So iv just returned from the mighty white nile and trying very hard to adjust to the cold weather and water. I had an awesome time, Africa is an amazing place, the people are so friendly and welcoming the food was great and plenty and the paddling was second to none. Me and Ed went out on the 8th of Feb and iv just got back, Ed's out there for a another 5 weeks im very jealous.
So we arrived in Uganda and got taxi from Entebbe airport to NRE which is at the very top of the raft run. We then got a matartu down to the Hairy Lemon island where we would base ourselves for about 2 weeks.
When we arrived we were told that the river was very low and that the Nile Special wave was not as good as usual and they were right, in fact the river was the lowest its been for ten years and still is, i think it’ll be a while before it goes back up.
We chose to make up our own decision about the wave and that evening we paddled up stream for about 10 mins and had a n evening session on the special. The wave was nowhere near as big as usual and it was quite hard to retain the bigger moves. The Canadian boys who had been staying on the island for a while had set up a tow rope so that you could catch the wave from the eddy. Despite the wave not being as good as usual we still had great fun and got big air. We based ourselves on the Lemon for a while and got loads of wave boating done plus video footage and loads of photos. While at the bar at the Lemon we over heard Steve Fisher talking about a new wave that he’d found down on the left channel at Malalu. So a couple of days later we tripped down there and sure enough there was a nice wave on the left channel. The original Malalu wave at these low levels had changed into a big nasty hole so we spent our time on the new wave that we named mu2. All the current wave moves could be done and you could evan pull of a few ends in the pit, very cool.
While we at the Lemon Steve Fisher had his birthday and so as you could imagine there was no need for an excuse to have a massive party. So we did party and also invented the Waragi Cup which we think was possible the biggest volleyball competition ever held in Uganda, with 7 teams and 40 drunk kayakers and raft guides we played some very bad volleyball, but awesome fun. Also i had my birthday outhere and the arrival of an overland truck made for a good party.
We ran the day 2 section a few times and then headed up to NRE on the way there we stopped at Kalagalla and did a park and huck session, a first for me. We ran Kalagalla a few times and then carried on to the top.
We based our selves at Eden Rock and from there ran the Silverback run everyday. Because of the low levels the rapids had slightly changed and so it was great fun exploring. A cool left line on Bujigali falls and a very nice wave on the ugly sisters rapid. Total Gunga rapid was good fun but the g-spot hole is now a very big pit of doom, im not sure you would want to be there at this level.
I think one of the scariest experiences of my life was when when we decided to run the river in the evening after it had been raining very very hard, bad idea. Top tip, if its wet do not run the river. The boda ride took 3 times as long as it should, we were sliding out all over the place, we had to walk a lot of it, it started to rain and then got dark, we all got split up and then i smashed some guy in the face with the end of my kayak while doing about 20 mph, to this day i still don't know if he was ok, ooops.
In the evenings we spent our time eating in the famous Green Light Restaurant and chilling out at Edan Rock. After a while up at the top we decided to finnish of back down at the Lemon for some more surfing. Some big moves were going off, pan ams, pistol flips, helixes, it was a good way to end the trip.
Thank you to Rob, Erin and Austin for making our stay on the Lemon a memorable one.
Africa has made a big impression on my life and has opened my eyes to another lifestyle and way of living. The people are very content and happy with what they have. I will never forget there waves and smiles.
Jon B
