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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