Highlights of your place and or travels (if any) ( Archived) (120)

Traolach: Anyway. Let's get lindsy banned

bodleing2: It sits on the northern shores of Lake Victoria next to the lower source of the Nile. My first impression was not good, but it was nightime and there was a bit of an intimidating air about the place. I had to walk from the ouskirts into the town to find a cheap hotel and I knew that being alone in such a place made me vunerable. But as it turned out, Jinja is a most welcoming place even though it's a bit rough around the edges.
In the short time I was there I made some good friends, some who were travelling, some who were residents. I stayed in a hostel next to the Nile for a few days and then for the last few days move to a very nice hotel with a wonderful Dutch owner. We chatted late into the night and he told me how he had snapped up the name of his hotel befor the local mayor could use it. The Source of the Nile had already been used so he chose the name 'The Source of the Smile."...
I spent time there on the lake and going into the jungle, but the highlight of the trip was a 27k white water rafting trip down the Nile on grade 5 rapids which are almost as serious as you can get. A jeep took us miles into the jungle to the launch spot where the river was completely flat and calm. Once on the raft we had to tip it over to practice getting back in. We were told the raft will flip many times during the journey so it was a good idea to learn the best way of getting back into it before we hit the falls and rapids.
I remember the peace and calm of the river as we gently moved downstream, then I could hear a rumbling sound that grew into a crescendo as we got closer to the first falls. I was sat at the front of the raft and as the inflatable went over the edge the front end was suspended about 30ft from the raging torrent below and I remember thinking...I'm going to die....
The raft didn't flip at that point, it just disappeared beneath the foaming waters of the Nile for a couple of seconds then bounced back up. I soon realised after the raft had been flipped a couple of times that it wasn't the falls that were going to turn the raft over but the huge wave surges between each waterfall and with 27k of river to navigate, there was plenty of them to look forward to.
I remember looking at the other seven people in the raft and thinking, they're all in their twenties, I'm in my sixties, should I be doing this?...
Anyway we all survived, we eventually came out of the rapids to a beautiful calm spot in the jungle wher a permanent camp was set up for us to enjoy a well appreciated barbecue. After that a jeep took us a few mile back up river to a wonderful backpackers site overlooking the Nile where we spent the night. Retuning the next day by jeep myself and fellow 'rafters' enjoyed a good meal together back in Jinja and then said our goodbyes.
Some days stay with you forever.

bodleing2: I look forward to that lindsy.

The posts i've made on this thread, with the exception of the first one in Montreal are small extracts from my travel diarys. I may share a few more from other 'jaunts.'....