I watch Paul lying back on the deck of the kayak, eyes closed, and the warm sun penetrating the spray deck and safety helmet he wears.  The tepid waters of the Nile lap gently beneath his boat, and I know that soon he will overheat again, and need to roll beneath the surface just to cool off.
It is very likely that Paul will never go London, never have to wake in the dark, pull on layers of heavily clothing and catch a tube to a suit-filled office.  If you haven’t ever lived in a cold climate, it is very hard to imagine what seems like another world.
At each thundering rapid of the Nile, Paul and his team of safety kayakers dance amongst the huge waves and pull into an eddy on one side of the rapid.  It is here they wait for the rafts to come through and to support the rafts.   Their primary job is to secure the emotional security of anyone who decides to travel solo or is unwittingly ejected from a raft.   Each of the rapids we raft have been swum safely by hundreds of people, and thousands more are likely to do the same.  It is however, of huge comfort to be greeted by a friendly face like Pauls’ when you have bounced down a mighty Nile rapid dressed in little more than your lifejacket.  From several inches above the surface, the Nile seems much larger than it actually is and already it makes the Thames look like a garden stream.  You have probably had some ‘downtime’ (been underwater) and your feet may have been over your head at some point.  Despite the size of your eyes, our safety kayakers welcome you aboard and offer a level of comfort far greater than most full service airlines in their premium cabins.
When Paul and many of our other safety kayakers joined our team they had grown up alongside the Nile.  As children, they had leapt from the banks, swum across small side currents and perched on the pan-hot black rocks mid-stream in the Nile.  They have now made the river a big part of their everyday lives.  Like their grandfathers who fished the waters before them, they spend the best part of their days in a boat.   However, their grandfathers feared the rapids, dared not to go near them and could not afford to send their children to school.  Our safety kayakers are buying land, building their own houses and making rafting with Adrift one of the most exciting and safest adventure activities on offer anywhere in the world.

‘Forward, left-turn, hold on.’ I reach for the rope that traverses the perimeter of the raft and grasp my paddle tightly as the river drops away beneath us. Seconds after I fill my lungs with a healthy gulp of fresh air, a giant wall of green water is towering above us. The raft buckles as the bow explodes into whitewater and droplets of spray sparkle in the sunshine. Moments later we are under water.

Dressed lightly for a day in the sunshine the slightly cooler waters are a welcome relief. A split second later we emerge ecstatic as the raft summits a giant wave in what has become the Nile’s roller coaster. Another trough looms ahead and I exhale an enthusiastic whoop before preparing for the next dousing. I have rafted all over the world but nothing has quite prepared me for the Nile. Minutes later the raft is rocking gently in the calm pool below the legendary Big Brother rapid, no-one escaped the dunking and it is smiles and disbelief all around. Some of us turn upstream to watch as the next raft races down the long green tongue of the rapid and accelerates toward the first towering wave.

In popular paddle-rafts, each person joins as a member of a team and a professional guide captains the team. Paddlers are instructed comprehensively on how best to enjoy themselves on the water and on all aspects of safety including the use of safety kayaks which accompany every raft trip on the water. The highly-trained safety kayakers are world class paddlers who adeptly pilot their tiny boats through the mountainous waves of each rapid ahead of the rafts. When rafts flip upside down or people are washed overboard they are nearby to provide assistance in getting people back to their boats.

The trip on the water begins slowly and the first few kilometres give the raft guides an opportunity to train their crews fully on all aspects of Nile rafting. The young river dances into action at Bujagali Falls as if anxious to race to the thirsty deserts downstream and one major rapid follows swiftly after another for most of the morning. By the time the rafts drift toward Wakisi island, a wholesome and inviting lunch is waiting eager consumers. There is nothing quite like a morning on the Nile for whetting one’s appetite. Succulent pineapples, giant avocadoes, crisp bell peppers and tasty carrots are all organically grown in nearby villages. Fresh bread, roasted ham, salami and juicy tomatoes all combine wonderfully well to satisfy even the most insatiable appetites from a morning of fresh air, wildwater and sunshine.

After a leisurely lunch on beautiful Wakisi island, the rafts enter Wildwaters Reserve which is a private conservation initiative started by Adrift to protect the unique flora and fauna of the mid-stream islands of the Nile. There is more time between the rough water but the rapids on the Nile become larger and more spectacular. In Overtime rapid (when the Nilometre is reading above 10 cubits) the Adrift rafts leap over a 4.5 metre waterfall, race downstream to the ever surprising Retrospect then teeter hesitantly at The Bad Place. At Itanda, the young Nile gathers far too much power for our rafts and we are forced to portage around the top of the rapid on land and then contemplate the huge hole at the bottom.

The Bad Place is optional but those choosing to raft through it take with them only a slim chance of staying onboard the raft. Once in The Bad Place, the raft takes on the character of a wild horse being ridden for the first time. It often surfs in the huge breaking waves (probably the largest hole rafted commercially anywhere in the world) and rears, bucks and kicks like thoroughbred saddles for the first time.

It makes the most spectacular video footage as riders are often thrown in the air before hitting the racing current and being swept downstream to the calm pool below.

I gripped my board tightly and raised my left arm firmly fighting a little resistance from the water. The board continued to bounce like a dolphin on the wave and all I could see was white. My mouth was sealed to avoid swallowing more of the Nile and in a fraction of the second the board dropped like an elevator catching me unaware.

I went with it and soon could breathe! We thumped on the green face of the wave gently, leapt forward and then started oscillating gently to the rhythm of the racing water. A feeling of total exhilaration overwhelmed me and I gently straightened my arm to turn the board on the face of the huge wave.

