Uganda – The Source of the White Nile - A family experience….

   

This year’s trip to Uganda, was different to the ones we have run over the last 5 years - this year our intrepid kayakers brought their families along! Our group swelled to 15 and before we knew it the tickets were booked and we were off. Not too long ago, Uganda was regarded as a no-go area but now, daunting as it may seem to take your kids, it was as easy as boarding an SAA flight. Once we arrived we very quickly got into the swing of things with a 2 hour Matatu (local taxi) trip through the main city Kampala, to our destination just outside Jinja – the Nile River Explorers river camp.

En route we stopped for some chicken on a stick (a bit like KFC but you can taste that these chickens have been running, it’s central Africa after all!)

Our accommodation at the Nile Porch was luxurious by Ugandan standards and has an amazing outlook over the mighty White Nile. The two bigger families of Meyer and Werner De Waal were in the 5 bedded Family units whilst Deon, Renier and Stene and Alister and Raine were in the double tented accommodation. Stuart and I were in tents at the NRE campsite 2 min away. The Nile Porch boasts an amazing pool, restaurant and bar service and provided a good retreat from the reality of 3^rd world Uganda.

   

 

Although Uganda is very much 3^rd world, we saw no begging, had no incidents of theft or intimidation and were welcomed wherever we went. Our main discussion in the group revolved around the comparison of SA vs. Uganda, and why there is such a difference in attitude of the locals. We never really reached a consensus but I think one of the main factors is that there is very little starvation due to the fact that in the tropical environment anything grows. If you put a chicken in the ground it would probably grow. This means that there is not the same level of desperation that you find in SA. The other reason is that the Ugandan people have seen the worst with the dictatorship of Idi Amin. They have experienced the worst that humankind can throw at them and they are now celebrating life.

     

 

We were here to paddle the White Nile, and I was quite apprehensive about how the families were going to fill their days. My worries were short lived. On the first day we didn’t see the kids at all. Quad-Biking. Bora - bora rides, Swimming pool, High wire and just general hanging out. The kayakers on the other hand had big eyes. Meyer and Werner had both previously been with us to Uganda but Stuart, Alistair and Deon were virgins. We warmed up on the dam wall section of the river which is the source of the Nile and the outflow of Lake Victoria. If you don’t know where Lake Victoria is just take out a map of Africa and try and take in the size of this lake! It is actually an inland sea. The water is released for electricity from the dam and the flow ranges from 800 cms to 1500 cms. If you don’t know what this means, know this - it is BIG water. Everyone was very rusty and it was a good exercise to paddle down this class 2 section to warm up. Kayaking the White Nile is daunting, but if you stay on the rafting lines and have a fairly decent roll, you’ll be fine. This proved to be a problem for some with Deon leading the swim tally followed by Werner, Meyer and Stuart. Alistair came though with 100% record. Deon confessed one evening after many beers and a few cigars that he wasn’t quite prepared and fit enough for the big water, but hats off to him. This was an awesome and courageous feat on his part.

   

 

Dams are destructive, invasive and altogether a bad idea, but the reality is that after many years of threats the Second dam is going ahead. There is blasting 3 times a week in the afternoons and there is no kayaking allowed during blasting. One of the channels, 3 little sisters has been closed off sending the water back upstream and down Silverback. The result, Total Ganga, previously a class 5 rapid with the G-Spot is now class 2, Surf city is now underwater and Silverback is ENORMOUS! I am talking seriously big water. When you head down this tongue into the rapid you wonder what you are getting yourself into. There are 4 main stopper waves in the rapid with the first being the critical one. Get through this one and you have a chance. There are two lateral waves coming in which create a house size Haystack wave in the middle. Even the once brazen local kayakers get focused for this rapid and there are shouts of joy when they get through without swimming. Swim this one and you will feel that you have a date with your maker. There are huge whirlpools on the river left hand side which can suck a kayaker down at will and for any length of time. If you ask Deon about this rapid he might pull out a cigar and have an in depth, excuse the pun, conversation about his experience.  All this said, the more you run Silverback the better it gets and at the end of the day it is quite a simple rapid, but it is big, guys….

Four days into our stay we headed off to the Hairy Lemon Island Camp. The kayakers were dropped off at Kalagala Falls to paddle down to the island whilst the others headed straight there. The river has amazing rapids on this section, although technically less difficult, the rapids sport various house size waves you can play in. Besides Werner, who was having an off day, the group handled really well. The Hairy Lemon is an island retreat like no other. For kayakers this is heaven. The Nile Special wave is 5 min paddle upstream, 3 meals per day are included in the cost of your stay and the island is surrounded by small channels of flowing water to lounge around in during the heat of the day. Oh, did I mention that there was a bar? We spent two nights on the island and the kids spent most of the time in the water fishing, playing volleyball and chilling. They could have been there a week without getting bored.

Before we knew it there was only a day and a half left of our Ugandan experience. We decided to do a Half Day rafting trip with NRE so that the non kayakers could experience the river and relate to the war stories they had been listening to the whole week. They are still smiling to this day! After all of our group experienced a flip in the rapids, there was a new respect for the kayakers (frequently also swimmers) in our group!

The afternoon was left for everyone to head to the market and do some last minute shopping. There is a great array of fantastic fabrics and crafts – very different to what we find down here. Raine proved to be a master shopper - by the end of the day she was only 17 kg overweight!

By the end of this trip even Renier, a 17 year old boy who is what the call a ‘Stoute’ in Afrikaans and who has endless energy was tamed by the Ugandan experience. This pays tribute to a country which has a special place in my heart.

Well, first of all hats off to Meyer and Werner for their determination to share their experience of Uganda with their family and friends and a further hats off to their wives, Doreen and Leisha who agreed to go to 3^rd world Africa with their children not knowing quite what to expect. And a final respect must go to the group of kayakers who were challenged at every corner and who got up after a beating, brushed themselves of and carried on. There were times where I needed all my experience on the river and I can only imagine what was racing through your minds heading down that tongue into Silverback on the second day. Respect.

A special thanks must go out to Stuart who left his kayak and spray deck for Robert, one of the local kayakers who I taught to roll on my last trip. On this trip he worked for me as a kayak safety guide. This gesture will empower his life in ways we cannot comprehend.

Right, the ground is broken, this is an amazing destination for families and friends. Interested……….? Bookings are open!