Sunday 15 June 2008
Monday 9 June 2008
The end is nie as the next destination sets
Chris and Georgie spent months planning a party here for us and other 
locals they knew. It was a great shindig on a beautiful island with a dance floor overlooking the Nile. I think what happens on Hair Lemon Island, stays on Hairy Lemon Island. And that is all I have to say on this matter.
The next day brought us to the end of our trip with a jaded head and a rock pool to bring us slowly to recovery. We drove back our lodge situated on the banks of the Nile for our final evening.
I feel I only touched on Uganda and there is so much more to see; on arrival there wasn’t any culture shock for me, it’s such a colourful place and the people we met were so welcoming. I loved every minute of it and several things stood out above the gorillas and the horses and the rafting. The friends I was travelling with made this trip for me and I have so many wonderful memories that will stay forever – jumping off the diving boards(cari, you made my day), the dancing in the truck, the wondrous way I was woken every morning by Les, who seemed to do so as if we had been talking for hours, the bugs, saving Les from he bugs – quietly, secretly and the stars – oh my word the stars on the last night, I have never seen anything so flawless in my life.
And so the end. Or not the end, but the start, of a ‘new chapter’ and a new destination. Asia.
May the sprit of travel never be subdued.
locals they knew. It was a great shindig on a beautiful island with a dance floor overlooking the Nile. I think what happens on Hair Lemon Island, stays on Hairy Lemon Island. And that is all I have to say on this matter.The next day brought us to the end of our trip with a jaded head and a rock pool to bring us slowly to recovery. We drove back our lodge situated on the banks of the Nile for our final evening.
I feel I only touched on Uganda and there is so much more to see; on arrival there wasn’t any culture shock for me, it’s such a colourful place and the people we met were so welcoming. I loved every minute of it and several things stood out above the gorillas and the horses and the rafting. The friends I was travelling with made this trip for me and I have so many wonderful memories that will stay forever – jumping off the diving boards(cari, you made my day), the dancing in the truck, the wondrous way I was woken every morning by Les, who seemed to do so as if we had been talking for hours, the bugs, saving Les from he bugs – quietly, secretly and the stars – oh my word the stars on the last night, I have never seen anything so flawless in my life.
And so the end. Or not the end, but the start, of a ‘new chapter’ and a new destination. Asia.
May the sprit of travel never be subdued.
Sunday 8 June 2008
'Hairy aquatic terror takes none'
Miraculously I didn’t hurt or ache the next day, which was lucky because I had an exhausting morning shopping for chairs, ebony goblets and candle sticks. This is the first time I have thought about home since the start on this trip, somehow I have managed to remove myself completely from my world back in London - something which has done me the world of good.
After our mammoth shopping trip we headed back to the Heaven – a tranquil lodge on the banks of the Nile over looking the rapids, which we were to throw ourselves down in a 9 person inflatable raft. We had a briefing from ozzy, adrenaline junky Rubens who looked like he’d been plucked from the bush and popped into a wet suit. We jumped in and paddled off with Rich left on the bank taking his amazing wide angled photos of our group donning hard hats and life vests.
We turned a corner on the calm flowing banks of the Nile to look down at our first rapid and see carnage. To me it looked like a 20 foot, vertical drop into a waterfall that I couldn’t deduce how we would arrive safely at the other end. When Rubens asked if we were all up for it, there was a resounding YES! The excitement was too much to give up and have to walk over the safe path to the other side. There were canoes and rafts everywhere on the other side. Rubens gave us our instructions; we were to paddle as hard as we could – go in left and then turn hard right so we would avoid the massive flat rock, sticking out in the middle of the water, that we should not under any circumstances go near. Off we went, not left, not right, but straight ahead and so hard that we paddled right up on top of the rock, mounted it and slid to the end so we where half-hanging over the edge of the waterfall unable to move. I think Rubens might have wet his pants a little at this point, we will never know. He quickly formed some kind of rescue plan, by getting one of the rafts below to paddle to the edges of the rocks and us to slide down the slippery rock face on bottoms to the safety of their raft. He then backed up our raft, got it to the safety of the dry land pass and back in to the water where he picked us up again. I could not stop laughing, how we managed to get into this predicament escaped me, Rubens was also at a loss for words – it had never happened before.
