Cruising the Nile

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Where I stayed

Red Chilli Rest Camp

What I did

Morning cruise on the Nile

Flag of Uganda Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda
Monday, June 13, 2011

Cheri and I walked down to the office of our friends at Wild Frontiers to enquire about hiring a “Duro” boat and skipper for a trip on the Nile to the delta for the next morning. The “Duro” boat is basically the equivalent of what we would call a “tinny”. It has a maximum capacity of 4 people plus the skipper. Its bloody small when you consider that it must ply up the Nile weaving its way between the Hippopotami.

Its morning and Cheri and I must walk to the jetty with all our camera packs and Esky to board our “Duro” by 08:00 hrs. The Surf is out of action and we had had to limp home for the last 30 klms on our way back from Lake Albert Safari Lodge. It had sheared off both of the fuel pump retaining studs leaving it flexing about on one 6mm bolt on its rear mounting bracket!

Our skipper is “Etchi” (short for Etchicus) and we all recalled meeting each other the previous year

Drinking from the Nile

. Etchi normally looks after the fishing trips but today the rest of the Wild Frontiers crew are replacing the corroded 205 litre drums on the floating pier with new blue plastic drums and so Etchi has been given the job of skippering the “Duro” for us. There are two “Duros” in the fleet and the one that has been assigned to us has her gear compartments that double as seating carpeted. The other “Duro” has cushioned seats. Now I was never endowed with any natural padding on my “sit down” and by the conclusion of the trip I had a very sore and sorry bum. Note to self: Bring along a cushion next time.

It’s not long before we encounter a small group of elephant on the bank filling up with water for the day. The skipper shuts down the small outboard engine and we drift slowly and silently downstream towards them. As we watch more and more elephant silently emerge from the thick foliage to join in. Just how does a creature that big move so silently and just appear out of thin air? They have sighted us and are getting a bit nervous as the distance between us diminishes. Their trunks are raised and swaying back and forth as they try to gain our scent. Then when their comfort zone was too small they all turned and started to walk away. We drifted past and the distance began to increase. Suddenly they all turned back towards the bank

Peering through the foliage

. It became apparent then why the sudden show of bravery as huge bull emerged from the bush to bolster their intestinal fortitude!

Etchi’s eyesight proved to be absolutely amazing. He sighted a couple of black and white Collobus monkeys peering at us from deep within the foliage of the large trees that line the bank on one stretch. Bird after bird was spotted by him as we motored slowly downstream. I was hard pressed sighting them even through my Viper 8x32 binoculars! We came across a small and spectacular little Malachite Kingfisher that allowed us to approach within mere metres allowing us to capture some splendid images.

Cheri and I have had such a great time that we have decided to hire the “Duro” again for an afternoon trip. I just have to remember to bring that cushion!!! Thankyou Etchi and thankyou Wild Frontiers who never fail to deliver.

That night we were treated to quite a light display as thunderstorms blew by.

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