12 PLACES VISITED: UGANDA: 1) Mbarara, 2) Masaka, Kampala, 3) Migera, 4) Masindi, 5) Murchinson Falls National Park, 6) Murchison Waterfall, 7) Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, Kampala, 8) Jinja. KENYA: 1) Kanduyi, 2) Naiberi, 3) Nakuru, 4) Lake Nakuru National Park, Nairobi.
8 OVERNIGHTS: UGANDA: 1) Dorm Bed at the “Red Chilli Hideaway”, Kampala (Elev 1153m), 2-3) Tent Bed at “Red Chilli Rest Camp”, Murchison National Park (Elev 646m), 4) Dorm Bed at the “Red Chilli Hideaway”, Kampala (Elev 1153m), 5) Dorm Bed at “Nile River Explorers Campsite”, Jinja, (Elev 1151m). KENYA: 1) Room at “Naiberi River Campsite & Resort”, Naiberi (Elev 2360m), 2) Dorm Bed at “Punda Milia Camp”, Nakuru (Elev 1916m), 3) Room at the “Parama Hotel”, Nairobi (Elev 1666m).
1 RUN: UGANDA: Murchison Falls National Park.
1 EXTREME: UGANDA: White Water Kayaking on the Nile River near Jinja.
67 UNIQUE WILDLIFE: UGANDA: 1) Olive Baboons, 2) Ugandan Kob, 3) Lion Parrot, 4) Water Buck, 5) Rothschild Giraffe, 6) Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, 7) African Buffalo, 8) Warthog, 9) Crowned Hornbill, 10) Oribi, 11) Jacksons Hartebeest, 12) Spotted Hyena, 13) African Elephant, 14) Guineafowl, 15) African Fish Eagle, 16) Red-throated Bee-eater, 17) Black-headed Heron, 18) Pied Wagtail, 19) Saddle-billed Stalk, 20) Pia Piac, 21) African Jacana, 22) Red Bishop, 23) Sparwing Lapwing, 24) Rupel Starling, 25) Lion (2), 26) Northern Carmine Bee-eater, 27) Danham’s Bastard, 28) Hippopotamus, 29) Nile Crocodile, 30) African Jacana, 31) Giant Kingfisher, 32) Leopard, 33) Black-winged Stilt, 34) Grey-headed Kingfisher, 35) Southern White Rhinoceros, 36) Maribou Stalk. KENYA: African Pied Wagtail, Guineafowl, Superb Starling, Impala, Zebra, Egyptian Goose, Thompson’s Gazelle, Water Buck, 1) African Buffalo, 2) Warthog, 3) Vervet Monkey, 4) Yellow-billed Stalk, 5) Black Rhinoceros, 6) Long Crested Eagle, 7) Great White Egret, 8) Silver Crested Crane, 9) Spur-winged Plover, 10) Olive Baboob, 11) Maribou Stalk, 12) Rothschild Giraffe, 23) Oribi, 24) White Rhinoceros, 25) Black-chested Snake Eagle, 26) Grey-crowned Crane, 27) Auger Buzzard, 28) Great Cormorant, 29) White-headed Buffalo, 30) White Stalk, 31) Sacred Ibis, Water Weaver.
BLOG POST TRAILER:
Welcome to post that takes you from RWANDA back through UGANDA and KENYA on our north to ETHIOPIA via DJIBOUTI. We had journeyed through KENYA and UGANDA before in Post 27 but did not see much because the focus was getting to the Gorillas in RWANDA. Now it is time to enjoy the wonders of these two nations. The features are Murchison Falls and Nile rafting in UGANDA and Lake Nakuru in KENYA. We crossed the EQUATOR twice in this post with another two crossings for me in Solo 12.
Solo 13 starts this off with a 4 night journey to Murchison Falls National Park to see the waterfall, national park and rhino sanctuary. Tim and I did this trip as a package offered by and from/to the Red Chilli Hideaway camp in Kampala, my second favourite to date, for USD380 not including food. It is a 7hr drive to the falls and you get to see them on the afternoon of the first day inside the National Park via a one hour walk.
The Murchison Fall is the “highest pressure” waterfall int he world because it is were the (White) Nile River flows from a width of 20m to a gorge of 6m width and 48m drop.
The result is like having a drain in the middle of the Nile! The force (pressure) of the water through the gorge is enormous and you can hear and see the result - the thunderous sound of water exploding like a million fire hoses with so much turbulence, froth and bubble that boats can only come within 1km of the base. Our camp was overlooked the Nile and featured comfy beds inside large stand-up tents. I managed to get a full run here after injuring my calf 6 days and 3 treatments ago with no pain so I would try another run tomorrow. On the following day we went on a 4hr driving safari into the national park after first crossing the Nile on a small barge. Murchison National Park is the largest in UGANDA and the densest in Africa - more animal quantities per square kilometre. And it showed. We saw animals immediately and kept seeing them throughout the drive.
The Ugandan Kob is unique to this area and looks like a Grant Gazelle - there are thousands of them. Another highlight was two female lions next to the van and one going off to prowl a Kob! Sadly no kill. It was a beautiful looking park, green with palms, acacias and other trees. It was also bisected by a wide Nile full of hippos. On the afternoon of the second day we did a boat safari along the Nile which was much better than Chobe in BOTSWANA.
I tried to run in between but felt pain and stopped to prevent another pop (strain). I was disappointed that I could not resume REGULAR running but knew that I could do my (at least) one run in every country if a rested it enough or even better, got treatment. My plan now was to stop running in UGANDA and try a run in KENYA before ETHIOPIA.
The boat was still to big but we managed to see a Leopard which is rare via boat. He as preached high on a cliff above the water but everyone cheered after the sighting. It was definitely the unanimous highlight.
On the morning of the last day we visited the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary about half-way between Murchison and Kampala. We saw 18 Southern White Rhinos in this private park and the only ones in UGANDA. Rhinos ceased to exist in UGANDA in 1983 because of excessive poaching during the Amin era. This park was created with the cooperation of the recent government and breeding began in 2009 with a male from Kenya and a female from Orlando Zoo in the USA.
