Rafting day! Had to get up way too early. Met the company and the other rafters at the Sheraton Hotel. Had an hour and a half drive to Jinja (second largest city in Uganda) and then another fifteen minutes to the starting point on the White Nile.
We divided into two groups of six plus a guide for each raft. My raft had Tom and Christine (an American couple - driving around East Africa for six months), Tim (a pilot for British Airways - a layover), Mikael (a Slovenian Dentist on holiday), Adam our guide (an Australian) and his girlfriend (I think). Had a great time rafting. Spent about five hours on the river, through maybe 20 rapids class three or bigger (including four class fives). All in all it was a lot more exciting that the Zambezi though it was a lot more work as well (everyone paddles and the guide's paddles is the same as everyone else's). We managed to do the entire day without flipping the boat (the other raft flipped twice) - though I did get tossed in on one of the class fives (four of us went swimming on that rapid).
On the drive back beer was supplied and it went quickly. Back at the Sheraton I quickly check email, then go on a quest to find someplace willing to cash a travelers check on a Sunday night - otherwise I am not going to have enough shillings to make it to Bwindi tomorrow. After finally being successful at a neighboring hotel I ran into Tim, Tom and Christine - all cleaned up now - and went into the Sheraton bar with them. Ended up hanging out with Tim and some of his flight / cabin crew. Have diner at an Ok Italian place, try to go to the Casino but get kicked out (I'm still in shorts) so go back to the Sheraton and suddenly it's way after three.
By the time I walk back and pack and get all set up for tomorrow (I'm leaving a bag here) it's 4:35 am and I'm setting the alarm for 5:30...
