A Day on the Nile

January 3rd was River Nile day. We met at a rafting outfitter and were taken to the Nile for a morning of rafting. We are not brave. We opted for the “family float trip” along with a family visiting from the Netherlands. We were in one raft; they were in another raft. One kayak accompanied us as our safety vehicle. (Sidebar: our kayaker was the Ugandan champion rafter last year. He was a treat to watch with the Dutch children as well as to watch some of his tricks with his kayak.)

Our raft trip consisted only of Stage 1 and Stage 2 rapids. They were fun! But I would not want to take on anything larger. Coward is not a bad word, but I prefer to be known as cautious. Barb was nervous even with the family float trip. Neither Betsy and D’rae were wanting to do the rapids raft trip again. Our float trip was enjoyable, and the rapids were exciting. The scenery was beautiful, and the Nile great to swim in. Barb and I opted not to swim, but Betsy and D’rae plunged in, as did the children in the other raft.

Our take out point was a camp about 7 km down the Nile. As we approached the take out point, we had to look up. The banks of the Nile are quite steep at this point, and stairs had been made to walk up to the top. Combine the altitude of the Jinja area (almost a mile), the fatigue of paddling on the Nile, and the steep angle of the steps to the top of the bank, and that journey up from the Nile suddenly became daunting. There is a saying among the Ugandans. In English, it translates to something like “slowly by slowly.” It means take it slow. We did. After we arrived at the top, we watched the porters carrying jerry cans of water up from the river, as well as the two rafts and the kayak up from the river. The porters made a couple of trips for water while we were watching. They are much more accustomed to the altitude.

Our journey to the Nile was a wonderful experience. As I stood near its banks, I thought about the journey the waters were making towards the Mediterranean Sea, about the waters of the Nile turning to blood and God’s deliverance of His people Israel. Then my thoughts turned to another’s blood and the deliverance God provides for His people today through Jesus.