We got within 20 metres of a male and then female and baby. Not as close as my 7m in Matobi National Park in ZIMBABWE. Also there was too much grass here compared to Matobi. Good for the rhinos bad for photos and film. It was worth it for our 4 fellow travellers who completed a Big 5 with this trip.
The Rhinos were also the third closest I have seen to date after Matobi and Etosha. This three day trip was definitely worth it. I then organised a day of white water rafting on the Nile for the next day from the Red Chilli Hideway camp/hostel in Kampala - my second favourite to date after Arusha Backpackers. I also enjoyed another delicious BBQ chicken dinner that night that I specifically searched out from the street sellers on the back of a motorbike after sunset. It is that good and a great way to celebrate the end of a satisfying package tour.
Tim and I left for Jinja the following morning, 3hrs away and the town that sits at the source of the Nile. A perfect place for rafting since the river is at its strongest at the beginning.
We got there at 9:30am and I travelled with others a further 45min downstream to the rafting sight whilst Tim went back to the truck camp. We spent a total four hours rafting 8 rapids: 3 were Category 5 and the rest Category 4. Category 5 is the highest for a civilian and Category 6 the highest for a professional. I kayaked with 4 young people from Vancouver CANADA who were great company. We flipped on only 2 of the 8 rapids but the drama for me came with rapid number 3, a category 5 called “the bad place” and believe me it lives up to its name. I almost drowned here. Yes. No joke. Read all about it in Day 235. The flip on number 3 was the worst experience of this trip to date. The whole rafting experience however was fun and if it were not for the “bad place” I would rate it as the number 4 highlight overall. Don’t get me wrong - I am glad I did it because I gave up a physio appointment in Kampala to go and I would probably do it again because I now know what to do in a difficult situation - how else to the experts learn.
The rafting ended my detailed encounter of UGANDA and I spent the next 4 days experiencing KENYA with the truck. This centred around Lake Nakuru National Park and the city of the same name. We camped 16k out of town and went for a driving safari from 6:30am to 12:30pm. This park did not have the animal variety and numbers that I was used to. I would rate it as average to below average since it lacked its famous Pink Flamingos and there are no elephants. We also did not see any lions which is now unusual. Lake Nakuru National Park is however very scenic and easy to cover and is full of bird life. I also got a fourth round of treatment for my calf with the assistance of our safari manager, Paul who personally drove me to the hospital and back to camp. I would also seek treatment in Nairobi, where I was first treated by Alfred, before my come-back run in Djibouti City. This was the basis for Solo 14. Riza, Tim and I would leave the truck for 11 days and 10 nights to visit DJIBOUTI and Harar and the Lower Omo Valley in ETHIOPIA. This is the main subject of the next Post 30.
BLOG POST DETAIL:
DAY 231 of 273, Thu 30JUN16, 474km, Solo 13, Dorm Bed at “Centre Pastoral Notre Dame De Fatima”, Musanze (Elev 1853m) RWANDA to Dorm Bed at the “Red Chilli Hideaway”, Kampala (Elev 1153m) UGANDA. Up at 4:45am for the second morning in a row! I hope this is the last! In any case I was excited because it was the start of Solo 13. Our taxi was on time but tried to charge Tim and I more than what I had agreed at the front desk. Turns out that they had not told the driver. I was told AUD10 and the driver wanted AUD25.
Given it was dark and we wanted to make the 5:30am van to Kigali we settled for AUD15. We arrived in the nic-of-time! I slept for the entire 90min trip rolling from side-to-side. It was good to see Kigali again. It is neat and tidy and traffic flowed. Lucky for us that we arrived at 7am and the coach for Kampala was leaving at 8am from the same bus station. We even had time for a hot milky coffee which is popular here and in UGANDA. Our “Jaguar” coach left 30min late at 8:30am. It had very wide copy seats with a decent recline.
I sat at the front so I could extend by arms and legs to blog more easily. My mission was to complete Post 28 and have it ready to upload at tonight’s camp site where I had joined the truck at the end of Solo 12 - the internet was good. The journey from Kigali to Kampala was a back-track so the landscape was familiar. The border crossing at 10am was the quickest to-date - only 40min for both sides - this was largely due to the East Africa VISA - it is very familiar. I was sad to leave RWANDA - it impressed me greatly just like ANGOLA. These are definitely two places worth going to. We made a total of two main stops along the way, one in Mbarara at 1pm (where Roberto would get off the truck tomorrow) and the other at 3:30pm in Masaka.
We also stopped many times to pick up and drop off locals - this is what REALLY adds time to the trip. So much so, that combined with the peak hour traffic of Kampla, what was was quoted as an 8hr trip turned out to be 9.5hrs. TIA. Tim and I were accosted by 6 taxi drivers at the door of the coach. We could not get off! Eventually we settled on a guy who was very polite and smiley. It took close to an hour to get to the camp/hostel because of the crazy traffic. Our driver was good enough to stop to let me buy charcoal chicken - the same I had when I was here last. Checked in at 8pm and by 9pm I finally sat in front of my computer to eat my delicious chicken and watch “Hotel Rwanda”!!! I would finish Post 28 tomorrow on the way to Murchison. It was time to enjoy the evening and celebrate RWANDA...
DAY 232 of 273, Fri 1JUL16, 335km, Solo 13, Dorm Bed at the “Red Chilli Hideaway”, Kampala (Elev 1153m) to Tent Bed at “Red Chilli Rest Camp”, Murchison National Park (Elev 646m, Run1) UGANDA. I could not believe that it was July today. The month before my last month in Africa! Where did it come from so quickly! I was ready for my 3 day, 2 night package tour to Murchison Falls. Tim and I met at reception at 7:30am and “Bashir” our driver and guide greeted us. We also met our four other fellow passengers. “Laura”, a lawyer in her forties from Madison Wisconsin USA who is in UGANDA to bring supplies to an orphanage she supports in the Kampala outer suburbs.