We carried on - not with the extremes of the first waterfall, but did have some pretty vigorous rapids to get through and in-between we discussed the diseases, bugs and infections you get from the Nile. 5 minutes later we jumped in for a swim. I’VE SWUM IN THE NILE. I wonder if the same excitement is achieved by foreigners if they swim in the Thames? It was a 'mega' swim, one of the best, mostly because my life vest aided me in zooming along and splashing. We paddled along until we saw our final destination insight – Hairy Lemon Island.
After our mammoth shopping trip we headed back to the Heaven – a tranquil lodge on the banks of the Nile over looking the rapids, which we were to throw ourselves down in a 9 person inflatable raft. We had a briefing from ozzy, adrenaline junky Rubens who looked like he’d been plucked from the bush and popped into a wet suit. We jumped in and paddled off with Rich left on the bank taking his amazing wide angled photos of our group donning hard hats and life vests.We turned a corner on the calm flowing banks of the Nile to look down at our first rapid and see carnage. To me it looked like a 20 foot, vertical drop into a waterfall that I couldn’t deduce how we would arrive safely at the other end. When Rubens asked if we were all up for it, there was a resounding YES! The excitement was too much to give up and have to walk over the safe path to the other side. There were canoes and rafts everywhere on the other side. Rubens gave us our instructions; we were to paddle as hard as we could – go in left and then turn hard right so we would avoid the massive flat rock, sticking out in the middle of the water, that we should not under any circumstances go near. Off we went, not left, not right, but straight ahead and so hard that we paddled right up on top of the rock, mounted it and slid to the end so we where half-hanging over the edge of the waterfall unable to move. I think Rubens might have wet his pants a little at this point, we will never know. He quickly formed some kind of rescue plan, by getting one of the rafts below to paddle to the edges of the rocks and us to slide down the slippery rock face on bottoms to the safety of their raft. He then backed up our raft, got it to the safety of the dry land pass and back in to the water where he picked us up again. I could not stop laughing, how we managed to get into this predicament escaped me, Rubens was also at a loss for words – it had never happened before.
We carried on - not with the extremes of the first waterfall, but did have some pretty vigorous rapids to get through and in-between we discussed the diseases, bugs and infections you get from the Nile. 5 minutes later we jumped in for a swim. I’VE SWUM IN THE NILE. I wonder if the same excitement is achieved by foreigners if they swim in the Thames? It was a 'mega' swim, one of the best, mostly because my life vest aided me in zooming along and splashing. We paddled along until we saw our final destination insight – Hairy Lemon Island.
Monday 2 June 2008
Back in the saddle again
…back on the truck - 3 scrabble rounds, 20 ‘Shit Head’ games and numerous conversations later takes us though the Queen Elizabeth National park where we all sit out on the roof in the 
blazing sun seeking out lions and giraffes – we see neither, but do spot elephants, a million cob and some water buffalo. Les, Suzy and Cari seem to be my continuos seat companions on the truck. Its lovely hanging out with Les again, we haven’t spent time together for an age and have both changed so much in that period. Getting to know Suzy and her amazing organisational skills is hugely entertaining, they are second to none, superior to all - I stand in amazement most of the time and also Cari who I could talk to forever and seems to have a calming and gracious wisdom about the group.
A drunken camping night follows, with a wonderful African beef stew
cooked by Trorunda who Georgie and Chris are training up to become a guide and has some interesting tales to tell. Another afternoon on the truck playing cards and scrabble, a boat ride around the Kazinga channel where we see the hilarity of hippos chasing each other... up-hill - brilliant, crocs lazing around waiting for prey and herds of elephants. This brings us towards the very beautiful Mihingo Lodge where I met Nat and TG who would be taking me riding in Jinga.
There was absolutely nothing that could have prepared me for a ride in the wild, high up, along the banks of the Nile through villages of children who ran out screaming ‘HELLO’ at us, yes screaming… whilst we were on horseback. I mount my horse Miwhimbi and Georgie (who’s been riding for 20 years) tells me, ‘you have a good saddle’, I am secretly chuffed in the hope that she means I’m sitting with correct posture.
Off we go, Miwhimbi is trouble, he hasn’t been out for 3 days on a full ride and has too much energy for me to handle, he quickly senses this and starts doing what he wants – stopping to chew on crops, pulling his head down so I cant keep hold of the rein and then just as we turn a corner he bucks his back legs up in the hope of dismantling me. He nearly succeeds, I’m thrown just over his left shoulder and manage to grab the saddle, pull the reins up to prevent him from throwing his neck further down and me off on to the hard, dry, orange dirt which feels like a long way down. I am at this moment full of fear at what is happening, this doesn’t happen in the placid confines of the Trent Park Riding School. Ash, who has been riding for years stops behind me and fills me with confidence in how I handled the whole situation, at the same time I sense that this is a normal occurrence for an open ride.
