The Jewel of Africa

Churchill called Uganda the Jewel of Africa, and I don’t think he was far off the mark. Although right on the equator, Uganda still manages to have a temperate climate, thanks to its high average altitude of around 1000m above sea level. Rivers and lakes are numerous, and the result is a lush, green and fertile countryside.

Bucolic Ugandan countryside looking West to the Rwenzoris

Shortly after arriving in Uganda, I ran into Dan again. We met in Jinja, the place where the Nile flows out of Lake Victoria and begins its long journey north to the Mediterranean. Jinja’s one of the best spots in the world to go white water rafting, so if you want to experience the rather exhilarating feeling of being flushed down a giant toilet, this is the place to go. Highly recommended.



Bujagali Falls -nothing compared to what came next

After Jinja, we headed north to Murchison Falls National Park. Things got off to a bad start here: I ate half of a grilled fish in darkness before realising too late that it was infested with maggots, and then I slipped over on some gravel and badly cut my chin. We also had no luck hitchhiking. We waited a whole afternoon but no ride materialised and we ended up spending a night camped outside the park gates.



Mmmm, nice cut

Fortunately, our luck changed for the better the next day. We bagged a ride into the park on the back of a truck, arriving just in time for the ferry to take us up to the base of the Murchison Falls. At this point, the Victoria Nile is forced through a 6 metre wide crack in a cliff, creating undoubtedly the most powerful, thunderous surge of water I’ve ever seen. We got off the boat and walked up beside the falls for a closer (and wetter) look. Apparently this used to be Idi Amin’s favourite spot for disposing of his political enemies. What a nice guy he must have been!



Cruising up the Victoria Nile



The falls from the bottom



The falls from the top