The rumours were true. Over night the Nile dropped over two vertical feet leaving the river lower than anyone I’ve talked to has ever seen it. Nile Special has shrunk a lot. It’s mushy, compared to before the water dropped, and the only way you can get on it is with a toe rope we made. This is no ordinary toe rope. All our attempts at tying a rope to a tree failed so we went out and bought a 20 foot metal poll and cemented it into a crack in the rock on the side of the river. This allowed us to get the rope in the right place for it to work. Even though Nile Special is half it’s usual size it’s still a great wave and well worth the time and effort it took to set up the rope.

The weekend brought us up to NRE (Nile River Explores) to paddle the upper section of the river. Big water, lots of survival surfs and huge wave trains set the mood for our river runs. Chris followed us down the river with his head cam a few times and got some sweet footage. One shot involves me surfing the hole at the bottom of Bujagali Falls. I got a big bounce and Chris went right underneath me with his head cam punching the hole; completely intentional of course! One of the best parts of running the Nile is the Boda Boda (guy on a moped) ride back to the top. As soon as you come around the corner to where the drivers can see you they all come racing towards you like a pack of wild bores, jockeying for position. They all want to drive you back to the top of the river and bicker with each other over who was there first. When you get your Boda Boda sorted out and hop on (kayak and paddle on your lap) the fun begins. Driving on dusty single track walking paths covered in people, farm animals and anything else that might be laying around is always a good time. Dave’s driver ran over a chicken on one trip. All we saw on the way by was screaming locals and a guy shaking a dead bird at us.

Boda Ride

When we arrived back at the Hairy Lemon the owner (Rob) was keen to make a play hole in one of the many side channels that surround the island. I’ve wanted to make a play spot at home forever but have never been able to because of the cost of permits and such. The great thing about Africa is you don’t need a permit for anything. We could of used half empty barrels of nuclear waste to make a play spot and no one would of cared (don’t worry we used rocks, and in a way that has the least impact on the environment and actually improves fish habitat). Were not really sure if we can make the hole work with the little flow that we have but when the water comes back up there will be something for the English to play on!

The Play Hole so far

Supposedly the rainy season has began so we all have our fingers crossed praying for rain. The ants are taking over my tent. Every morning I wake up with ants crawling all over me and tons of holes in the floor. I’m praying it will rain and drown the little buggers so I don’t have to put up with them anymore.