We carry on riding high up along the banks of the Nile.
The views are spectacular and we continue changing gait from walk to trot to walk. Nat then turns to me with a smile and asks if I’m ready for a canter, ‘Absolutely’ I reply. This is one of the most peculiar feelings I have experienced on horseback, I was all over the place and can only imagine I looked like a rag doll being bounced with exertion from side to side and up and down, I barely stayed on and think it only shear determination not to crash to the ground and break something which kept me so. We cantered for 2 minutes - most of which I spent repeating the word ‘fuck’ over and over again with every bounce. When we stopped Nat turned to look at me as I quickly tried to regain composure in the hope that she hadn’t heard me swear for the entire duration.
I am amazed at how people stay on these creatures...really. I survive 2 more bucks, a ride through water, up and down a steep incline and 2 more canters.
By the end of the ride I feel exhilarated and truly amazed I am in one piece. It has given me so much confidence for riding when I get back to London. I have to say that Ash was outstanding in his reassurance, I’m not sure I would have carried on if it weren’t for him riding behind me, coaxing me on, buck after buck and seeing him jumping when we got back to the stables made my day.
blazing sun seeking out lions and giraffes – we see neither, but do spot elephants, a million cob and some water buffalo. Les, Suzy and Cari seem to be my continuos seat companions on the truck. Its lovely hanging out with Les again, we haven’t spent time together for an age and have both changed so much in that period. Getting to know Suzy and her amazing organisational skills is hugely entertaining, they are second to none, superior to all - I stand in amazement most of the time and also Cari who I could talk to forever and seems to have a calming and gracious wisdom about the group. A drunken camping night follows, with a wonderful African beef stew
cooked by Trorunda who Georgie and Chris are training up to become a guide and has some interesting tales to tell. Another afternoon on the truck playing cards and scrabble, a boat ride around the Kazinga channel where we see the hilarity of hippos chasing each other... up-hill - brilliant, crocs lazing around waiting for prey and herds of elephants. This brings us towards the very beautiful Mihingo Lodge where I met Nat and TG who would be taking me riding in Jinga.There was absolutely nothing that could have prepared me for a ride in the wild, high up, along the banks of the Nile through villages of children who ran out screaming ‘HELLO’ at us, yes screaming… whilst we were on horseback. I mount my horse Miwhimbi and Georgie (who’s been riding for 20 years) tells me, ‘you have a good saddle’, I am secretly chuffed in the hope that she means I’m sitting with correct posture.
Off we go, Miwhimbi is trouble, he hasn’t been out for 3 days on a full ride and has too much energy for me to handle, he quickly senses this and starts doing what he wants – stopping to chew on crops, pulling his head down so I cant keep hold of the rein and then just as we turn a corner he bucks his back legs up in the hope of dismantling me. He nearly succeeds, I’m thrown just over his left shoulder and manage to grab the saddle, pull the reins up to prevent him from throwing his neck further down and me off on to the hard, dry, orange dirt which feels like a long way down. I am at this moment full of fear at what is happening, this doesn’t happen in the placid confines of the Trent Park Riding School. Ash, who has been riding for years stops behind me and fills me with confidence in how I handled the whole situation, at the same time I sense that this is a normal occurrence for an open ride.We carry on riding high up along the banks of the Nile.
The views are spectacular and we continue changing gait from walk to trot to walk. Nat then turns to me with a smile and asks if I’m ready for a canter, ‘Absolutely’ I reply. This is one of the most peculiar feelings I have experienced on horseback, I was all over the place and can only imagine I looked like a rag doll being bounced with exertion from side to side and up and down, I barely stayed on and think it only shear determination not to crash to the ground and break something which kept me so. We cantered for 2 minutes - most of which I spent repeating the word ‘fuck’ over and over again with every bounce. When we stopped Nat turned to look at me as I quickly tried to regain composure in the hope that she hadn’t heard me swear for the entire duration. I am amazed at how people stay on these creatures...really. I survive 2 more bucks, a ride through water, up and down a steep incline and 2 more canters.
By the end of the ride I feel exhilarated and truly amazed I am in one piece. It has given me so much confidence for riding when I get back to London. I have to say that Ash was outstanding in his reassurance, I’m not sure I would have carried on if it weren’t for him riding behind me, coaxing me on, buck after buck and seeing him jumping when we got back to the stables made my day.
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