Paul is a Pharmacy graduate who finished an internship in Kampala along with his friend Michelle. Ashley is also studying Pharmacy and is in UGANDA for work experience. All three are from Chicago USA. A good bunch of people. The journey to the “top of Murchison Falls” in the north-west of UGANDA took the better part of 7 hours. The waterfall is well inside the “Murchison Falls National Park” which is the largest national park in UGANDA and the park with the greatest number of animals per square kilometre of any park in Africa. We made a stop at Migera at 11am and Masindi at noon. Most of the landscape was fairly flat and rolling farmland. Very green. We entered the Murchison National Park at the Wankwar Gate and travelled another 12km along a very red but smooth dirt to the waterfall. Like Victoria Falls, you could hear it thunder and see the rising spray from a distance. It is a simple and plain car park with just two thatched huts for shade.
We could feel the humidity now since we were at 729m. Our guide Ambrosia took us on a 1hr walk to view the waterfall from all heights and angles. This is a very interesting waterfall. It is actually the Nile River pouring out of Lake Albert just a few kilometres away at an average of 20m width and all of a sudden it meets a rocky passage that narrows to just 6m wide and creates a thunderous, washing machine scene of water like there is a hole in the ground and the whole Nile passes through it.
As a result this is the waterfall with the most PRESSURE or FORCE OF WATER PER SQUARE METRE in the world. The 6 metre wide passage is marked by two concrete blocks on either side and it AMAZING to think that this is actually the NARROWEST part of the mighty ad world famous Nile in its 6,853km of journey from Lake Victoria to the Cairo Delta in the Mediterranean.
The source of Nile is actually at a town on Lake Victoria called “Jinja” - this is where Tim and I will officially end Solo 13 and re-join the truck in 3 days time. From here the Nile flows into and then out of "Lake Kyoga". The Nile then descends through the “Karuma Falls” before it descends through “ Murchison Falls” and enters “Lake Albert” (Husband of Queen Victoria).
The section of Nile BEFORE entering Lake Albert is known as the “Victoria Nile” and the section after Lake Albert is known as the “Albert Nile” or “White Nile”. The term “Blue Nile” is used to describe that section of Nile River that flows from "Lake Tana” in ETHIOPIA down to the White Nile at the city of Khartoum in SUDAN.
The White Nile is in fact the main Mile River. Murchison Falls is not as spectacular as Victoria Falls but powerful in its own way. After the 6 wide point the water swirls like crazy in a rocky raven known as “The Devil’s Cauldron” before settling back down and continuing on its very long journey to EGYPT. I was amazed to think that we would follow the Nile both solo and on the truck to its end. What a way to end this African masterpiece!!! Despite being 4:30pm when we left, the day only got better. I finally run UGANDA, my 80th RUN COUNTRY, at 5:30pm along that same fat red road full of Baboons! No pain. Was elated. I would run again tomorrow to see if I could do two runs in-a-row! The camp was great. Comfy beds inside stand up tents. I started Post 29 under a setting sun and gobbled down two veggie lasagnes and plenty of white wine to celebrate my Ugandan run. I was now at 85 countries visited and 80 countries run - a great milestone. Given that my gorilla Post 28 was ready to upload I celebrated tonight with “Gorillas in the Mist" and sleep was easy...
DAY 233 of 273, Sat 2JUL16, 0km, Solo 13, Tent Bed at “Red Chilli Rest Camp”, Murchison National Park (Elev 646m) UGANDA. Apparently a Hippo passed my tent in the night. I must be so used to the sounds now that I “sleep through Africa”. What a pity no one woke me - I guess they were too scared to pass the Hippo. We gathered at 6:30am for our morning safari. The view of the Nile from our bar and restaurant is great - reminded me of the view of the Zambezi in ZAMBIA - that seems like such a long time ago and buried within several decks of memory like playing cards. Just shuffle them and the odd (or even) memory emerges! The Nile is literally down the road from our camp. We used a car ferry to cross the Nile - the game park is spilt in two across the Nile, one part in the North and the other where our camp was, in the south. It took only minutes to see wildlife. This place is prolific.
Animals everywhere and the scenery terrific. Open rolling plains of thin grass with trees here and there - perfect for animal watching. There was a number of NEW animals - this surprised me given the number of National Parks and safaris that I have completed to date. For example, the “Ugandan Kob” is unique to this country and in large numbers in this park - much like the Gazelle in the Serengeti. Sunrise was a treat and the sky clear. Humidity was low and the park averaged 650m elevation. You can see 4 of the Big 5 in this part of the park - the Rhino is in a private park which we would visit tomorrow because of its very low numbers. They have herded it here to give it a chance to flourish. We drove solid. A good thing to cover territory and see lots of animals.
At only 3,840 square kilometres, Murchison Falls National Park is supposed to be the most dense in Africa - numbers of animals per square kilometre of park - it seemed that way because there were creatures everywhere you looked. This particular safari further confirmed Murchison Falls as a great solo trip choice. The falls were good and the animals better, 28 of them to be exact - here is what we saw in 4hrs: Ugandan Kob, Lion Parrot, Water Buck, Rothschild Giraffe, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill, African Buffalo, Warthog, Crowned Hornbill, Oribi, Jacksons Hartebeest, Spotted Hyena, African Elephant, Guinea Fowl, African Fish Eagle, Red-throated Bee-eater, Black-headed Heron, Pied Wagtail, Saddle-billed Stalk, Pia Piac, African Jacana, Red Bishop, Sparwing Lapwing, Rupel Starling, Lion (2), Northern Carmine Bee-eater, Danham’s Bastard, Hippopotamus, Nile Crocodile. The highlight was, as usual, the lions. We got very close to two females and one left us and started to prowl and crouch in the long grass toward a lonesome Kob in the distance.
Sadly we did not hang around to see if this would be a potential kill - Tim and I had the shits because our next safari was not until 2pm and it was only 9am now. Lucky for us the safari car that arrived as we were leaving told us later that there was no kill. We finished our safari at around 10:30am and waited on the bank of the Nile for the 11am ferry - this 30min wait could have been spent watching the potential kill or some Hartebeests bucking horns in a fight - another site that we did not stop to film.
Back at camp we had 3hrs of free time before our 2pm boat safari along the Nile. Perfect time to test my ability to do two runs in a row since my calf treatment. Once again, I ran back and forth along a one kilometre stretch out from camp on the main road just in case I had to stop and walk back and because we were in a National Park full of wild animals and I wanted to manage the risk and not get or guide into trouble.
