# 48 July 26th- Sunday

-Breakfast at Adrift -1/2 day rafting -Return to Kampala -Goodbye Dinner


I awoke in the morning to the sound of chattering monkeys and the rushing sound of the Nile. I through on some clothes and took a walk outside to take it all in. I took a cup of coffee and hung out with Mandie and Wendy. We were looking at the bungee jumping site. It hangs over the Nile. There were monkeys playing on it and then jumping from tree to tree. They seem to travel in small family groups. The bar hangs over the cliff and gives a great vantage point to see the bungee jumpers. We were talking about fears and doubts. Some of us had made up our minds to jump and others were still deciding.
After a light breakfast it was time to sign up bungee jumping. I wanted to be in the first group. We weighed in. I was 94 kilos. They write the number on your hand to help the operators know how to calibrate the ropes. My group included Kate, Lisa, Lindsey, Bill, and Lance.
Before long it was time to go. I started to feel a boyish anticipation inside. We were all a little giddy so I tried not to talk too much. We walked to the launch site and walked up the stairs. I think we were all nervous. We walked up 7 or 8 flights of stairs to the top. Looking down is half the fun, but by now my heart was pounding. We lined up with the three girls going first. Lindsey was right in front of me. She had been a little conflicted about jumping, but she was ready to go. I had a song (you never let go) in my head. I was singing it softly and she asked me to keep singing. I think it was a comfort to both of us. When Kate jumped she shouted out “Merica!!!!” It was a good battle cry and she survived. Lisa jumped like a champ and Lindsey was a rock star. Then it was my turn. I sat in the throne to have my feet bound up. Gavin was the name of the guys who set me up. He has a really reassuring disposition. I hopped over to the ledge and looked out. Gavin told me that if I gave a good jump out, I would dip my head in the water. If I jumped a bit less I’d go up to my arms. If I jumped straight down, I would get fully immersed. As I looked over the ledge I had a feeling of nerves. You know when you are trying to smile, but your face isn’t cooperating. My heart was pounding through my chest. For a split second I thought, no way, I can’t do this. And then I remembered that three girls had just gone. I was not about to be “that guy”. With all the power I had I jumped. I was supposed to dive. That is not what happened. I realized as I was going down that everyone else who had jumped had done a lovely swan dive. I, on the other hand, had jumped pretty much straight down with my feet beneath me. I let out an deep AAAAAUUUUUUUUHHHHH sound as I was going down and then, snap! My head was now beneath my feet. The rope had corrected my body position just in time to plunge me into the Nile down to my ankles. What a rush!!!! It was quite simply the most exciting thing I’ve ever done….and I was still alive! After bouncing around a bit, the workers pulled me into the boat and it was over.
I was grinning ear to ear for the rest of the day and we still had a half day of rafting left. I went on a raft with Andrew, John Smith, Big John, and Princeton John, along with Michael, Matthew, and James. We had a great time, but the class 5 rapid was nothing compared to the bungee jump for me. It was good to be on the river though. Unfortunately, Catherine dislocated her shoulder on the trip down. She popped it back in on her own. She is a tough cookie. We didn’t see any crocs or hippos. Apparently most of them had been eaten by the local population. They said the meat tastes like pork. They caught them by trapping their feet and flipping them upside down then slitting there necks.
We stopped at “lunch island”, ate, and rode back to Adrift and headed back to Kampala. At Backpackers we dropped off our stuff and headed over to Sam’s restaurant. I had a nice meal and a good conversation. I’m thinking about choosing a few days each week to go vegetarian. This is partly out of Matt and Andrew’s influence and partly just by preference. I actually like vegetables and I am starting to see them something to relish rather than something to tolerate. So, I think I’m going to shoot for 3 or 4 days each week to go vegetarian and see where it takes me. The food took forever to arrive, but that was par for the course so it didn’t really bother me. I was heading home in the morning!!! I was ready to roll.
When we got back to Backpackers I decided to stay up and collect pictures in the bar. I took a shower and changed for the day. I was so happy to be heading home but I was thinking about the long journey ahead. Kevin and Bill took off. They were heading to Amsterdam where they were going to meet up with Ryan for a few days. Big John was heading back up to Gulu so we said our goodbyes. I wasn’t really tired and I wasn’t worried about sleep. I’d have plenty of time on the planes.