Why was an otter walking around a rapid on the Nile?

We are often asked about the grade or class of rapids we run on the Nile.  Some people have rafted elsewhere, and want to try and assess what sort of experience they will have relative to other rivers they have rafted.  Many are just looking to boast to friends.  After 30-years of worldwide river rafting, we can tell you categorically that under any grading system the Nile is in a class of it’s own!

The most common means of grading rapids is the International Scale of River Difficulty, which rates them from I (easy) to VI (unraftable), based principally on the difficulty of safely navigating a rapid.  A rapid is created, in essence, by a blockage of the river.  The rocks creating this blockage may protrude above the surface, or linger near the surface creating powerful hydraulics or holes in the river (think of ‘The Bad Place’).  This grading system takes account of the consequences that could result if you got it wrong.  Grade VI rapids are too much for even the experts although skilled rafters and kayakers are constantly ‘converting’ grade VI rapids to grade V plus.  A grade VI rapids is generally referred to as ‘unraftable’.  Refer to our Rapid Grading page for more detail on the grading.

What makes the Nile exceptional is the sheer size of the rapids.  On the technical scale, most of the rapids we raft are only grade/class (the two words can be interchanged) III or IV, but they can have standing waves several metres high.  This is where the technical system fails, as it is unable to accurately capture the excitement and adrenalin levels we associate with rafting huge Nile rapids.  A grade IV rapid in the Nile (like Bujagali Falls) is at least twice as big and exciting as grade V rapids on many other rivers.

In the West of the US and in particular in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, rapids are rated from 1 to 10 according to their size.  For large volume rivers like the Colorado (200-300 cumecs) or the Nile (700-800 cumecs) then this system is more appropriate in many respects.  A cumec = a cubic metre per second and measures the flow of the river.  Legendary rapids ‘Crystal’ and ‘Lava Falls’ in the Canyon are rated 10/10.  Given the Nile generally carries over three times the volume and drops more steeply, it boasts many rapids which are 10/10 or as good as you get.

What gives the Nile it’s widest appeal in terms of commercial rafting is the choice available.   There are many different parts to each rapid, the river is in many different channels and there are literally dozens of routes down the same stretch of river.  Whether you want to drift quietly with the family or join the EXTREME team for a day in the smallest rafts on the Nile, there is literally something for everyone.

So why was the otter scrambling over the rocks beside Cobra rapid two days ago?  Lake Victoria is higher than it has been in years and more water than usual is being released from the Owen Falls dam.  The bigger the release, the more powerful, larger and exciting the rapids become.  Some of the rapids are even too big for the residents but many are better than we have seen them in years.