The people at camp were OK with this subject to my own risk. Sadly my calf played up on the third kilometre and I had to stop and walk back. Obviously, two runs in a row where not yet possible. My calf was quite sore and I decided I would get treatment again in Kampala before returning to the truck. I would be risking missing out on white water rafting in Jinja on this last day (4 July) but to me being bale to run was more important. I also wanted to get another run done in Kenya and ensure I was in shape to run my last 3 countries: ETHIOPIA, SUDAN and EGYPT. Even though I had run UGANDA yesterday, I was upset that I could not get a second run in today. I would try again in a few days time. I had plenty of time to shower and relax.
I decided to have a little sleep - a good idea given we had another 3hr safari coming. At 2pm we made the 2min drive down tot he Nile and boarded a double decker twin hull aluminium boat that looked like a double decker house boat. It could carry around 50 people and had a severed top deck. We sat at the top and started our cruise around 2:30pm. By now it was quite hot and humid. The Nile was very wide at this point and we would cruise its banks spotting animals until we reached the base of the Murchison Waterfall itself. Naturally there were not as many animals spotted as the land safari but there were enough to keep us busy.
The highlight was even better than our land safari - we saw a lone leopard climbing to the top of a cliff along the bank. The guide did a good job spotting it but a lousy job explaining where it was so that all the passengers could find it and photograph it. Instead of using directions such as: "look towards 11 o’clock and 75% up the cliff", he simply said “its near that small bush in that big hole in the cliff”. The trouble was that there were lots of holes and small bushes in the cliff!!! Anyway, I managed to spot and snap it but many of the people on the boat, including Tim did not see it because it disappeared from site quickly. The guide promised to visit the same spot on our way back - leopards often hang around the same spot for a while before they move on.
The other highlight was a huge 4m crock. It had its mouth open and suddenly charged into the water creating an almighty splash - all very close to us. The boat was a little too big for my liking. It is better to use a small boat of 10 people because you can get much closer to the wildlife on the bank, often right next to them, and you can cover way more ground (form the water) and therefore see more animals potentially. The cost more but the differential is worth it. It took us just on 2.5hrs to get to the base of the fall. I thought we would be right underneath it and get wet - I wore my Ungowa swimming shorts, red singlet to match and thongs just for the occasion!
What I forgot was the sheer pressure of the falls - this caused the water to be very turbulent for a long distance downstream. I estimate that we were still around a kilometre from the falls but had a direct line of sight up the river - had to use the zoom to get pictures - a bit too far for sharp photos. Even at a kilometre, the boat still had to park behind some rocks to get out of the force of the swirling water.
The trip back was much faster because we ere travelling downstream with the current. We were back in just an hour. We did stop by the leopard again and saw it - it had returned to the same spot and exited again once it caught wind of us. Most people saw it and there was a lot of cheering on board - it was the first safari for most people and the first time they had seen a leopard. Did not have the heart to tell them how much closer a leopard was possible but off course I had many safaris do to achieve this.
This afternoon we feasted on 11 animals: Hippopotamus, African Jacana, African Elephant, Giant Kingfisher, Red-throated Bee-eater, Leopard, Pied Wagtail, African Buffalo, Black-winged Stilt, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Nile Crocodile. It was nice to get back to camp and not have to shower or run. Grabbed a cold beer and sat at an outside table with the Nile in the distance and blogged. I then enjoyed a chat with some ozzies visiting their mate who was working in UGANDA as a builder for the last year. It was strange hearing another ozzie accent - the ozzies on the truck all have kiwi accents! Tonight I watched “The Last King of Scotland” - perfect for being in UGANDA! Even better with local beef chipata and guacamole - delicious. So far so good. Murchison had turned out a few surprises and together with the Rhino tomorrow it was another Big 5 for me and my fellow travellers.
DAY 234 of 273, Sun 3JUL16, 335km, Solo 13, Tent Bed at “Red Chilli Rest Camp”, Murchison National Park (Elev 646m) to Dorm Bed at the “Red Chilli Hideaway”, Kampala (Elev 1153m) UGANDA. Another great night of sleep. Apparently, the same hippo was munching outside my tent but I did not stir! Lucky I remembered to do up the zipper otherwise my olives and cheese may have been in danger! We set off at 7:40am to drive 2.5hrs to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary (Elev 1046m). This is a privately owned reserve well outside Murchison National Park. It was established in 2009 to recover the population of Southern White Rhinos which were all poached during the Amin era and by 1983 there was not a single Rhino of any type left in UGANDA. What a disaster. A female was brought in from Orlando Zoo in Florida USA and a male from Kenya and there are now 18 Rhino’s in total here and in all UGANDA. Eventually when the population is large enough, they will be released into Murchison and two other parks in the country. There are only 4 Northern White Rhinos in all of Africa and the world!
The different between northern and southern Whites is the distance between their ears. White Rhinos have a broad mouth and graze on grass whilst Black have a pointy snout and feast on branches and bushes as well as grass. There are plenty of Blacks and Southern Whites in Africa as a whole. Our guide Edward took us on a 45min walk at 10am to see the Southern Whites in thick bush with plenty of grass. We saw a lone male first and then a mother with her young calf - born March 2016. White Rhinos will live for 35-45yrs and their tusks fetched up to USD65,000/kg during the Amin area which was more than gold!
No wonder they got poached to zero. Apparently now the tusks are still worth USD35,000/kg and there is a big debate in the country whether poaching should be allowed and regulated to stop the illegal activity. Rhino poaching is on the rise in the rest of Africa so something is not working! Rhinos, like elephants, have very poor eyesight but can hear and smell very well. They eat 150kg of grass and drink 70-80L of water every day. Unlike elephants, their digestive system is better so they do not poo as much. Unfortunately the grass was everywhere and almost impossible to get clear shots of the entire animal. Edward was also very conservative and kept us too far back for my liking. I can partly understand the mother and young baby - Rhinos are highly protective of them, but I do not understand the male. We stood at least 20m back and in Matobo National Park in ZIMBABWE I was allowed to get within 7m of a male and female in plain view - no grass. (Solo 10 in Post 24).
