Moses and the Nile

What a weekend.
Within it was both the scariest and the most relaxing moments of my adventure here in Africa so far. Before I jump right in, I'll give you a little background.
A dozen of us on the program took an overnight bus to Uganda this weekend and got dropped off at a random gas station in a city none of us had ever been, in a country none of us had ever been, at about 7 a.m. Friday morning. Having gotten various amounts of sleep ranging from about 0-3 hours, we all complacently (and groggily) packed ourselves into a matatu claiming to bring us to the place we wanted to go. We finally began to wake up when we stepped out of the van about 20 minutes later to find ourselves on the bank of the rushing Nile River, surrounded by the most beautiful green I've ever seen, smack dab in front of Bujagali Falls (I suggest you wikipedia it to get the full impression). After quickly changing into our swimsuits and gobbling down some breakfast, we hastily aboarded our rafts. Yes, we were about to raft down the Nile River. (This is where the scary part comes in...)
Ironically, our guide was this short, skinny, Ugandan 25-year-old with dreadlocks named Moses (we were on the Nile... catch my drift?). It's probably a good thing he didn't start describing all the safety precautions to us until after we were in the raft and I couldn't back out. We rafted all day, and even stopped at a calm spot to have lunch on the rafts (the safety raft carried it along for us). It was so much fun to be in the water after almost two months of stifling hot weather and to just take in all the beautiful scenery around us... that is, until we hit our second level 5 rapid and our raft completely capsized and we all went flying. When you're trapped under a person first and then the raft and then raging currents from all directions and you don't know which way is up and you don't know where the rocks are and you swallowed a bunch of water and you have more water up your nose and you feel like you have the wind knocked out of you... well, it's TERRIFYING! Finally Moses somehow grabbed me and pulled me to hold onto the side of the overturned raft while other safety guides in kayaks plucked up the rest of my friends. Needless to say, we eventually re-flipped our raft and all got back in to resume our journey, but wow, was that scary. Moses said it was one of the worse flips he's seen recently. Overall though, the experience and the Ugandan guides were great --I'm definitely glad I did it. The Nile water is amazingly clear, and in smooth spots we were able to get out and swim along with the currents. It was an unbelievable experience.
Now for the relaxing part... what could be better than sitting on the bank of the Nile during "glory time" (for those of you who know my mom), watching the sun set over the rapids, and enjoying a cool drink, delicious food and great company? I don't think we could have picked a better spot to stay, hearing the rush of the river just about 50 yards away from the room lined with triple-decker bunk beds where we all stayed. Even the bathroom stalls, which were somewhat luxurious considering they were more than simply holes in the ground, had square holes cut in the doors where your head was so you could enjoy the scenery -- literally at all times.

It took some motivation to wake up before sunrise on Sunday to catch a bumpy, hot, 12-hour bus ride back to busy, bustling Nairobi. But, in less than a week I'll be on my way to a new life on the coast! I can't wait. I don't know all the details so far, but here's the low down: I'll be living with a family on the coast about a 25-minute matatu ride north of Mombasa, in an area that the staff here call "pretty rural" (it's amazing how fast things get "rural" outside of the city). I will, however, have electricity, they say. During the week, I'll be matatu-ing into Mombasa to work with a micro-finance organization that gives loans to women's groups in the rural areas surroundign the city. From what previous program participants say, it's hard to judge the quality of an internship from its description alone, but so far it sounds like it will be exactly what I'm looking to experience.

Before I part, I want to give a quick shout out to the Petrons. Thanks for your comments -- it's great to hear from you! Sean, I checked out your blog and it looks like you and Cecelia are having having some amazing adventures yourselves! And Megan, you bet I'm channeling my inner McConnon. :)
Love to all!