Nothing prepares you for how you will feel once your feet detach from a ledge, 40 meters above the World’s longest river – Nile. This isn’t something you attempt because you are not scared, you choose to jump, trusting that the thousands of rubber strands in the bungee code will support your weight and give you the most exhilarating experience above the ground, beneath the sky.
I have always imagined how a bungee fall would feel like, always wanted to know what lies off of the edge of the cliff where my flying dreams never take me. The fear of the unknown, this particular unknown, has always been an enigma I so badly want to fathom.
Maybe David Kirke suffered the same disturbing thought before he fastened that rope on his ankles, grabbed a bottle of Champagne and jumped off the 76-meter Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol on 1 April 1979 in what would be the world’s first ever recreational bungee jump.
Mr. Kirke paved the way for thrill-seekers including his friends who followed through with the jump once it was established that he had landed unscathed. Now, while I couldn’t do it the Kirke way, it was so surreal to finally feel the freedom I always thought I would get once I was off the edge of the tower.
Coincidentally, Kirke breathed his last during the same week of my jump and what better way to bid such a daredevil goodbye than doing exactly what he would, if he had another day to live!
People in the South Seas Island of Vanuatu practiced land diving or “Gol” as a rite of passage for young men to test their bravery and strength but Kirke did it for the thrill of it and Bungee Jumping has since spread across the globe as a recreational activity.
“We are going to be jumping according to the intervals of weight from the highest to the lowest. You can either do the Ankles jump where you go head first. This is more fun, it brings out the real experience of the jump. Then we have the body where by you’re held from the waist and you will end up in a sitting position. This is more lenient but at the end of the day, it is still a bungee jump,” Ronald Mabonga aka Ronnie, a bungee operator at Bungee Uganda in Jinja took us through the briefing as we awaited our turns.
A jumper’s weight is one of the key factors in the calculation of the length of rope to use during a jump. Heavier jumpers fall faster than lighter jumpers which necessitates the need to use less rope length.
“Every type of rope goes with a different weight range, for example; 50-60kgs that’s a blue code, 70-90kgs that’s a red code,” Ronnie, the tall, fully-built, broad-shouldered handy man answered queries with utmost confidence.
It wasn’t long before he notified me that I would be jumping last because I was the lightest in the cohort; “Patience, I will need you to be patient because you’re going to be the last to jump.”
I nodded in the affirmative, looking at the 42(Kg) written in my palm in bold blue. To be honest I was a little disappointed earlier when we weighed at the reception; I was 44kgs just last month and here I was, praying that I wouldn’t be underweight for the activity.
My fears were put to rest, I would jump. I chose the ankles jump because I wanted utmost thrill out of this could-be once in a lifetime attempt. My moments of swinging off a ridge in the many crazy dreams I get would be given a new perspective and who knows, I wouldn’t catch the jitters since I have lived through this before, well, in the comfort of my sheets and fiber-starved pillows.
One by one, my colleagues took the leap of faith and jumped, many kissing the Nile, some hollering for heaven’s door to open because they didn’t see any way they would make it out alive and others casually closing their eyes and hoping they wouldn’t have to atone for their evils in hell. Thankfully, they all were lowered onto the raft safe and sound, I bet many had a good moment to rethink their life decisions as their bodies shook with visible terror.
Adrenaline rush and total surrender
All harnessed up, I took the final weighing and the scale ran to 46.7 something Kgs, meaning I was carrying four kilograms of rubber, metal and whatever else the ensemble is made of. That was the least of my worries. I was sure about my decision to jump,“ the rest I will live through.”
40 meters above the Nile, Ronnie and colleagues made the last whispers through their walkie talkies, seemed like some sort of concern, but hey, I didn’t have time to be a nosy Nancy when the door to the extreme edge of the tower was opening for me to walk through. I had mastered the instructions and followed through with ease. In his deep, husky voice that could make a perfect soundtrack for Maleficent, Ronnie heaved – the familiar disturbing sound, giving my insides a subtle quiver. Like a wolf with their head tilted up, he howled out the numbers; 1, 2 and……whatever else he said, I didn’t hear.