Being a sanctuary, I should have expected this and at least it was much better then Ngorongoro (the Black Rhino there was in the distance but very rare) and Etosha was much better than here since the Rhinos were in plain view and often crossed the roads next to cars. The others had not seen a Rhino so they were happy and clocked up a Big 5 in Murchison area. We had lunch at the sanctuary before leaving for Kampala at noon.
The drive back was along the same road as the drive up. I spent most of the time on this post and the pictures that went with it. I was keen to get back to upload Post 28 which I completed on the way here. I was also keen to ring the physio and make an appointment for first thing tomorrow.
I also asked Bashir to stop at a big supermarket along the way for supplies and also visit an ATM and the chicken cookers on the roadside for that delicious BBQ chicken I now had twice before. Kampala was synonymous with charcoal chicken! We arrived into Kampala early at 3:30pm.
Bashir did all that I asked except for the BBQ chicken which starts at 7pm. I was at Red Chilli at 4pm and sprang into action. Showered and washed my clothes by 5pm and uploaded Post 28 and organised my physio for 10am by 6pm. Sadly I would miss what water rafting at the mouth of the Nile since my physio is at 10am and there is no afternoon rafting. Bugger. I chose the rafting because it is a once in a life experience to do it on the Nile were it is very tough.
The people at Red Chilli are first rate and booked the rafting for me and I got my first hot shower here after 3 nights! This fact causes them to slip into second place behind Arusha backpackers by a freckle. Having posted my blog and organised my rafting I was elated and on advise from the Red Chilli staff decided to catch a Boda (Bike) to the main road and get some chicken to celebrate Murchison. The Boda driver was from DRC and we chatted at length. His parents and wife and kids were back in DRC - no work there. After 5min he took to me to a friend of his. I ordered the two remaining breasts and 3 legs. They were cheaper than before but not as good looking. As I handed over the money the wife suddenly asks for more. I handed the chicken back and told the that she was dishonourable. She did not give a shit. Her loss. We then drove further on and found a place with plenty of plump breasts and the same price. A blessing in disguise. I was so pleased I did not buy from the first place. I enjoyed a marvellous dinner watching “Out of Africa” starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. I recognised so many of the places and sayings in the movie - you really appreciate it so much more once you have experienced yourself. You also do not realise the enormity of seeing Africa on foot or by road until you see it in a movie!
DAY 235 of 273, Mon 4JUL16, 140km, Solo 13, Dorm Bed at the “Red Chilli Hideaway”, Kampala (Elev 1153m) to Dorm Bed at “Nile River Explorers Campsite”, Jinja, (Elev 1151m) UGANDA. Our 6:30am pickup arrived at 7am. My first thought was if it would impact the kayaking. The “Nile River Explorers” kayaking company picked us up to take us to their facility in Jinja approx 92km away. I figured we would get there way before the 10am start time. We did. I slept for most of it since I stayed up after my movie to call mum and my brother. Occasionally I would open an eyelid just to check out the landscape. Most of it was very industrial. Lots of towns overlapping each other since the Kampala to Jinja route was heavily populated being near Lake Victoria and on the road to the KENYA border. Eventually I did see lush forest before our arrival. We arrived ay 9:30am and I handed over my luggage to be taken to the campsite where the truck was located. I was fitted with a life jacket and my GoPro attached with plastic ties to my helmet. I grabbed some bananas and a cup of coffee and joined the Riza, Jacob, Thierry and 14 others on big truck with a covered open area with benches at the back. We drove for 45min through Jinja and along a very bumpy red dirt road running parallel and downstream of the Nile, away from Lake Victoria. A dam was opened in Jinja in 2010 which impacted the rafting significantly. Not as many rapids and they start approx 30km out of town instead of next to town.
Next year the dam will let out more water and many rafting businesses may close impacting up to 4,000 jobs. The upside is that 470 homes will get power from the increased output from the hydro electric scheme. We passed many corn and rice fields on our way to the kayak launch point. Many waiving and yelling children greeting us along the way. Most homes were mud brick and the fields very fertile. The whole area looked like you could grow anything you wanted on it. There were also plenty of chickens, goats and cattle so I figure that people here have plenty to eat. The launch point was very picturesque. Sitting on a hill high above the Nile with lush green bush and farmed pine trees on the opposite bank. Jinja is very industrious. Not only does it have a paper and pulp mill but also a steeling rolling mill, rice mill, plastics factory, fish cannery and of course the rafting (tourist) industry. Unemployment here would be much lower.
Our rubber rafts were stacked up high, in-tow behind us. Going rafting today was two rafts carrying 5 clients and 1 guide each, one raft with 4 clients & their body boards, guide and 2 handlers and finally 3 twin craft with one client and one guide - what are called “XTreme” or XT for short! I joined another 4 young people from Vancouver CANADA to make up one of the big rafts: Scott, Karli, Lee and Shane. By 11:15 we were in the water receiving safety briefing, how to paddle and interpret the various commands that our guide would give us to steer the raft and try to keep it upright. The key briefing covered “flipping”. In the event that the raft overturned or “flipped” we were to hold on to the side rope and paddle or let go of both depending on the severity of the rapids - our guide “Hassan” would let us know which one. In the case where you let go, when you go under, you calm down, lie on you back, bring your knees to your chest and hold on to your life vest shoulder straps to avoid swimming or waiving your hands. This position will enable the buoyancy of your life jacket to take maximum effect and pull you to the surface. The most important instruction was “do not panic” and do not swim or struggle.
I wondered how many times we would need this advice! Hassan also explained that there was a classification system for the rapids from 1 to 6. 1 is very slight and 6 the most turbulent and dangerous. Clients can do 1-5 but only trained and certified guides can do 6. Today we would spend 4hrs kayaking a total of 25km and passing through 8 rapids: three “Cat 5” and the rest "Cat 4”. They all varied in length from 100m to 600m and 50m to 3km in separation. It was a cloudy day with moments of sun here and there. The air temperature was about 20C and the water a pleasant 25C. I dressed in just my Ungowa cozzies. The Nile is quite wide at this point. Our first rapid was a Cat 5, In the distance it does not look like much - just a line of white frothy water but then you actually enter it, for the first time, a panic or worry sets i when you see how high it drops down and the shear volume of swirling, frothy water with big walls of water forming waves. Not sure why they do a Cat 5 for the first. It is scary. Maybe they intend to get us through it so we delight in the ride and not worry about tipping in the rest.
