Neat end to our trip at the source of the Nile
Long-time MAF supporters John
and Jan Butterworth spent two weeks in Uganda in August this year. They went to
see Andrew and Liz Parker and their children Esther, Ben and Joel whom they
have supported when they were in South Sudan and now in Kampala. In the third
and final blog journalist John tells of visiting the source of the Nile.
We were told
that a must for every visitor to Uganda was see the source of the River Nile on
Lake Victoria at Jinja.
As good
tourists we arranged for a taxi to pick us up from Kampala to take us on the
two-and-a-half trip to The Haven guesthouse which had been recommended to us.
Every hotel
claims it is in a good location, but this eco river lodge was spectacular,
right on the Nile and 16 kilometres from Jinja. It is solar powered and has
24-hour electricity and UV filtered spring and rain water.
The
restaurant and bar, plus the cottages, tents and bandas, all overlook the
mighty Nile and its first waterfall, which is the starting point for the white
water rafting trips.
It was so
peaceful sitting there watching sunrise and sunset and during our two-day stay
we saw fish eagles, fish otters, monitor lizards, monkeys, a sea snake and
countless birdlife including dozens of colourful kingfishers.
Sunrise over the River Nile:
Breakfast at Jinja – the view from
our table:
As we gazed
at the river it was incredible to think that this ‘longest river in the world’
was beginning its 4,258-mile journey from the Equator to the Mediterranean. Incidentally,
some claim the Amazon is the longest river.
This African
river has two major parts – the White Nile and the Blue Nile which connect in
Khartoum – and pours its waters over nine countries including Sudan, Burundi,
Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zaire, Ethiopia, Egypt and Uganda.
It is a major
source of energy to many nations with the Owen Falls Dam providing
hydro- electricity for Uganda and there’s another dam under construction.
It is a huge help to agriculture with its irrigation helping
many countries along its way, particularly Egypt.
It is home to much wildlife and many sources of fish with the
crocodiles in Egypt the longest and most dangerous.
Finally, it is a big attraction for tourists offering water
rafting, bungee jumping, kayaking, boat rides as well as fishing, plus the
chance to visit many historical sites along its banks in Egypt.
Amazingly, the
drainage basin of the Nile covers 1,256,
591 square miles, which is about
10 per cent of the area of Africa. An even more staggering statistic is that only
five per cent of the water we saw in the Nile in Jinja, Uganda, reaches Egypt.
On the second day we booked a four-hour boat trip to see the
source of the Nile and to sail on Lake Victoria stopping for lunch at a pleasant
island hotel.
On the way to the boat we passed a monument to Mahatma Ghandi, unveiled by the Prime Minister of India in October 1997. It commemorates that the ashes of the Indian independence leader, who was murdered in 1948, were scattered on the Nile and all the other main rivers of the world.
On board to set off for the beginning
of the Nile:
Reaching the source of the Nile:
It was a fascinating – but very expensive day. Our advice to
anyone thinking of visiting Jinja is be aware that it is a tourist trap and to
barter hard as boat crews will try to charge extortionately high rates.
Then in the evening we had a meal with a Ugandan couple who
worked with two friends of ours at Kisiizi Hospital in south west Uganda.
Barbara, a pharmacist, and Paul had moved to Jinja where he was
building a house on land he had inherited and where they were starting a new
ministry teaching pastors and their wives.
John and Jan meet Paul and Barbara:
Paul has an amazing story. His father had three wives so he
ended up with eight brothers and ten sisters. He was sponsored by an American
couple through school and then they paid for him to go to university in the
USA.
He was very interested to hear about us sponsoring nine-year-old
Bwambale through a Compassion project in western Uganda as it was such a similar
story to his.
It was a very neat finish to our trip.
We had started out
visiting a young boy who was beginning his sponsored schooling and it ended
with us seeing an adult who had successfully gone through a similar system and who
told us how it had changed his life.
Thank you so much for all your three blogs John showing such different aspects of Ugandan people, their lives and contrasts between the semi desert Northeast and fertile beautiful "Switzerland of Uganda" of Uganda in the southwest. Although I visited Jinja I never made the source of the Nile so enjoyed your account. Thanks too from an appreciative mum to you and Jan especially for supporting Liz and family through MAF. So glad you were able to visit the Parkers ( and also Bwambale and family) Ann
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