Exploring the Nile
Since the time of Ptolemy—when the great Egyptian geographer sited the Mountains of the Moon in the middle of an empty Africa, proclaiming them the headwaters of the world’s mightiest river—the mystery of the Nile’s source has fired the imagination of humankind. Burton and Speke, Livingstone and Stanley, Samuel and Lady Baker—all these great explorers shared in the quest, enduring unimaginable hardship as they labored toward the unmapped river.
Today, the romance of the Nile’s upper reaches remains intact; fortunately, though, the misery of getting there has
been eliminated. A prime stretch of the river—from the magnificent Murchison Falls to the game-rich delta where the
Victoria Nile enters Lake Albert—can now be accessed from Uganda’s gorgeous and varied Murchison Falls National
Park. By comfortable launch, guided by expert local pilots, visitors can safely ply these fabled waters as sunset light paints
them with tints of copper and pink.
But a cruise on the upper Nile is more than just a historical exercise; it’s also a magnificent and very different
sort of “game drive.” Hippos bob and snort among papyrus islets. Sixteen-foot crocodiles bask on hot stony banks.
Fish eagles screech as a half-dozen varieties of kingfisher dive in the shallows. Rarest of all, the prehistoric shoebill
stork lurks in the reeds, still as driftwood, patient as the Nile itself.
“The fall of water was snow-white, which had a superb effect as it contrasted with the dark cliffs that walled the water, while the graceful palms of the tropics and wild plantains perfected the beauty of the view. This was the greatest waterfall of the Nile, and in honour of the distinguished President of the Royal Geographical Society, I named it the Murchison Falls, as the most important object throughout the entire course of the river.”
Samuel White Baker
photo credits: Howard Saunders
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