Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Taking the Plunge
This post is totally out of order, but it'll probably be the coolest one in my entire blog so I don't care.
Before driving to Entebbe for our Wednesday night flight out of Uganda, the entire group (sans Jacques) went to Jinja for white-water rafting (which everyone did) and bungee jumping (which only three people were going to do originally--myself included--but ended up with seven of nine people deciding to jump).
Let me just say that these two days--the jump Monday afternoon, rafting all day Tuesday--were probably two of the best/most exciting days of my life. Both activities are SO MUCH FUN, and I highly recommend either of them if you ever get a chance. Never mind that I drank more water from the Nile River than is probably healthy or that the risks of bungee jumping include eye trauma, uterine prolapse, and dislocations [source]. Bottom line is that I'm perfectly fine and that I would do either again in a heartbeat. (I might add that I never, ever felt like my well-being was in danger in either situation. Yes, it's a little ridiculous jumping off the platform, but I trusted the equipment since Adrift holds themselves to international safety regulations. On the rafting side, there were 10-15 guys in individual kayaks whose job it was to come fetch people who fell out of the boats. So I was worried at first, but those fears dissipated quickly.)
Here are some pictures and videos from the jump. No pictures from rafting, unfortunately, since (1) we couldn't bring our cameras onto the raft (or I suppose we could have; they would just be soaked with water) and (2) we couldn't get the rafting DVD or photo CD in time since we were in hurry to reach Entebbe the same night.
In case you're interested, here's a video of other people rafting with Adrift on the Nile. These are the same rapids we did (11 total, three of which were Class 5), but these people apparently aren't very good. We had a great guide, so we only flipped once and I think only three people fell out of our raft the entire time (and were subsequently rescued by either the kayaks or another raft full of Italians). I might mention that I was not one of the three--although I expected to be, since this was my first time ever rafting--and I managed to hang onto both the raft and my oar when we flipped. However, I popped out of the water and didn't see anyone else on my side of the raft, so for a few panicked seconds, I thought everyone else had fallen off and that I was drifting away, alone and on an upside down inflatable raft, down the Nile River. A few moments later, Josh (our guide) appeared on the top of our raft and laughed at me. I think because I was the only one still on my side, but who knows.
Okay, pictures for real now:
I'll get the video up if I can post it, but there were issues with the uploader just now so I'll try again later!
Before driving to Entebbe for our Wednesday night flight out of Uganda, the entire group (sans Jacques) went to Jinja for white-water rafting (which everyone did) and bungee jumping (which only three people were going to do originally--myself included--but ended up with seven of nine people deciding to jump).
Let me just say that these two days--the jump Monday afternoon, rafting all day Tuesday--were probably two of the best/most exciting days of my life. Both activities are SO MUCH FUN, and I highly recommend either of them if you ever get a chance. Never mind that I drank more water from the Nile River than is probably healthy or that the risks of bungee jumping include eye trauma, uterine prolapse, and dislocations [source]. Bottom line is that I'm perfectly fine and that I would do either again in a heartbeat. (I might add that I never, ever felt like my well-being was in danger in either situation. Yes, it's a little ridiculous jumping off the platform, but I trusted the equipment since Adrift holds themselves to international safety regulations. On the rafting side, there were 10-15 guys in individual kayaks whose job it was to come fetch people who fell out of the boats. So I was worried at first, but those fears dissipated quickly.)
Here are some pictures and videos from the jump. No pictures from rafting, unfortunately, since (1) we couldn't bring our cameras onto the raft (or I suppose we could have; they would just be soaked with water) and (2) we couldn't get the rafting DVD or photo CD in time since we were in hurry to reach Entebbe the same night.
In case you're interested, here's a video of other people rafting with Adrift on the Nile. These are the same rapids we did (11 total, three of which were Class 5), but these people apparently aren't very good. We had a great guide, so we only flipped once and I think only three people fell out of our raft the entire time (and were subsequently rescued by either the kayaks or another raft full of Italians). I might mention that I was not one of the three--although I expected to be, since this was my first time ever rafting--and I managed to hang onto both the raft and my oar when we flipped. However, I popped out of the water and didn't see anyone else on my side of the raft, so for a few panicked seconds, I thought everyone else had fallen off and that I was drifting away, alone and on an upside down inflatable raft, down the Nile River. A few moments later, Josh (our guide) appeared on the top of our raft and laughed at me. I think because I was the only one still on my side, but who knows.
