What a great start of 2013 I've been greeted to! On December 30th 2012, I flew out of Montréal bound to Uganda. Checking inn my boat and paddles were surprisingly easy, but the flight changes (in exchange of 600$ of voucher) were not. So, after waiting 10 hours in Montréal, I finally flew out... and 28 hours later, landed in Kampala.
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| Passing time at Montréal airport |
I made it OK, but my bags took 3 more days to reach my final destination, the
Nile River Explorers River Camp in Bujugali Falls. So what else to do than drink beer, explore the surrounding and watch countless episodes of Weeds! Thanks to the sweet people at NRE, my stay was smooth and REALLY cheap!!!
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| The village, near the Hairy Lemon |
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| On my way to Bujugali Falls |
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| Another great sunset at the NRE campsite |
After 2 days of that hard diet, I was able to scramble some equipment (thanks to Sam at
Kayak the Nile), and was able to run the raft section of the white Nile, hence getting a decent taste of the rapids. Then it all started!!! Some amazing paddling on features reminiscent of the Lachine Rapids and awesome people met along the way, mostly Brits and Russian, there're all over the place!!!. Nile Special was definitely my favorite, this wave is fast, steed and dynamic as hell. Once you figured the tow-in rope and weird crest on surfer's right it was the best place to be on the hot and sunny days.
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| Matadis are a great way to get directly to the numerous playspots |
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| That's the kind of smile I will never get tired of |
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| People are always drawn to the river whenever there's kayakers |
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| Chris, one of the Brits, coming down Kalagala falls |
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| Nile Special, such a Special place |
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| One of the numerous Russian on the Nile |
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| Hope to see these guys on the river some day! |
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| My personal camera guy! |
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Kids at the take out of Nile Special
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Uganda way more than just a paddling destination. The country is as lively as Africa gets with a rich cultural background over a deep green canvas, it all makes for a dreamy place. Everybody you meet is just so friendly and respectful. The children are smiling and always repeating the same sentences! "Hi, how are you", "What's your name?" and "Do you like Avocados?"
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| Sugar cane truck filled to the brim |
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| One of my roommates at NRE |
During the last days of my trip I was fortunate enough the score a ride in a Safari. The old modified (removable roof added) Toyota Delica took us to Murchison Park in the Northwest part of the country. We stayed at the
Red Chili Rest Camp which was great! From there you can access game drives in the park, trek to the famous Murchison Fall and booze cruises on the Nile. I did all of them!!!!! And it was amazing, I got to see all of the animals I so much liked to watch on National Geographic when I was a kid.
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| The Red Chili Rest Camp by night |
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| Shy little guy |
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| In order to see the Big game you have to get going early |
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| And here comes the Big game!! |
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| Murchison Fall seen from the booze cruise |
This concluded my trip and I flew back home shortly after that. What a return it was with -40 temperatures.... Let's just hope the snow starts falling again so I can ski a bit.
Stay tuned, a sweet edit should be coming out soon....
