Luckily, we were able to squeeze in a few play days before everyone left. Will had to get some photos of all the rapids for a guidebook of the While Nile. Long story short: we took a raft down the entire 45 km so Will could get some photos. Originally I thought it was going to be a nightmare having a paddle raft with 3 raft guides and one “soon-to-be” guide, but we survived. It probably helped that Will just sat up front with a waterproof camera and took photos at the top of every rapid instead of actually paddling. We were all really surprised (and quite disappointed) by the time we made it through the Bad Place and still had only flipped the raft once at Bubugo (which was more so intentional than anything else). We did realize that when all of us were trying to dry flip the raft at Bubugo, it probably would not work out that well. Of course, we made it down to the Nile Special right before dark (since we started after 1:00 that afternoon) and ended the day by surfing in the raft. We let out a little air, ferried on, and held on tight, laughing in hysterics as surfed a 16-foot raft on the Special. The lighting was not the greatest, but Anna still managed to get some good shots.
Annie returned to Uganda this last weekend. It is great to have her back, but somewhat surreal to hear about life back in the States. Of course, Annie did not make it easy on herself by only visiting the big cities one after another (i.e New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle), but it reminded me of how unexcited I am to get back to the States. Time sure flies by here, but luckily, Anna and I were able to keep things together while both Jessie and Annie were away. However, I am not that disappointed to put Annie back in charge of logistics, drivers asking for more money, monthly paychecks, etc. The language barrier always makes negotiating and planning even more exciting.
