Boy, have I got a lot of catching up to do… I haven’t blogged for 2 weeks and so much has happened since then, it seems more like 2 months! I’m going to make this one a recreational post, because we’ve done so much fun stuff in our free time, followed by an entry more related to Lords Meade and the volunteering side of our time in Uganda. Moving way back to Wednesday 17th March, we had another birthday in the Busoga Trust Guest House, this time Joe’s. On his birthday a lot of us were busy in the morning and early afternoon, so we didn’t really kick things off until 3, when we all moved to Adrift to finally do the Nile High Bunjee, a terrific drop of 44m off a scaffold into the foaming Nile. We’d been waiting to do the bunjee for quite some time, and it was the perfect occasion to jump – we kicked off with the birthday boy, who tandem-jumped with Dom. Next out of the hat came Sophie & I, who had also decided to do a tandem jump. After they bind your ankles together it’s very difficult to move, and when they ask you to start shuffling your feet towards the drop it’s fairly petrifying. For the tandem jump, I was on the right hand side; left arm around Sophie, right arm clinging to the scaffold for dear life, so when Jack (the bunjee manager – aka the guy who pushes you off the edge of a 44m drop) said we could give a wave to our friends, I had no idea where he thought that hand was coming from, because I sure as hell wasn’t letting either of mine go!!! After a quick talk telling us not to let go of each other if we didn’t want to end up like the balls in a Newton’s Cradle, we got the call of 3…2…1… Bunjee, and we were over the edge and into the abyss!!! The adrenaline rush as you fly vertically downwards is incredible, and I would thoroughly recommend it to any traveller who passes through Jinja.
The very same weekend, we also did white water rafting down the Nile, and if you thought the bungee was scary, you’ve got another think coming! Grade 5 Rafting was one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced in my life, and so, so much fun. The best moments were on a rapid called “Chop Suey”, which most of the teams didn’t do, but our instructor obviously thought would be educational. It was the third part of a set of rapids that started with a lot of vicious looking rocks, chucked us down the sheer drop of a waterfall, and then required us to paddle for our lives until our arms were numb, just in order to get us to a place on the river that the current didn’t want us to be in, so that we could go through the most dangerous rapids of the day. Awesome. Almost immediately, half of the boat fell out right in the middle of the most intense part (including me). I instantly regretted not trying a bit harder to cling on, because the river was dragging me straight downwards and pummelling me like Mike Tyson as I fought to get to the surface and breathe. It was so scary, and it felt like I was underwater for ages, even though it was probably only a couple seconds. The day of rafting was soooo enjoyable and exhilarating, and the meals were the best food we’ve eaten on the whole trip, which is really saying something in comparison to the Busoga bistro! Breakfast on Sunday was full english with weetabix, coffee, juice & tea… need I say more??? Rafting the “White Nile” definitely gets a thumbs up from Miles!
Jinja Golf Club…
Yesterday Tom, Ollie & I stopped dithering about an idea that had been brewing for quite a while and hit the Jinja links! What a day it turned out to be! Despite the fact that there was a very obvious storm brewing, Ollie brandished his beanie, Tom tucked in his socks and I buttoned up to the tip top of my polo shirt… we definitely looked the part as we arrived with our set of guest house clubs. Immediately, we were beset by a few guys who wanted to caddy, and typically, they weren’t going to take no for an answer. We did graciously refuse though, until we made it out to the first tee-off and realised that we had no idea on earth where the green was. Cue the caddies running back over to us and offering their services once again, and this time we were obliged to accept if we had any self-respecting desire to complete the course. Our Ugandan caddies, Dan & Phillip, turned out to be really nice guys, and gave us a lot of pointers as we played through the holes… when the torrential rain cleared up it turned out to be a really nice day, and we couldn’t have hoped for a more idyllic setting than right next to Lake Victoria. As we were golfing, we even saw a few monkeys playing around, and had to scare them off when they started trying to nick our balls! Here’s a few photos of us in action…
So, thanks for stopping by, and check back soon for another instalment!
No comments:
Post a Comment