Just to my right a wall of whitewater avalanched forward onto the green raceway and I carved away again anxious not to be claimed by the maelstrom of churning water. Above the swish sound of water escaping from beneath my board and the crash of whitewater that blanketed my feet and fins, I could hear wolf whistles and excited yelps from the bank. The gathering crowd was clearly enjoying the show.

After spending a beautiful night on the river camping mid-stream on Kadogo Island you could wake to the spirited sound of the Great Blue Turaco or the loud cry of the magnificent Black and White Casqued Hornbill. After a hearty breakfast and the second day the Nile brings more adrenaline pumping rafting rapids and the chance to try river surfing. Equipped with a set of fins on your feet, confidence from the instruction of our expert guides and the support of our safety kayakers, you can ride the surf on the Nile.

The light-weight boogie boards will allow you an incredible thrill on the waves of Nile Special or Malalu where fresh water waves roll upstream every day of the year. There is no need to drive for miles on deserted roads in search of your favourite break or hope for the big swell on your days off, we can offer you a surf ride 24/7.

If you have the time, we highly recommend the 2-day trip and the chance to spend a little more time in the Nile, to sit back between the rapids, to relax and to watch the world go by. Watch local waragi (banana gin) being brewed in crude distilleries alongside the river, fisherman pull remarkable looking catches from the deep green river or tiny rock pratencol dance over the rapids.

More on our 2-day rafting / river surfing adventure

‘I am not sure I can get up there?’ Josh called from below.  ‘Lets try without your pack’ I had returned.  We had just spent two nights high on Mt. Kaddam in Southern Karamoja looking for a route to the summit.  We were due to lead a commercial trip to the summit for ‘Focus Humanitarian Aid’ over New Year and the only local guides who knew their way to the summit were now too advanced in the years to climb themselves.   Dozens of ‘Kaddama’ climb the mountain every day to harvest ‘mirrar’ (a leaf widely chewed fresh throughout the East Africa trucking community for it’s stimulants).  However, the challenge for us was that the mirrar forests grow only about 1/3 of the way up the mountain and all of our ‘guides’ had never been further than this.  It was very unclear to us when we employed Dominic a few days before that he did not know his way to the summit.  We had been oblivious to a simple rule that later became more obvious, to get most sense for a mirrar harvester, it is best you talk to him early in the day before he starts chewing the drug.

The ‘mzee’ (respected elder) had sketched out a route in the sand, he had explained the route in the local language and it was clear from Dominic’s gestures that he understood.  However, two days later Dominic was looking tired, scared and increasingly unsure of himself.  ‘You will get blown off…the lightening will strike you….there are things up there that are not good’ and so went on a string of verbal warnings against our reaching the summit of the mountain.  We continued on……read more about our journey on the ‘Mountain of Mirrar’ next month as we attempt to summit despite the warnings of our guides and the chorus of calls from the Colobus monkey populations.

Josh is back for his third visit to Uganda and despite the recent challenges of ascents on Mt. Elgon (4310m) and Mt. Kaddam (3068m) the river operations are running smoother than ever.  Over our 13-years of operation in Uganda, we have built the capacity of our Ugandan crew and most of our river guides and ALL of our safety kayakers are now Ugandan.  They have seen dozens of visiting international guides over the years but there are few who demand more respect that Josh.  He understands our crew well, works with them smoothly and is able to deal with the team easily on a day-to-day basis.  Welcome back Josh.

Despite his great company in the mountains, Josh is most at home on the river.  He doesn’t like wearing much more than a pair of board shorts, a lifejacket and some sunscreen and this is not the ideal clothing for the mountains.  Josh particularly enjoyed his share of the drinking chocolate (in fact probably our share as well) but was disappointed at the lack of Heinz ketchup on the trips.  He can be sure that the Riverbase and on all the two day trips he runs, there is more than enough Heinz to accompany all of his meals.  You can be sure that the safety and quality of the Adrift rafting trips on the river are as good or perhaps even better than they ever have been.

‘Hold on’ the guide said. But you probably didn’t hear him anyway! You were already underwater and headed west on your own private adventure run. Ever wondered what the clothes felt like in your washing machine? Now’s your chance to imitate your favourite pair of jeans as your world becomes white, your legs are thrown ungracefully over your head, your paddle is ripped from your hand and you feel like your lungs will burst. Which way is up? It probably won’t matter because you can’t swim there anyway. Make like a ball, hug your knees to your chest and wait for your PFD (personal floatation device) to pop you to the surface. Gasping for breath you are there within only a few seconds. Didn’t it seem like a full wash cycle? The worst of the rapid is over, you bounce through series of playful waves, thrust one arm in the air and all you can manage, all those years of tertiary education can produce is ‘YEAH!’.

A few months ago Adrift introduced Extreme rafting to the Nile. Our new 4.12 metre rafts are the smallest on Nile and recommended only for adrenaline junkies. For those needing to flip or who fancy the idea of being washed from the raft with only a moment’s notice and want the ride of their lives then these are the boats.

Rafting on the source of the Nile is probably the most the most exciting one day rafting trip on the planet and so any option to increase the excitement is not for the faint-hearted. The rafts hold a maximum of 7-paddlers including the guide and our they take it upon themselves to deliver an unforgettable day. The reactions from guides and clients alike to the new ‘sportscars’ of the Nile is nothing short of ecstatic!

When Adrift introduced commercial rafting to the source of the Nile and Uganda in 1996, the river carried volumes far greater levels we have experienced recently. We regularly saw flows in the 1200 to 1500 cumec (cubic metre per second range), however, flows over the last month have mostly sat the 700-800 cumec range. This makes the river runs slower, the rapids a little less powerful and smaller. We would have never considered running the smaller rafts in the early days but now they are an exciting new challenge for anyone wanting to push the envelope just that bit further