A thrill on the Nile

By Evelyn Masaba

You close your eyes as they push you down off the ramp, your heart races and you wait to wake up in heaven or hell, but wait you haven’t prayed yet! Wait!! A scream you didn’t know existed rises out of your throat as you feel yourself
The instructors turn and look at you after strapping you in, your eyes are full of panic as you stare at the drop that in your mind “might end your life.” One of them double checks the straps and smiles at you; “You can do this, you were born for this…” falling, then you feel it; the cool wind whispering words of encouragement as you swing from side to side.

The birds chirp by, flying with ease around you, the Nile calmly flows around and you slowly realize the beauty of everything around you. It’s so breathtaking you squeal in glee as they gently lead you down to a boat waiting for you, the feel of adrenaline still pumping through your blood you try to breath. You just jumped off a bridge over the Nile, a very high bridge and it was AWESOME!

That adrenaline rush that you desire, that very addictive feeling you get when you do something you didn’t expect to ever go for in your life; that is what you will find when you drive 10 minutes from Jinja town right near the Nile (the longest river in the world). A place to give you a thrill of a lifetime, you will jump off the bridge and see the world upside down but it will not matter because all you will feel is glee after the fear dies down.

Bungee jumping is an activity where someone jumps off of a tall structure in this case a bridge over the River Nile while held by an elastic cord that is tightly tied up at the bridge with instructors and safety advisers always on standby. The thrill comes from the fall and the rebound, when you jump the cord stretches and you fly upwards as the cord recoils continuing up and down till it slows down then you are gently let down by the instructors.  All this fun and excitement goes for a mere 100,000 UGX or $29 per person.

Editor’s Note: This article was first published on Exclusive Africa in 2016