Test your body and mind

At Extreme Adventure Park in Busika, you get a thrilling experience, a good workout, lots of fun and much more.

After breezing through the first level of the ropes course at Extreme Adventure Park, I felt buoyant. I headed straight for the next level, which was a bit higher and more difficult.

I climbed up the green wall to start what is also known as Commando level. The ropes at this level are longer and danced a lot more beneath my feet, or at least that is what it seemed like from several metres above the ground. Again, I made it across the dangling loops to the next stop.

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GET A SERIOUS WORKOUT: The ropes course exercises not just the body, but also the mind and the spirit as you negotiate the tough obstacles.

Safety first

The next stage involved walking a tight rope, with support of course. The rope above provided a sense of safety and the one I had to walk on was mercifully firm. I also took comfort from the lifeline, a central cable to which you clip on the ropes that link to your harness. It ensures your safety. In case you lose your hold along the course, you would only dangle off the safety clips, with little more than your pride lost.

Safety at the park is paramount as with each step, I was under the watchful eyes of Daniel, my instructor, who also briefed me on how to go through the course.

Soon, my arms began to let me know that they were receiving quite a work out but that did not dampen my mood, as I crawled across the spider web.

Then I got to the course with small stumps dangling from the ropes. Each stump is so narrow that only one foot at a time can fit. This played on my mind enough and I stood at the landing for what seemed like hours.

A boisterous Bernard, who had been the cheerleader for the group I found there, offered helpful tips from the safety of the ground below.  I still would not step off the platform.

If you have seen how a chameleon walks, testing the air with its feet first before gingerly stepping forward, then you can imagine what I was doing. Only, I was putting out my paw, and then withdrawing it, trying first with the left, then the right foot and still withdrawing.

I gazed across the vast expanse of the land surrounding the park. Acres of lush green enriched the view, with a stream crossing through the vegetable gardens and a few rocks posing like guards dressed in khaki.

Healthy-looking livestock grazed peacefully, and a family of geese quarreled and pecked one another, oblivious to my discomfort. On the footpath outside the fence, some children walked by with jerry cans heading to a nearby well. They only cast a glance in my direction and continued on their way. I suppose they had seen many a scaredy-cat stall at these ropes; it was not news.

There was music playing from the canteen, so at some point I just decided to dance off my fear.  Kamya, another instructor, came round to check on me. Now I had two cheerleaders, and it was still not working. Eventually, I stepped off the platform onto the suspended stumps, with my heart in my throat. I made it to the end, feeling triumphant.

The next stage, walking on suspended bamboo stems, was easy, and before long it was back to the thrilling zip line that signals the end of the level.



Extreme level

Level three is also named ‘Extreme’. This actually the most challenging level. It starts with climbing up a 10-metre wall. Out of the seven people in the group I found at the adventure park, only two had the stamina to go all the way up to the top. I tried to climb the first two metres, but my shoes were the wrong kind. Talk about a bad workman blaming his tools!

The two brave souls at the top made the first five metres across a trickier trapeze than the one on the first level. They soon called down to Kamya who swiftly went up for them; crossing through the ropes like it was child’s play.

The extreme level includes a section with rope ladders and another which involves going across a rope upside down, commando-style. Again, the highlight is the zip slide which sends the heart singing with a sense of triumph.

I found the ropes course suitable for outdoor team building activities for groups. When you have stood 10 metres above the ground and walked around the ropes course (which is a bit like the obstacle course on the TV show Ninja Warrior) there is no way you can go back to your office desk not feeling rejuvenated and more confident about your abilities.

Teams ought to take advantage of the fact that this park is only about an hour’s drive from Kampala city.

It’s environment is calm and serene — just the ideal location for retreats.

 But it is also great for friends who simply want a different kind of fun, just like the group I met there that day. A family outing at this park is one that would not easily be forgotten. The 147m zip slide is a great thrill for everyone, both young and old.

Challenging as the course is, it can and has been done by children who, unlike adults are much faster and move swiftly through the levels.

“The youngest person who has done the course without any help was 5 years old,” says Daniel.

The park is ideal for outdoor team building activities, camping grounds, corporate fun days and birthday parties. The ropes course can be supplemented with other fun games and activities such as football and volleyball, among others.

Winnie Atabaruyo, the marketing manager at Extreme Adventure Parks, says there are also plans to bring in paint ball soon and increase on the number of quad bikes available.

“All this is to make Extreme Adventure Park the ultimate adventure destination for all groups of people,” she says.


Going up the climbing wall to Level Two is the easy part

How to get there

The park is found 400 metres from the roundabout at Busika, on the Gayaza-Zirobwe road after Bugema University.  Take the murram road to the right. It is located within Uganda Motorsport Arena, the home to motorsport in Busika.

From Kampala it is 40km to the park.

Costs

The whole package costs Sh60,000 per person for the whole day.  Meals and refreshments are available at a moderate fee.


A group being prepared before the challenge

Accomodation

There are cozy and tastefully furnished cottages for those who would like to stay over. These are hired out on a self-catering arrangement, so you bring your own food to prepare in their well-equipped kitchen.

The nights are a highlight with a bonfire around which to tell stories and watch the stars. By the time I was leaving, a large family was already setting up their supper on the roomy verandah of one of the cottages, all set for a fantastic weekend.  I envied them.