In Uganda, this adrenaline-pumping experience can only be done in Jinja over the world’s longest river, the Nile, where you dive 44 metres from the bungee tower at the edge of the river Nile into open space before briefly immersing into the Nile water, fondly dubbed as ‘Kissing the Nile.’
With a group of friends over the weekend, we set off for the eastern city and after passing through the tedious Jinja highway traffic, we finally crossed the Nile bridge, branched off to Kimaka road for a 3km drive to Bungee Uganda right next to Jinja Nile Resort. At Bungee Uganda, we were welcomed by the bubbly Robert Davies, the proprietor of the place. After a few chit-chats, he ushered us inside to the reception for registration.
We were then told that everyone who was going to partake in the bungee jumping had to sign an indemnity form accepting that they were undertaking the activity at their own risk and freeing the company from any liability in case anything went wrong.
The form also assesses that one does not have any underlying health conditions like pregnancy, back pain, heart conditions, high blood pressure, epilepsy, neuro-logical disorders, recent surgeries or intoxication. Otherwise, if someone has one of these, one is ineligible to jump.
After agreeing and signing to terms and conditions, we had our body weights recorded on a weighing scale and written in the palms of our hands. The minimum weight for someone to take the jump is 35kg. As expected, not all of us were brave enough to take the jump and those who gave in to their fears opted to remain behind to be spectators, cheering us on and acting as our cameramen, as we ascended the bungee tower.
Truth be told, I have acrophobia and as soon as we started going up the bungee tower, the jitters kicked in, but I was so determined to finally try out this adrenaline-rush activity.
Up the tower, the four of us were welcomed by Ronald Mabonga, the instructor who was going to take us through the whole experience. He told us he has been doing this for four years. As he fetched the gear to start dressing me up, he explained that there are two types of bungee jumping on offer; the ankle dive where one is harnessed at the feet and jumps headfirst, toward the water.
This is more fun and vibrant and brings out the real experience of the jump as it makes one float in air like a butterfly before going down to eventually kiss the Nile waters. Then there is the body jump where one is harnessed at the waist, making them end up in a sitting position after jumping from the tower.
This type of bungee jumping stops midway at around 35 to 38 metres of the 44 metres and, therefore the participant does not get to touch the water. This type is more lenient and less nerve-wracking, but I was here for a full blast experience so I went for the ankle dive.
“Bungee is more of a psychological adventure; so, just let your mind be free, be comfortable and put it in yourself that you are up here to have fun and everything will work out well. But if you hold onto your fears, it will be difficult,” Mabonga said.
The gear used include the waist harness which supports the body from the waist down, the chest harness which supports the upper body and if you are going for the ankle dive, you will have two ankle harnesses on your legs as well.
Jumping is done according to the intervals of weight from the highest to the lowest since different types of ropes are used for each weight range. From 35kg to 50kg, a yellow rope is used, from 51kg to 70kg, a blue rope is used and from 71kg to 90kg, the red cord is used.
TAKING THE LEAP
Before me, there were two colleagues who had been pushed down the tower but I chose to look away so as to control my nerves. Tied up in all the required harnesses, I proceeded to the jumping point of the tower. Here, the body weights were taken again and I had added four kilos because of the harnesses.
At this point, the bungee cord is attached to the two ankle harnesses since and all the harnesses are crosschecked again to make sure that they are well placed and fit for the jump. It was now time to get down to business and as I moved closer to the jumping point, I began reconsidering my decision, but it was too late to give in to my fears right then.
A jumper prepares to launch the jump
With Mabonga right behind me getting me in position and probably sensing my nervousness, he advised me to close my eyes. First-time jumpers are advised to avoid looking down as they are about to jump off the tower as this can make one more nervous or even chicken out.
You are, therefore, told to either look straight ahead or close the eyes. Mabonga finds it necessary to roar at this point, which I must say does not quite ease the tension, and then he counts 1,2,3 and pushes you off the tower.
I cannot lie that I felt anything during the first few seconds of me going down. It is like I had passed out and even though I felt my hands touch the water, I only regained my senses when I had bounced back into the air and the crew in a boat below was shouting at me to open my eyes. I opened my eyes, let loose and this is when I began enjoying the whole experience.
The thrill about bungee jumping is that you don’t just go straight down and that’s it; the rope repels and bounces a few more times and while you are rebounding, you can flip right over for another beautiful shallow dive.
The thrill comes from the free falling and the rebounds. After kissing the Nile on the first jump, the cord stretches and makes you bounce back and forth before stabilizing midair facing the mighty river Nile. The sensation of flying through air completely upside down is rejuvenating and made me feel brand new.
A team of three in a raft, who had been waiting at the bottom approached, untied me from the cord and settled me in the raft as they congratulated me upon conquering my fears. Davies says he took over management of the bungee jumping activity in 2020 after it had been closed for three years.
Overlooking the Nile, the Bungee Uganda establishment consists of a restaurant, bar, lounge and terrace where those who aren’t jumping remain to witness the brave ones risk their lives.
Davies says the activity is picking up very fast especially with the domestic market, with 70 per cent of jumpers being women. For Ugandans, a jump costs Shs 200,000, East African residents $100 and other tourists $115.
He assured us that even though it may seem scary, bungee jumping is very safe as the equipment is of very high standard because it was specifically designed for the Ugandan tower from Canada and the ropes are made up of thousands of strands of rubber, which makes them unlikely to break.
The body harnesses are designed to protect the person in case of any unfortunate incident.
“We haven’t had any unfortunate incident ever since we started doing this; not even vomiting or fainting as we expected at first. The staff who work on the bungee were taken through intensive training by experts from Canada and later taken to South Africa for more training. As part of the training, they had to take a minimum of 10 jumps themselves and then 300 jumps with somebody supervising them before they could be certified. A team of six well-trained men handle the bungee jumping exercise,” Davies says.
He is planning on putting up a zip-line from one end of the tower going across the bay and back. Besides bungee jumping, one can also partake in other fun activities such as quad biking, white water rafting and tubing on the Nile.
Over to you!