An Ode to the Nile
“Catch this eddy!” EJ said, waving me in above what appeared to be a sizeable horizon line. “Just follow Alex, he will show us the lines.” It was January 2003, our first day paddling the Nile. I was excited and nervous as we made our way downstream to meet up with Nile River Explorer’s raft trip and Alex Muzungu, the eternal raft guide and safety kayaker from NRE who was leading us down. The river split into a maze of channels, separated by rocky outcrops of forest-clad islands, giving no immediate indication of where to go. As I rounded the corner into the last eddy above Bujagali Falls, all I remember seeing was a wall of whitewater. It surprised me. Even coming from the Zambezi where everything is big, powerful, and deep down in a remote gorge, this rapid was BIG.
Unlike the Zambezi, which lies deep in a canyon, people lined the shore going about the activities of daily life in Uganda – washing clothes, collecting water, bathing, fishing, and swimming – even right above the rapids. No-one seemed concerned about getting swept into the crashing waves below. Instead, they were excited to see paddlers coming down the river. Hoots and hollers echoed from the bank as we went by, plowing into the large, “fluffy” features, surprised to emerge upright.
Bujagali Falls was a great introduction to the Nile’s warm, big water, grew louder as rapids approached.
