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We found great playspots at rapid 2, 3,
7, 8, 10, 18, and 19. We found many others along the way too. Believe
it or not we found small holes, and small waves for the basics video as
well as plenty of big holes and big waves. We did the flatwater section
of the video at a small pool at the top of the falls and also in an eddy
right at the bottom of the falls.
After each day on the river we had a full-on
hike out of the gorge. I always did it as fast as I could as a leg workout
only to be greeted by our shuttle driver with lots of water, and sometimes
beer. It was a short shuttle back from rapid number 13 take out that dumped
us off right back at our hotel, all on dirt roads. The AC in our rooms
was worth a million dollars as was the incredible buffet dinners each
night with live music and a great atmosphere. Every night we would review
the video of the day and plan our following day.
One evening we took a drive to the local
gamepark and saw wild rinos, zebra, giraffes, buffalo, impala, and many
other incredible game. Every day we would stop to watch the antics of
the vervet monkeys and the baboons. During breakfast monkeys would try
to steal the bread and sugar from the tables while the guards and hotel
staff try to chase them away. It was quite the scene.
Every child learns of the Nile River in
school. What we don’t learn is about the incredible rapids on the
Nile. The Nile flows right out of Lake Victoria which is about the size
of Switzerland but so deep that it holds a record amount of fresh water.
We took a plane back to South Africa and then up to Entebbe, Uganda where
the Nile begins. The river starts with 1,800 cubic meters/second at the
source which is 7 times as much as the Zambezi. The rapids are big water
rapids and definitely drop pool. The river is not unlike a many times
bigger Ottawa or Slave River. Some of the drops are quite dangerous and
there are so many channels that having a guide or scouting are required.
After my first day on the river, I got Malaria.
I found out that the anti-malaria drug my doctor gave me was for South
America, not Africa. If you can, you should really avoid getting Malaria,
it was not fun. It took me four days to get on my feet and paddling again (not well though). All in all I only got three days of paddling on the
Nile. Our camp was right at the put-in and we only needed a shuttle home. There is 75 kilometers of incredible whitewater downstream of the camp.
They even have a kayak school at the river through Nile River Explorers.
Finally, we left for Johannesburg and then back to Atlanta. Jay went on
to Australia, Jessie and Chris went to Chile, Clay and I came back to
Rock Island.