The raft was thrown up and down several times with tons of white frothy water asking over us. On the third gush I saw Lee fall backwards and disappear and I yelled “man overboard”. We just let the water take us through and picked up Lee when the water calmed down. We had made it, except for Lee. He had lost his balance while trying to sit down in the raft. The usual instructions going into the first waves is “paddle forward hard” followed by “get down” at which time you kneel or swat (your legs folded underneath you) and grab the side rope with your arm OVER the paddle shaft so that it does not fly up and hit you or someone else in the face! The guide then uses his paddle to steer the raft through the mess of water and waves to avoid a flip. The guide will always ask if we want a high, medium or low “adrenaline” passage through the rapid, despite its category. We did a high through this. Typically this means that you head for the biggest waves and the deepest, quickest swirling eddies or whirlpools. This first one was fun and we talked about it extensively before reaching the second which was many minutes of paddling away.
(LEFT PHOTO: Look carefully in the middle of raft and you can see me falling out!)
The second was a Cat 4 and we flipped almost immediately. Most people flipped. The category only relates to the CHANCES of flipping, Flipping is usually a mistake or just bad luck on how a wave greets you. Generally if it is side on, you will go over. The flip was expected since we all saw our raft going in sideways with a big wave approaching. For this reason we all grabbed the rope and held on for dear life. We all held on and popped up next to the upside-down raft. I hit the side wall 3 times so took a little longer to find air. I swallowed some water but it did not worry me since I was holding on to the side rope and my oar. More conversation as we paddled to number 3. Number 3 and 4 were in tandem, one after the other. Number 3 is a Cat 5 and Number 4 is a Cat 4. Number 3 is actually at the tail end of a Cat 6 which we were not allowed to ride so we all got out of the water and walked around it on the banks of the Nile. The guides all carried our rafts. The Cat 6 was like a mini-waterfall. A big wide drop and lots of turbulence, waves and whirlpools.
(RIGHT PHOTO: That’s me in the black helmet!)
We all climbed inside our rafts at a point protected from the tail end of the Cat 6 and then we inserted ourselves into Number 3. The shout “get down” came almost immediately. I did not have time to sit down or take a breath. My next memory was seeing many bubbles in light green coloured water and being tossed and tumbled upside down. I could not see anything through this greenish water. I did not know how deep I was or where I was. I panicked and started to swim upwards, waving my arms and kicking my legs. The air would not come. I was getting tired and running out of breath. At that moment I raised my head for signs of the sky or the image of a branch or raft. When I saw nothing but green bubbles I actually thought to myself “I think I am not going to make it and I will have to breath in all this water!”. My heart was pounding and I was scared. I have been at this point only twice before. Once in my dad’s village in GREECE when I went trekking alone and slid down a cliff hanging to the trunk of a tree and the other time when I was flying from Cambodia to Vietnam in a propeller plane in a thunder storm.
These three moments are the only ones in my life that I felt genuinely scared and that I was close to loosing my life. When I was thinking about giving up, I realised I still had my paddle in my hand so I stopped moving and held it up for someone to see where I was so that at least they could give me mouth-to-mouth after I swallowed the water. The second I raised that paddle, my head popped out of the water and I instantly took such a long loud desperate breath that Lee, also in the water near me, said later, he clearly heard and knew that I was in trouble. I took in a lot of wash as I took this long breath but I did not care. I coughed the water back out and kept coughing. An expert one man staff kayak was on top of me immediately. They asked me to grab on. Karli was also holding on and looked distressed. We rested for a while before letting go and swimming to our own raft nearby. We swapped stories the minute we got on board. Only Karli and I got sucked down badly. When I described my experience to Hassan in detail he told me “you went to the bad place”.
Apparently Number 3 is called “The Bad Place” because it has a huge whirlpool known for sucking down many people including the experts. According to Hassan, I came up so far downstream that I had been sucked down quite deep and then when I raised the paddle and stopped trying to swim I got my bouncy back and surfaced not immediately vertically up but at an angle, bypassing Number 4 rapids above me! He reassured me that if had played on my back, brought my knees forward to my chest and held on to my jacket - I would have come up much faster. Easier said than done. The force of the water down there is so great and there is so much tumbling and spinning that it is hard to think and not panic. The thought had crossed my mind to quit because what I had just experienced was near drowning! But when I heard that there was a technique and that the remaining rapids do not have big whirlpools I decided to get back on the horse and ride it out and try to have some fun. It was 1pm and we had done half the rapids. We had a some freshly cut wild pineapple going from one of the small islands in the Nile and some biscuits. Number 5 was next and it was a Cat 4 along with Numbers 6 and 7.
(LEFT PHOTO: That’s me coming up for air after the “bad place” - just in time!)
To my delight we did not flip on any of the and enjoyed riding the waves. We somehow had a better feel fro the craft and tried to use our weight to steady it as it crashed through the waves and prevent it from going sideways for a flip. The last rapid, number 8 was a Cat 5 and very long at 600m. I was nervous. The good news is that it did not have whirlpools just wave after wave which apparently does not suck you down you just go under then come back up. The paddle there was long and nerve-racking for me. When we finally entered it and cut the first two waves head-on, I got excited because I was confident we would make it. We did. It was a great way to finish and neutralised by bad experience in the “bad place”. In all, we had flipped in only 2 of the 8 rapids - not bad according to Hassan.
We were out of the water by 3:30pm and enjoyed a buffet lunch with cold beer in a special camp alongside the river. Drinking beer after a major achievement and adrenaline rush is a fitting experience and feeling - you just want to celebrate and talk about over some kind of drink and beer is good. We continued drinking beer on the truck on the way back to the camp. We stopped four times in the 145min drive back, not because of the beer but because of the amount of Nile we had all swallowed - especially me!!! Got back at 5pm and settled into my dorm bed in a room of four. This camp was perched high above the Nile with terrific views downstream. Dinner was our own tonight so I decided to eat in my room and watch a short movie to celebrate the day and the end of a successful Solo 13. I was tired my all the sun and flipping and slept before the movie could finish!
