Wild or Mild?

"Wild or mild" he asks? "Mild please" I respond with quivering lips. I know I will just cry if I have to go on the wild route. "Well we will have to see how many others are interested in the mild, I can't guarantee anything" states the Adrift rafting guide as he takes our money.

"Well we signed up for the mild" Brian interjects sensing my uneasiness. That's when our soon to be guide saw the fear in my eyes and knew that there was no way I was rafting down the Nile via some wild and crazy death ride. It was mild or nothing.

So mild it was. Fortunately for me, there were a few other scaredy cats (excluding Brian of course) to comprise a group of 6, including our guide, Kamo, a New Zealander with a sarcastic sense of humor.

Our mild excursion down the waters of the great White Nile began just after 10 in the morning in Jinja, Uganda. In addition to our small raft, with the lovely letters EXTREME painted on the side, there were about four other rafts out for the day. Straight away I learned that both the wild and mild groups followed the same course, the only difference was that our guide wouldn't try and purposefully flip our raft (oh great...).

To get things started, Kamo asked us to jump out of the raft to get used to being in the water 'just in case' we happened to fly out. So we jumped out just before a group of rapids. I freaked out, taking in larger than life breaths and Brian immediately swam to my side to calm me down. Of course I was fine but just nervous and overwhelmed. We quickly got back into the raft, which I'll admit is not easy or a pretty sight. You basically slither your body across wet plastic making an awful sound and flop into the boat like a fish out of water - but you're in and that's what counts.

Kamo had another exercise for our group, another 'just in case' scenario. This time we all had to sit on one side of the raft while Kamo flipped us over. This was to experience what it would be like in the event we fall out of the raft and get trapped under the boat. (Again, I'm still not keen on this whole rafting thing at this point. Let me just say this was not my idea but marriage is about compromise and I was compromising....) So there we were in the water again and under the raft, hoping we wouldn't have to go through the real thing down the river in a mad surge of rapids, which our guide so kindly equated to being trapped in a washing machine, but only for like 5 or 10 seconds (oh is that all...)

Now it was time to hit the rapids. We floated along and approached the first one. This is when all the safety alarms and anything I had ever learned about avoiding danger, not talking to strangers, stop drop and roll, get under your desk in case of a tornado, basically anything and everything safety related entered my head and went haywire. I mean all the meters and buzzers went over the top! So naturally, I asked to leave. I wanted to be excused from the rest of the trip. Our guide just looked at me and said "sorry, but it's too late sweetheart." 

GULP!

So I buckled down, gave myself a little talking to and just did it (I had no choice in the matter obviously). Our small little team, randomly named hippo by our guide, paddled as hard as we could flying into the waves, crashing through the water and dipping down a waterfall. I screamed and yelled, my heart racing as though it were going to beat out of my chest, and before I knew it we had made it. I was alive! Yeah! We did it! Wow - what a rush!

After that first hurdle of rapids, I felt like maybe I could really do this. I mean yes, I was scared out of my mind, but the rush of adrenaline I felt once we made it through successfully was exhilarating. Maybe there was a wild side to me after all! Brian was thrilled and excited as well but he was like a pro at this kind of stuff. Adventure is practically his middle name.

For the rest of the day, the fear coupled with the thrill, kept our spirits high as we worked hard to stay inside our tiny raft. While other teams, being wild of course, flipped with ease, we kept our balance and stormed through the rapids. We felt success each time we made it through, giving each other high fives with our paddles and then slamming them on top of the water accompanied with the necessary manly grunts only winners can pull off. We were a small but mighty team of first timers, scaredy cats and Brian.

The day ended around 5:30pm after many many rapids, lots and lots of paddling and a pint or two of unintentionally ingested Nile water. It was such an amazing experience as we were able to see the Nile up close and personal, view several types of beautiful birds, spot a monitor lizard and take in the splendor of Uganda.

I'm obviously not always one to jump at a daring escapade like Brian (which I admire and thank him for) but that is why we are perfect partners. We encourage each other and support one another in all of life's wonderful adventures! He's the best teammate a girl like me (i.e. scaredy cat) could have.

Enjoy the photos from our mild (wild) day on the Nile courtesy of Adrift: (I'm wearing a long sleeve brown shirt in the yellow helmet behind Brian who is in the front with a pink helmet)