Okay, pictures for real now:
I'll get the video up if I can post it, but there were issues with the uploader just now so I'll try again later!
Kabale: Post and pics!
[NOTE: I have a lot of catching up to do with my blog, now that I'm home (YAY) and have high speed internet again. Bear with me...]
Monday, Aug. 2, 2010
Lauren, Bean, Rachel, Sophie, and I decided to visit Kabale for the weekend since it's our second to last weekend here. We took a "taxi" for the two-hour drive up to (and back from) the mountain town, which draws tourists for its proximity to Lake Bunyonyi. By "taxi," I mean a small Toyota sedan that, at one point, contained 12 people total--four people squeezed into each of the three rows of seats. The driver himself shared his seat with another grown man and shifted gears over his leg. Oh, Uganda.
The weekend was probably one of the most enjoyable thus far. We stayed at the Amagara Guest House, a popular hostel for backpackers, and had breakfast both days at a delightful little cafe/restaurant called The Nest, where you climb up a ladder-stair contraption to reach the dining area. The dining area itself was extremely cozy and had sofas arranged around coffee tables. What more could you ask for? Ah, right... the food. The food was not only delicious, but it was extremely inexpensive. Honey-drizzled pancakes with bananas the first day, an egg and tomato rolex (egg and tomato wrapped in a chipatte) the second. Blissful.
I got some souvenir shopping done before our afternoon trip to the lake, where we canoed 20-30 minutes to reach the main island with a swimming dock and a restaurant on it. Thankfully, we had a guide to help us paddle!
Check out the pictures:
[Craftstore where I bought a bajillion gifts. The Nest was in the same building.]
[Walking back to the hostel, which is right down the road, from breakfast the first morning. You can see "The Nest" painted on the side of the building and the arrow pointing up to where the seating is.]
[Canoes! And legit dugout canoes at that.]
[Leaving the dock, blissfully unaware of just how long we're going to need to paddle.]
[Getting my arm workout for the day.]
[The other canoe.]
[On the island with the dock and restaurant.]
[Tongue-in-cheek sign on the dock.]
[Serenity. What a great trip.]
Monday, Aug. 2, 2010
Lauren, Bean, Rachel, Sophie, and I decided to visit Kabale for the weekend since it's our second to last weekend here. We took a "taxi" for the two-hour drive up to (and back from) the mountain town, which draws tourists for its proximity to Lake Bunyonyi. By "taxi," I mean a small Toyota sedan that, at one point, contained 12 people total--four people squeezed into each of the three rows of seats. The driver himself shared his seat with another grown man and shifted gears over his leg. Oh, Uganda.
The weekend was probably one of the most enjoyable thus far. We stayed at the Amagara Guest House, a popular hostel for backpackers, and had breakfast both days at a delightful little cafe/restaurant called The Nest, where you climb up a ladder-stair contraption to reach the dining area. The dining area itself was extremely cozy and had sofas arranged around coffee tables. What more could you ask for? Ah, right... the food. The food was not only delicious, but it was extremely inexpensive. Honey-drizzled pancakes with bananas the first day, an egg and tomato rolex (egg and tomato wrapped in a chipatte) the second. Blissful.
I got some souvenir shopping done before our afternoon trip to the lake, where we canoed 20-30 minutes to reach the main island with a swimming dock and a restaurant on it. Thankfully, we had a guide to help us paddle!
Check out the pictures:
[Craftstore where I bought a bajillion gifts. The Nest was in the same building.]
[Walking back to the hostel, which is right down the road, from breakfast the first morning. You can see "The Nest" painted on the side of the building and the arrow pointing up to where the seating is.]
[Canoes! And legit dugout canoes at that.]
[Leaving the dock, blissfully unaware of just how long we're going to need to paddle.]
[Getting my arm workout for the day.]
[The other canoe.]
[On the island with the dock and restaurant.]
[Tongue-in-cheek sign on the dock.]
[Serenity. What a great trip.]Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Laptop Down - Back in a Week!
My laptop died this morning, so no more blog posts until I'm back in the States. But never fear--I'm home soon (Aug. 12). Look forward to several blogs then. I'll have photos from my weekend trip to Kabale, final project updates, and stories from white water rafting on the Nile River!
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