White Water Rafting down the Nile

Well after a day on the river I have two sunburned legs, a crazy obvious farmer’s tan/burn on one arm, noticeably pink forearms and face, a slightly jammed finger, a likely bruised buttocks, and aching muscles all over the rest of my body. So was rafting the Nile River worth it? ABSOLUTELY.

Our next great adventure started out at Backpackers, the hostel/rafting place, where we were given breakfast (score!) and suited up with life jackets and helmets. Soon after we were ushered onto the open air transportation truck and dropped off at the launch point about ½ and hour away. Apparently the company used to start closer to Backpackers but over the past 4 or 5 years a new dam was built, eliminating a good chunk of the rapids they used to raft so they were forced to start their tours further downstream.

After a brief safety overview our group of 11 was split up into 2 rafts and we were soon on the water. But before we could get going we had to practice a few things . . .

Our raft guide, Yo: Everyone get in the water

Everyone in our raft: . . . uh, are you serious? . .

Yo: Get in the water

Everyone: . . ok . . .(thinking: what the heck is he gonna have us do?)

Once in we had to swim for a while then get back in the raft – REALLY hard by the way. Ok probably not, but for me it was a near impossible feat without help. After that exercise I again got to get in the water so Yo could demonstrate how to put someone on the raft with relative “ease.” He pulled me out so strong and fast I nearly flew over the raft and back into the water on the other side – not exaggerating. It was fun though.

Finally we were off and fast approaching our first rapid, all of us eager and nervous with anticipation. Like dutiful servants we followed Yo’s every command, not knowing what to expect.

“Paddle forward”

“Stop”

“Paddle forward strong”

“Stronger!”

“Hold on and get down!!”

Everyone jumped to the bottom of the raft, knees tucked under chin and arms holding onto the rope at the side of the raft. Waves crashed around us, jostling the raft to one side and then the other, one more wave of water crashed over top and then we were out. Our first rapid, a grade 5 – I guess starting out nice and easy is for suckers, and as events would show suckers we were not.

The trip continued on pretty much in this fashion with Yo periodically calling out commands and the raft crew following. After most of the rapids there was always a decent stretch of calm flat water. During these stretches we all ended up talking and joking around – sometimes at other people’s expense. But before you start judging about that last statement let me explain. On the second rapid we went over the other raft ended up flipping while we came out upright. As we looked over to see that everyone was being or had been picked up and was safe and sound back in their raft we discovered that one poor woman had lost her shorts and was now just in her swimming suit. I think it’s safe to say that the collective thought on my raft was first: “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA” and then “What?! How did that happen?!?” We discussed this a bit on and off throughout the trip, a Kiwi woman named Clem, giving insight onto the sheer stripping force water can have, having completely lost her swimming suit once when water skiing. But the question still remains, how did this lady lose her shorts? If we want to get technical about it, they were capris and from the looks of them on the drive over you would have had to work to get those babies off. It’s still a mystery to me as to how hers could simply disappear while my elastic waist cotton shorts were with me the whole trip. Hmm, interesting . . . . hehehe.

Soon we were approaching our 3^rd rapid and with a name like “The Bad Place” we all knew it was going to be a doozy. The Bad Place marked our first flip and a near traumatizing experience for many on my raft. Once the raft flipped a few people got stuck underneath it for a brief time, me included. However, I managed to get up to the surface relatively quickly and was just floating along waiting for a raft to get near enough to pull me in. Others like Katie however, were stuck under water for much longer, so their experience seemed to be much scarier than mine. Once we had all been towed, pulled, and situated back in our raft we broke for a lunch snack of pineapple and biscuits, mmm.

After our break we prepared for the next rapid. Seeing that many in my raft were a bit fearful of what the next rapid would hold Yo announced that anyone who absolutely did not want to flip should get into the other raft and those who didn’t mind flipping should stay or get into his raft. Well once the swaps were finished I was still in my original raft with Yo and only 2 others. I was the only girl. I was surprised more people didn’t come over, but I guess I had a much better flipping experience than the rest of them.

Another set of rapids brought another flip for my raft and more excitement in my book. After the four of us were once again hauled aboard one of the rafts we separated yet again to our original groups to finish out the course. Of the two remaining rapids we flipped once more, redeeming the trip for everyone no longer so sure of their rafting decision and by the end made it to shore happy and ready to eat.

We were greeted by a delicious bbq meal and after looking over pictures of the trip headed home. For me, this was an awesome experience that I would definitely do again, oh yeah and then there’s the added bonus that I can brag about rafting on the NILE RIVER!! The End.