I was plummeting away into an abyss, or so it seemed for the first 3 seconds. I would be lying if I said I was alright, but I couldn’t tell if I wasn’t either. All I knew was I needed the plunging to stop, or get some sort of hold for all I cared. I closed my eyes and let go, and felt my body go weightless – a good adrenaline rush entwined with total surrender.
Soon enough, the momentum came to a sudden halt and I breathed again before I was hauled back up to the disturbing height I thought I had overcome. This time, however, I was more willing to not oppose the force and I had a swing of a lifetime above the calm, glistening waters of the Nile.
Down below, the three guys on a red, orange raft were making their way to where I hung calmly and that’s the moment I realized I had actually not kissed the Nile. Fury engulfed my entire being for a split second, then it all made sense; the last whispers on the walkie talkies, the subtle concern…..“It would be a bit risky because of your weight,” Mr. Robert Davies, Bungee Uganda CEO, would later tell me.
The gentlemen on the raft received me like brief case loaded with some stray nukes, gently lowering me onto the raft amidst praises, “that was an excellent jump, you did well.” “Was that your first time?” “You are good at this…” I enjoyed the moment, only to realize later, that they told almost everybody that. It must be part of their culture to calm jumpers’ nerves and not make them feel some type of way about the jump.
Bungee Uganda – a haven for thrill-seekers
Bungee Uganda CEO Rob (as he is popularly known) reopened the facility after it had been closed for 3 years. He has been on the helm since 2020 and business has registered steady progress. Overlooking the Nile, the Bungee Uganda establishment boasts a fully fledged restaurant, a bar, lounge and terrace.
The biggest percentage of clients at Bungee Uganda are domestic tourists with women constituting the bigger percentage of the jumps conducted.
“We do get foreign jumpers too. Overall, 70% of our jumpers are women…they must be braver or crazier or both but most times when a couple comes, it’s usually the woman that jumps. This could also be because of the cost; it’s expensive for two people jump on a regular day out so usually the boyfriend will pay for the girlfriend to jump,” Mr. Davies said in a brief interview with Prime News.
Ugandans are charged UGX200,000 each for the bungee jump, East African residents US$100 while foreigners part with U$115.
Asked whether there has been any unfortunate incident during the bungee operations, Mr. Davies noted that they haven’t encountered any and all the jumps have been successful.
“I was expecting people to vomit or faint but there has been none. It is very safe. The equipment we have is specifically designed for this tower and is handmade in Canada – very efficient and up to standard. The code is made up of thousands of rubber strands, there is no way it could break. And let’s say it does break, the nylon cord would still support the jumper’s weight,” he said.
The bungee operators were trained by Canadian experts and over 300 trial jumps were made before the facility officially opened for business.
The facility employs about 30 people, 7 being fulltime bungee operators.
According to Mr. Davies, people intending to jump should be in good health and sober so as not to compromise their safety and the safety of the operators.
Mr. Davies called on people to embrace travel and adventure to boost tourism but also to enjoy their lives.
“People need to get out of their houses and enjoy themselves. I know we should be saving money and blah blah but sometimes you just need to spend money. At Bungee Uganda, you don’t necessarily have to jump, you could sit at the terrace and watch people jump. I just want people to realize, especially after Covid, that there is more to life and they should enjoy it,” he added.
This worthwhile visit to Bungee Uganda climaxed with a late lunch – crispy fish fingers, potato wedges, creamy tarter sauce (just how I like it) and a vegetable salad. By the time I was done nourishing this body that had held together through the jump, the sun was receding further and further into the horizon, giving the Nile waters a dreamy golden shimmer.
A few minutes at the terrace were calming enough to reset for the dreaded traffic mess back to Kampala. In the unbearably hot van with its grumpy driver, we cruised past the disappointingly dark Nile Bridge, flickers from the huge trucks as Rihanna dominated the airplay before Jason Mraz’ “I Won’t Give Up on Us” highjacked the airwaves. Singing word by word to this beautiful ballad, I bid Jinja farewell – till the next adventure.