Well what can I say! Even when we had arrived (after a 9 hour flight, 3 hour taxi and short boat ride), I still couldn't believe I was actually there! Although the contrast was quite overwhelming, everyone was so friendly, I soon settled into island life in kayaker's paradise.
As we had arrived in the middle off the night I hadn't seen a lot of this brand new country. But as I was awoken by the warmth of the sun, I stumbled out my tent to properly see Africa. Everywhere teamed with alien insects, geckos clung to every wall, and birds nested alongside monkeys in trees.
During the first week I just didn't want to get off the water. This meant three sessions a day; getting used to the wave - and the rope - and beginning to try out moves that I had learnt at Hurley. Every time I dropped onto the wave it just felt incredible! Super fast, huge bounces and a towering face - it was like nothing I had ever paddled before! Before going, I had also thought of myself as more of hole boater, but on Nile Special I just felt free, like nothing else mattered.
Near the end of the first week we also took a trip up to Jinja, stopped overnight and then paddled Super Hole and the Day 2 section down. Super Hole was great as it is more retentive and slower than Special so was perfect for trying back blunts. After, we paddled the river back. I even ran Kalagala despite having a nosebleed at the top of the rapid.
By the second week, the island felt like home and life was very chilled. This week followed much the same pattern, with as much kayaking my body could physically manage and water levels would allow. While we had been there, the river levels had been fairly high so were lucky to be getting Special almost all day, often with paddle on in the evenings. The monsoon season also arrived in the second week, which didn't prove too good for my tent which needed a few fixings. However, the island suddenly became a lush green paradise, and the wildlife thrived.
As we approached the halfway stage, I began to really push my boating and see just how far I could get. Although this ended in quite a lot of (often very entertaining) face plants, it was worth it. I was now getting way more vertical on my blunts and even trying pan ams and airscrews. During the third week we also had Easter, which meant lower water levels as it was a bank holiday. Therefore, Club Wave also started coming in. As it was slightly more retentive, it was good to try newer moves, but initially I found it hard to set up. However, after almost a full Easter weekend of Club, I was way more used to the feature and began work on back blunts and helixes. During this week I felt like I really pushed my paddling up and was excited to start the World of Champions camp run by Den and Jacko.
There were plenty of paddling highlights from just the first three weeks, and the simple, relaxed, care free lifestyle was a highlight in itself. But also there were lots of other highlights...
1. Trip to Jinja and just experiencing the African culture
2. Playing Frisbee Golf
3. Running Kalagala (although technically kayaking, it wasn't freestyle, and is currently the biggest rapid I've run)
It's hard to put into words just how incredible it is and what an amazing experience it was. Kayaking on the Nile is just awesome and the chilled lifestyle tops it off perfectly!
Comments
Post a Comment