scariest, most exciting thing I've ever done

Today I went white water rafting in the river Nile!
I had no idea what to expect, I didn't even know what it was, but it turned out to be the scariest yet most exciting thing I've ever done.

I met a girl called Jessica who was volunteering at the baby home that I visit once a week. She is also on her own out here so sometimes we meet up for good company. She asked me to come with her and I am sooo glad I went.

So we got to the base and had to sign something to accept there was a risk of danger to ourselves - great start.

The company "Adrift" use the phrase "the only rafting group to have not lost a life... yet"

I don't know if that's encouraging and promising or just extremely off-putting..

The package was brilliant, firstly we were driven to a beautiful place with a hut by the river where we were served breakfast - sausage, banana, deep fried egg... (so nice) all luxury food compared to normal.
We were then given an oar, helmet and life jacket.

We were put in a group with three girls who were so nice, it definitely made the day even better being in a good group where we all got on and laughed the whole time.

After the training session. where we learned how to paddle in different directions and how to stay alive when the boat flips, we set off down the river.

I can't really describe in words just HOW amazing it was, you'd have to come and do it yourself! 

Basically we paddle, the boat goes down a small waterfall and then seven separate rapids. They are quite spaced out, the trip took like 5 hours or something.

The rapids are grade 4-5 for anyone that knows how they are graded. If you don't:

Grade 4: Whitewater, medium waves, maybe rocks, maybe a considerable drop, sharp maneuvers may be needed. (Skill level: whitewater experience)
Grade 5: Whitewater, large waves, large volume, possibility of large rocks and hazards, possibility of a large drop, requires precise maneuvering. (Skill level: advanced whitewater experience)

So when it says large waves, rocks large drops and whitewater... yeah that's what we were in. Soooo powerful you can hear the water from a large distance away. 

So we go through large, very wide areas of calm water and when you reach an area approaching rapids the guide stops chatting and joking with us. He explains how each one works and how we should go about getting through it. I don't think any of us took any technique tips in as we just paddled as hard as we could. 

When you enter the rapids the boat gets thrown up and down and we can just hear "PADDLE HARD PADDLE HARDER KEEP GOING" and all we can think about is how we are going to die. When the guide says "Get down" we all move from sitting on the edges of the boat to sitting in the bottom area and still paddling. This is when the waves get so big that he pretty much knows it;s going to get flipped over. And yes, it did.

This is the scariest part. 

The raft violently flips and we are all flung underneath. The rapid is so strong you get sucked under and can't breathe and want to panic and decide that's the end of your life but I discovered staying calm and just waiting to rise to the surface was better.

However when I reached the surface and tried to gasp for air, another wave would just drag me down again and I was convinced I'd drown. 
The thoughts that were scaring me the most were that there were big rocks all around and I was sure that the water would throw me against one. Also the guide would tell us to try and steer down the middle of a rapid because "on one side is lots of rocks and the other is very strong water or "Hydraulics" 

This is what wikipedia says about them:  "hydraulics" or "holes" where the river flows back on itself—perhaps back under the drop—often with fearful results for those caught in its grasp.

So I was there thinking, OK so if we flip again which seems to happen every time, we either go left and die on rocks or right and get sucked into a hole of water and still die.

There were lots of trained people in kayaks near us waiting to rescue us and I tried to find them but the rapid was so strong and pulling me down and around and along the river away from them until one finally saved me, I think it was an angel. haha.

So the first four rapids, our raft flipped EVERY TIME and we were convinced we were good rowers but were clearly not doing it right... it was frustrating us because the other three rafts from the same place were not flipping as often and we were tired of preparing to die every time we flipped. The next photo of just an oar pretty much sums up our time haha:

We stopped for lunch at an island that the company own for this purpose and have tortillas and loads of nice fillings. It was here that we finally discovered out guide had been deliberately trying to make us flip from the back of the boat...

We told him for the next 4 to not MAKE us flip as we wanted to try and get over all the big waves for once. And we did, and it felt amazing. The thrill of nearly flipping but not was so good.

By the end I appreciated all our falling out as looking back it was a great experience but being under the water in those huge rapid waves was sooo scary. Aside from all my exaggerating about how I though I was going to die I actually enjoyed it so much and am SO GLAD I went, one of the best things I've ever done.

What made it so much better was the fact that it was in the longest river in the world, the Nile is beautiful and during the calm periods of being on the boat, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was being in the middle of such a large span of water and all around me I could see blue sky and green land and it was just amazing. 

Before I went I kind of worried that I didn't come to Uganda to do fun things, I came to help people, however I realised that 

1. I can't help people and work 24/7, I need some fun time too, 

and 

2. It's good to experience stuff like this and see what amazing things God put in the world for us to enjoy. Quite a few times we got into the water and just floated in our life jackets staring upwards and it was the most amazing, relaxing thing, I can't even explain how good it was.