Home » Uganda » Death's door at The Nile's source

“RROOWW!” “HARRD” “HARRDERR!”

Panic sinking in, nine oars thrusting into the foamy, white, roaring water, we row for our lives right into the thick of a Grade 5 rapid, and the impending doom that I somehow seemed to get a front-seat view of, stupidly volunteering to go up front. It’s fair to say I’m well and truly bricking it!

Death's door at The Nile's source

Simon Wadsworth
2006-09-04 10:59:52

Displayed times (last time: )

I doubt it would be quite the same if it was the US Embassy.

So, as for the other time I nearly died? A near-heart-attack back in Kisumu from England’s penalty shootout of course, followed by watery eyes and a depressed mood. I
had befriended some England-supporting Canadians, including a guy called Alan, which helped with the disappointment and we met up a couple more times during my four nights in Kisumu. It’s not the most thrilling place, but after three weeks hopping about the rest of Kenya, it was nice to stay in one place a few days and get a feel of living in an African town. I caught up on my Hollywood blockbusters, visited the museum and got lost in the huge Sunday market, selling, among other things, piles upon piles of second-hand Western clothing, such as t-shirts with slogans like “Mary’s Hen Night, Boston, MA, June 2001.”

Kisumu, like most African towns, has limited character, and is built around a grid-square pattern, but through improvisation rather than planning. One night, I went for a Chinese, and the restaurant was packed, but completely of Indians, highlighting just who owns most of the money in the town. During the 70s and 80s, most Indians fled the country, but the Government has since realized their economic important and has invited them all back again. On my final day in Kisumu, I also saw some noisy hippos on Lake Victoria, and Alan briefly showed me round a local hospital. Initially an army barracks, the beds have not changed, except now they are crammed with two or three people each, mostly suffering from TB or Malaria, huge problems in this region. Yet another harrowing African sight.

From Kisumu, I then crossed over the border to Uganda and its capital Kampala. As Paul Theroux describes, “border towns in African countries were awful places known for riff-raff and refugees and people sleeping rough, famous for smugglers and back-handlers, notorious for bribery and delay, nit-picking ...