The Nile High Club
Trip Start
Sep 29, 2010
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116
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Trip End
Nov 30, 2011
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Where I stayed
Nile High Camp
Jinja, Uganda
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Not long after we left the park we joined the main sealed road that headed eastwards to Kampala. The road passes through a small village which shows where the Equator crosses Uganda, and we were able to stop for some photographs and a spot of shopping. While we were taking photographs at the Equator, Sheila and I were asked to be interviewed by a young film crew from Uganda, who were producing a documentary about their country for a UK charity. Meanwhile, Denford, Gino and Matt were busy organising lunch so that we would not have to waste time stopping again on the way to Jinja.
We left the Equator just before 1pm, and raced towards Jinja in an effort to beat another overland truck that was headed for the same campsite – Denford wanted to get the good cooking area! It also meant that we had the pick of the campsite with where to put our tents – although this backfired slightly when another group arrived later that evening and pitched their tents almost on top of ours. I did have to politely ask the people next to ours if they could move slightly – they had left less than half a metre between us and them and I wasn't impressed!
We were spending two nights in Jinja, providing us with a chance to relax. After dinner on the first night, which included for rice pudding for dessert – a rarity on an overland truck – we were able to enjoy another one of Gino’s sangria nights! Needless to say it was a lot of fun, particularly dancing in the bar and watching various members of the group try and swing themselves into an upside down kayak and then down a shot – not recommended if you are wearing a skirt!
Friday morning there were a few fuzzy heads, but nothing that some of Denford’s wonderful pancakes couldn’t fix. No-one had much planned for the day, apart from Suzanne and Char who had decided to do a bungee jump - the bungee tower was located right by the campsite, so we were all able to go into the bar and watch. They both made it look easy, but I still don’t think I would be able to do it!
I left Andrew at the campsite to blog, and I jumped onboard the truck to head into Jinja town and do some shopping. After browsing in a few souvenir shops - which were surprisingly hard to find - my priority was to locate the post office to send some postcards. After being sent in three different directions by locals when I asked which way the post office was, I stuck to the main street and eventually found it. Sheila, Hayley and I didn’t have much time left to get back to the truck before it was heading back to the campsite, so we had to jump on the back of a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) to get back in time, which was a fun experience.
We had a very lazy afternoon in the bar area which overlooked the Nile, with Andrew watching the cricket, and me reading and sleeping. Being so far out of town there wasn’t much else to do apart from relax, which was probably just what we needed after so long on the road. I’m not usually one for sitting around doing nothing when there are things to do and see.
After enjoying our last of Denford’s wonderful traditional African dinners - eaten with our hands, and accompanied with some not very tasty local banana beer courtesy of Gemma - we headed to the bar for a quick drink before an early night. There were a few tired people, me included, after the antics of the night before!
Saturday morning we were awake bright and early due to the noisy departure of our close neighbours. After packing away the camp and having breakfast, it was time to leave to head back over the border to Eldoret. We said our final goodbyes to Julia, who had been with us from Namibia to Nairobi, and who we’d met up with again as she continued her travels in Uganda.
Our next stop is Eldoret in the highlands of Kenya, as we begin to make our way back to Nairobi.
Kerry
