I conquered fear to kiss River Nile

Whereas I have acrophobia (intense fear of heights), I have always loved to do bungee jumping and has been on my bucket list for long.

Luck befell me on Friday, July, 12 when I was among a group of over 30 journalists that the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities invited for a three day engagement in Jinja City.

As part of the engagement, on the final day, the media was taken for a feel of the different tourism activities.

Despite having acrophobia, I was particularly interested in doing bungee jumping.

This activity was chosen by just eight people including yours truly, as almost everyone had chosen quad-biking and tubing the Nile, but I can’t blame anyone, doing bungee jumping is not for everyone.

Imagine plunging oneself from a tower of 44 metres( about 14 storeys high) at Bungee Uganda. It is not a simple feat.

The preps

When we were asked on which activities we would do, I was among the first cross the line to the other side, to show my love for bungee jumping.

We were then briefed of what awaited us but all this time, I kept thinking of what it would be.

Meanwhile, we were asked to sign an indemnity form that among others was consent that you have allowed to take part in the activity and everything that comes your way.

A colleague joked that we were signing our wills.

We were then asked to be weighed to determine which cord each would oscillate on, but all this time, my thoughts were far away and in at one time, as my colleagues headed out of the room where the weighing processed took place, I excused myself to go to the washroom.

As we left the room to climb the tower, the pressure was unbearable as our colleagues who had stayed away from doing this particular activity in a way said words that expressed sympathy.

“How many wives are you leaving behind? What should we tell your children,” were some of the “sympathy” messages from colleague who were left behind as we climbed the tower of no return.

In a bid to console myself, I shouted some words back to the team that was staying behind but inside me, the heart was out.

Whereas others walked majestically around the stairs to the top of the 44 metre high tower, I had to hold its side rails tight, to prove my intense fear for heights.

The top

Reaching the top of the metallic tower, pressure increased as I looked down the height I had scaled to reach the top.

Meanwhile, the members who had stayed behind continue cheering us up, but to me, this was doing anything in changing my feeling.

At the top, the jump scheduler received us and took us through the nitty gritty of the activity, including how to do it.

We were assured the activity was 100% safe before we were given harnesses to support our backs, chests and shoulders.

We were then asked which kind of bungee jumping we wanted, between kissing the Nile which was the most daring one and the other simple one, usually done by women.

I opted for the former, and two other colleagues of mine did the same as the rest opted for the simple one.

Meanwhile, we were told, we would jump according to our weights, starting with the heaviest.

This meant, that with my 64 kilograms, I was the third last and this provided a sigh of relief that I wasn’t going to be the first to jump.

Meanwhile, colleagues did every sort of thing to ease the pressure that came with the activity as they had reached a point of no- return.

I chose to keep quiet so as to ensure my thoughts are not disturbed by anything as this is my way of containing pressure.

One, two, three up to six members went and did their thing but I deliberately refused to look at them as they took the leap of faith.

It was now my turn

Before I could know it, my turn had reached.

I was summoned to a wooden platform; the final spot from which one jumps,  where I was briefed again and assured everything was fine, but to me it was not.

The instructor opened the gate as his colleague held the cord but all this time, my heart had jumped out.

Imagine looking down and seeing that you are to jump from the 14^th storey to the ground! It was unimaginable.

Whereas I was asked to put hands up on either side of the head with the chin up, I told the instructor I was too tall to fit in the ‘booth’ but this didn’t save me either.

He asked me to extend infront to the tip of wooden platform with my toes ahead of the platform .

Whereas I told the instructor was going to count from three and that if I hear bungee I jump, out of fear, I didn’t hear him count.

Before I could know it, I was mid air with my mind frozen.

I was now having a fight with gravity as I tried to return to the wooden platform but all in vain as a strong force pulled me to fall. I was helpless.

Coldness run through my veins and I could not feel myself .

In the next second, I had kissed River Nile and I then oscillated back in the air and in different directions.

I tried to get a firm grip of the space but all this couldn’t work as I continued oscillating in the space.

Before I could know, a boat had come and I was being lowered into it but it was not successful until the third attempt and three guys welcomed me.

I was disconnected from the cord, put in the boat and move to concrete staircase that moved back to the starting ground.

The feeling

Whereas it is true I kissed the Nile, it was not your usual kissing as I had gallons of water filled my entire face, including the mouth, eyes and nose.

In fact, I was all wet, especially the upper part of my body.

I was on top of the world and I felt like a hero.

Whereas frightening, the feeling was enjoyable as I had conquered my fear to kiss the longest river in the world, the Nile.

At the end of the day, it was an intriguing adventure worth the money.

It is a leap of faith that I can again take as many times as I can.