DAY 236 of 273, Tue 5JUL16, 281km, Dorm Bed at “Nile River Explorers Campsite”, Jinja, (Elev 1151m) UGANDA to Room at “Naiberi River Campsite & Resort”, Naiberi (Elev 2360m) KENYA. My sleep last night was disrupted by lots of coughing and signs of a cold - this was easily the result of the rafting, the water and probably the “bad place”. The good news is that we enjoyed a later departure - 8am. I spent most of the morning drive planning Solo 14 with Riza. We were both not interested in doing the 4-5 days straight of bush camping from Lake Naivasha to Addis Ababa from 9-13JUL. This was a great opportunity to get off the truck. I proposed DJIBOUTI and the town of Harar in East KENYA. We would enjoy another country and see a classic African-Arab town on our bus ride back to Addis Ababa from Djibouti City (the capital and largest city of DJIBOUTI). DJIBOUTI issues a special 3-day or 15-day tourist VISA on-the-spot to all westerners who arrive by aircraft. So we would fly in and bus out so we could see the countryside of DJIBOUTI and East KENYA. We would then fly and catch a bus from Addis Ababa to get back to the truck in the Lower Omo Valley in South KENYA where all the tribal people live. We would stay on the truck to see the countryside of South KENYA all the way to Addis Ababa. Solo 14 would be short but exciting.
The trip to the border with KENYA was a backtrack and we got here at 10am. By 11am we were done and stopped for lunch at 1pm in Kanduyi. In the afternoon it clouded over and the terrain was still fairly flat with red soil, lots of farms and spread out bush trees in the rest. We passed through the city of Eldoret which was quite large and busy - took us some time to drive through. Our camp was approx 15km outside Eldoret and owned by a man who also owns a factory in town that makes blankets. It was quite cool tonight given the elevation of 2300m and the light rain we had missed in the morning. Riza and I upgraded and the rooms were very cosy - wooden cabins with a very large ensuite bathroom and plenty of hot water! It was a great time to process photos, especially the rafting. After dinner I watched the rest of “Invictus” that I has missed last night after the rafting. Riza also suggested to me that we leave the truck 1-2 days earlier since Grant told her that Lake Naivasha and Hell’s Gate National Park were quite tame in terms of activities and animals. My prediction was coming true - I told most people that after the Gorillas time would slip by very quickly since there was such a build up to the Gorillas and that it was always seen as “the beginning of the end of our trip”! Not that we wanted to finish quickly but once you have seen most things the rest seems to happen without fanfare and therefore faster. I looked forward to DJIBOUTI and ETHIOPIA and the Pharaoh antiquities in SUDAN and EGYPT. There was still plenty more to come in the days we had left but I reckon they would come and go
quickly. BELOW PHOTO: Lake Nakuru from Baboon Hill Lookout).
DAY 237 of 273, Wed 6JUL16, 183km, EQUATOR DAY, Room at “Naiberi River Campsite & Resort”, Naiberi (Elev 2360m) to Dorm Bed at “Punda Milia Camp”, Nakuru (Elev 1916m) KENYA. A particularly good sleep last night because of the warm cosy wooden room. I think it may have sprinkled during the night which made it even more soothing. It was a mainly cloudy morning and the air was cool and damp. Our 8am departure was welcomed given the activities of the days before. I was VERY fidgety not running but was determined to give my calf another day break and score a run in DJIBOUTI. Running in KENYA was too risky. If I hurt the calf again I would put DJIBOUTI at risk. There was also the possibility that we would leave the truck and KENYA to send more time in DJIBOUTI which would bring the run in that country earlier. I did not like this plan but had to stick to it to preserve my one successful run in each remaining country!
The morning drive was spent blogging and processing photos for this post plus starting my end of year book work. I had downloaded most of my statements at Red Chilli in Kampala for this purpose. Today was another EQUATOR day - we crossed it from north to south at around 10am for my fourth time given my Solo trips. It was a bad sign with no line so no photos here. There were no town or tourist venues. We arrived at Nakuru (Pop 1.2m) at noon and would stay here until 2:30pm given it was the trucks last major food stop before 4-5 days of bush camping. Riza and I did our cook shop quickly and found a “Java” shop where we enjoyed a great cappuccino, croissant and internet - we sat with Tim and researched flights and accom for Solo 14.
My excitement was building. Riza and I returned to the truck to guard it. It is during truck guard that I met Paul from the Safari Company that would drive us through Nakuru National Park tomorrow. I asked him about a physio in Nakuru and to my joy he knew one in the gym of a fancy hotel in town. I decided to stay when the truck left and would catch a tuk-tuk to the camp approx 16km from town. It was only 2:30pm and the afternoon was free - perfect chance to get a treatment in before my next run in DJIBOUTI. Off I went with Paul. Turns out that the physio at the the hotel gym did not have ultrasound or an electro device but he did recommend a physio attached to the public hospital in town. I panicked a bit since I know how slow hospitals are at home let alone here. Paul drove me and we walked to reception.
There was a physio but in a different building and I needed a referral from a GP. Lucky for me there was one right there and was in between patients so I got a referral in minutes and for no cost. The physio in the other building was called Vitalise and he was able to see me immediately. Unreal. I did not want to be late for cook group. Vitalise also had all the relevant equipment. In just 45min he was able to use massage, ultrasound, electricity and hot pack.
It cost an INCREDIBLE AUD6. I thought I left out a zero in my conversion - it was correct. I felt better because my calf started to hurt during shopping since we were rushing around to make internet time. The physio was kind enough to let me use the hospital WIFI until Paul turned up with Francis (our safari driver) to drive me to camp in his car.
On the way I stopped to by sweet potatoes that Riza could not find in the supermarket. She was overjoyed when she saw them since they were the basis of her desert tonight! Given I had paid so little for my physiotherapy I decided to tip Paul and Francis a total of AUD20 for the extra-ordinary help. Cook group was fun tonight since Riza and I were alone - everyone was in the bar watching the soccer. I decided to hit the sack only 1hr after dinner since I had to get up at 4:45am to light the fire for brekkie because of our collective group safari at 6am.
