Big Brother's African Brother #13: Jinja/Bujagali Falls, Uganda

Day 11: 8 August 2002 7:00 pm


All the group are sleeping soundly by the edge of Bujagali Falls, while Tom and Penny watch the sunrise in the mist above the rapids.

Today, eight of our group rafted down the Nile, while we decided to walk
into Jinja to explore. By next year, the rumour is that these rapids will
cease to exist once a 250MW hydro-electric plant has been constructed. This
would not only put the rafting companies out of business, but destroy an
area that most locals consider sacred. However, the threat of this plant
has been hanging over the area for the last two years and the government
keeps running out of funding, so it might never happen.

We began our 15km walk but ended up hitching a ride on a rival camp site's
truck. Jinja is laid back, hardly any traffic and spread out. There are
many Indian influenced buildings to be found down the wide, tree-lined
avenues in various states of disrepair.

One thing I will say about Uganda is that no one hassles you - not even the
boda-boda drivers - they hardly have the energy to raise their hands to call
you over. Life unwinds at a slow pace and never expect anything to be done
quickly.

We were meant to be locating the 'Source of the Nile Plaque', where some of
Gandhi's ashes were scattered into the Nile, but there was a Ush 2000 fee,
so we admired the view for free instead. We are such cheapskates!

To get back to the camp site, we negotiated Ush 2000 each for a ride on the
back of a motorbike. I held on to dear life, while Abbas pushed his foot to
the floor and we leapt over the pot holes. At this point, we were still on
the sealed road and I thought heaven help us when we get to the dirt track.
We got to a steep hill and he turned off his engine, so that we coasted down
at an alarming speed - I was really beginning to enjoy myself.

Yet again, we were the only people that had gone off exploring on our own.
In Roberta's and Beth's own words, "Why are we on this trip?" I often ask
myself the same question. So far, I would say to anyone, do Uganda
independently.

Early evening, some Ugandans paid a local guy to float down the rapids on a
jerry can. Lonely Planet self righteously denounces this dangerous way to
make money, saying that the practice should be discouraged. Personally,
after observing him a couple of times negotiate the falls, I couldn't see
anything wrong with it.

Positives: The motorcycle ride back was exhilarating - how I ever stayed on
that bike I'll never know.

Negatives: I feel oddly detached from the group - more now than ever before.