cake. We did brilliantly! Well.. the boys did... I called 'get down' for myself, and hid in the middle of the raft while the boys kept paddling. The other girls didn't paddle much on the rapids either so I didn't feel too bad. We did a few more rapids, flipped once, got scared and jumped out once when I thought we were going to flip, then reached a flat stretch for lunch. We all were given almost a whole and extremely delicious pineapple along with some Glucose Crackers. After lunch time flew by, we went backwards down a waterfall and saw some of the villages who are situated along the Nile. Before I knew it we were heading into our last rapid.. Much to my relief, we had gone the whole day without seeing a crocodile and no one had gotten injured more than a broken nail and a bloody nose on one of the boys. As we approached the last rapid, we were warned that if we were to flip we needed to swim hard and to the right or else we would be caught up in the class 3 rapid below. It began to rain and the water was getting choppy. Alex told us we needed to paddle hard through it or else we wouldn't make it. More than a little nervous, we flew into the rapid. I even have picture proof that I paddled the whole way through! We were the first raft through and did not flip. An amazing day!!

After we walked up and loaded up into the vehicles, we went to the main hobig bbq dinner. I'll skip the part where we drove on wet dirt roads and skidded into a few banks. Oops. TIA.We ate overlooking the Nile, and it was breathtaking! Headed back to our hostel with the others who went rafting and played some cards. It was nice to just hang out for the evening and talk to some others who were doing a lot of traveling. Two of the guys we met up with were doing an around the world trip, and the two others had come and met up with them and had already climbed Kili all together. I learned even more about Africa's history and shared some different opinions on western lifestyles! All in all, an excellent day!

Sunday morning we woke up a little nervous. Today was bungee day! For breakfast I ordered banana pancakes after much contemplation... In Africa, you never really know what you're getting when you order it. Much to my relief, three fluffy pancakes along with maple syrup soon after arrived. Delicious! We packed our bags and headed down the road to our bungee spot. We walked into the lodge and saw the spot we'd be jumping from. 45 meters above one of the rapids we had gone down the day before! Intimidating to say the least.

We weighed in and headed up. Three of us stayed at the bottom to get pictures of the other two (Nelson wasn't jumping), and then we switched. My stomach started to twist as I climbed the stairs to the platform. We snuck a peak over the edge... 45 meters is really high up. I told the other girls that I'd like to go first, not sure if I'd go through with the jump if I didn't! I edged my way over the the end where I sat in a chair and had my feet bound together. I was assured I was more than safe and that there shouldn't be any doubt in my mind that I could do it.. After all, I'd already seen two of my friends go before. The guy running it told me that when I got to the edge and he counted down I was to spring forward and dive like Pochahontas. I got up and hopped my way to the edge. I peered over and almost puked. My whole body went numb and I was convinced that I couldn't do it. I stood on the edge for 2 and a half minutes freaking out.. Doesn't seem like a long time, but it really is. The guy coaxed me through and explained that if I were to get all undone I'd have to do the walk of shame and wouldn't even get my money back! Pfft, I was determined to show him who was getting their moneys worth. I steadied myself as he counted 3, 2, 1, and on bungee I jumped.. More like stepped. But I pulled myself into the dive position and plummeted into the river below. What an exhilarating feeling! I can't even begin to explain the different emotions running through my head as I fell. Of course I was more than safe and a raft zoomed over to pick me up as soon as I stopped bouncing up and down. A pretty cool day, but not something I want to do again!