DAY 238 of 273, Thu 7JUL16, 231km, Solo 14, Dorm Bed at “Punda Milia Camp”, Nakuru (Elev 1916m) to Room at the “Parama Hotel”, Nairobi (Elev 1666m) KENYA. I panicked! I heard some commotion outside and checked my watch - it was 5:38am! Shit! My alarm had not gone off - it was turned off! I must have inadvertently turned off as I set the time since it toggles from “on” to “off” with the same button that sets the time up or down. Bugger. I missed the whole brekkie but could still make the 6am safari. I apologise profusely when I saw everyone. Some said that it was bound to happen. It was my first time in 238 that I had missed anything. I also have never been late. I felt bad but would act to rectify the situation by doing a brekkie on my own when I got back from Solo 14. I would also buy an alarm clock, no matter how big to have as a backup.
The fact that today was the start of Solo 14 made me forget quickly. Two 8 seater 4WD Toyota vans tuned up right on 6am. Riza and I rode with Tim, Sharon, Keith, Hannes and Sigrun with Francis. Lake Nakuru National Park main gate (Elev 1864m) is only 12km from our camp and only 4km from the Nakuru city centre - you can see the city from many spots inside the park! There are even zebras on the road towards Nairobi only 15km out! Lake Nakuru National Park is very small - 188 square kilometres and therefore does not have the variety and numbers of wildlife that you would expect. For example it does not have elephants but it does have both White and Black Rhinos - one of few parks to do so. It also has lions and leopards. This makes it worthwhile to visit, especially given its 3hr proximity to Nairobi.
It is a good looking park - very scenic and varied - beautiful lake with dead trees near the shore, a mountain ridge with cliff faces, bushy forest and open grassy plains. Animals are easy to see and there is tons of birdlife, especially at the lakes edge. It did not take long to see one solitary Black Rhino near a thick bush. He was only there for seconds before disappearing into the thicket. Blacks tend to be more impatient than whites - they move all the time and prefer to be alone.
The White Rhinos were a long way off. We waited a while since they were moving closer to us. They never got close enough for a good photo but we could easily make out their features with our zoom lenses. I think seeing both types of rhino in one park and in one drive was the highlight for me and the speciality of this park. The lakes edge was another characteristic. The water level has increased significantly in recent years with pollution from runoff water from Nakuru city. This has caused two key impacts. The Pink Flamingos that were synonymous with this park have all gone because the algae they eat died. So did all the trees that used to be on the banks of the lake - they are all not sitting in the water.
The main rangers offices and hotel have also been abandoned since the water level is almost upon them. The birdlife however at the lakes edge is terrific. Lots of variety and numbers.
It is a pity about the Flamingoes since this is why many of us came here. The view from the top of “Baboon Hill” was another highlight. The view from here is perfect. You can see Nakuru in the distance on the left and the entire lake in the middle surrounded by green and trees.
The baboons here are also entertaining and will take anything that is not nailed down including food out of your hands!!!
They have also known to jump into safari vans via the open top so everything is closed and not opened until we are well away from the hill top. adly we did not see any lions or leopards, the latter is probably best in an evening drive. Got up very close to giraffes and zebras.
In all we saw 31 animals as listed here: African Pied Wagtail, Guineafowl, Superb Starling, Impala, Zebra, Egyptian Goose, Thompson’s Gazelle, Water Buck, African Buffalo, Warthog, Vervet Monkey, Yellow-billed Stalk, Black Rhinoceros, Long Crested Eagle, Great White Egret, Silver Crested Crane, Spur-winged Plover, Olive Baboob, Maribou Stalk, Rothschild Giraffe, Oribi, White Rhinoceros, Black-chested Snake Eagle, Grey-crowned Crane, Auger Buzzard, Great Cormorant, White-headed Buffalo, White Stalk, Sacred Ibis, Water Weaver.
Arrived back at camp at 12:30pm. At 1:30pm, Riza, Tim and I farewelled the truck (in my case for the 14th time) to embark on Solo 14. Riza and Tim were originally going to stay to see Lake Naivasha but would not have time to do anything tomorrow with a 2:50pm flight to Djibouti City so they decided to travel with me to Nairobi today. Francis waited to take us to the van station back in Nakuru. There were many vans just waiting to go and we got one that left immediately at 2pm.
The driver was kind enough to lend me his spot and I booked our flights to DJIBOUTI as we drove. Great time saver with less to do in Nairobi. I offered money but he would not take it. The 2.5hr ride to Nairobi was OK and we arrived at 5:30pm with plenty of light and cool conditions in the crazy, traffic bitten city of Nairobi. Lucky for us the van station was close to the hotel so we walked.
Tim stayed in an
upmarket hotel also within walking distance. The receptionist recognised me immediately and we dumped our stage in our rooms and headed out to fins a Java Cafe which we knew had WIFI and great coffee. Again within 10min walk. The internet was good and the coffee better. We narrowed down our accom in Djibouti City and Harar but they did not answer their phones for booking. Riza decided to eat there and I came back to the hotel for the now famous BBQ chicken nearby. I had also left my adapter in my dorm room in Nakuru and was in a panic to find a new one. Presto. Found one for AUD3 within 5min of walking back. I was VERY relieved since Solo 14 could last between 6 and 11 nights and it would be hard to share power with Riza.
I also bought a silly analogue alarm clock but with a decent alarm. No more missing wake ups. The chicken was not as great as before - small and a little undercooked but went down well with wine and a good movie about the genocide in RWANDA. Tomorrow we would fly to DJIBOUTI, my 27th African country!
PS: OBSERVATION:
It is very hard to find an obese black African man. Almost all are lean. It is also hard to find a black African male with a full set of hair - most are bald or wear a number 1 haircut. Almost all the men have an appealing dress sense or wear very old and grubby clothes. Most black African women on the other hand have plenty of body and plenty of hair and dress immaculately, no matter the age or size. These is based on I actually saw and is by no means a judgement or stereotype, just an observed trend.
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