I am in Uganda, at a place called Jinja, about 100
kms. from the capital city Kampala. It's quite a change of scene, though
Kampala itself is not too bad by way of greenery compared to some other capital
cities (notably Bangkok in Thailand) which are nothing but concrete jungles. We
are staying at Jinja Nile River Resort, a nicely laid out complex of cottages
(2 to each 'hut') right on the banks of the gushing Nile. What surprised me at
first was the powerful flow of the river, quite near as it is to its source. In
fact, one my chief attractions of spending even the weekend at this place was to
see the source of the great river, which I'm told originates at Lake Victoria,
though the main tributary is reportedly only a trickle where it begins. And then
I'm told there is a blue Nile & a white Nile which begin in Ethiopia, and
they get together in Sudan.
It's a nice feeling looking out over the river in the morning with a cup of tea in hand, where I can see the small white birds flying in formation over the group of small islands in the middle of river. Rains have already started (it rains cats & dogs some nights), and everything around is green, with the white walls & red tiled roofs of the cottages providing contrast. From where I am, I can look across the river, right past the lodges on the opposite bank, glancing at the great curving bridge (where the speed limit is 20 kmph for some reason - probably because the old dam got damaged when the new one was constructed) and some structures coming up nearby (hope they are not ugly concrete ones), up the slopes of the surrounding hills right till the top where I can see the power & communication towers. When it is not raining, you can see the golden clouds over the hills, bathed in the reflected glory of the Sun. So even if the food is crappy and the service worse, the view compensates a lot.
After breakfast today, we went around the stone pathways inside the complex. Sadly, the pathways don't loop back but end after the particular rows of cottages, only the middle one going beyond towards the bank where a lodge of some kind with an observation tower is under construction. It would be a good idea to sit at one of the swings near the cottages with a nice book in hand, though when it rains in the morning I have to sit in my verandah & read the book while listening to the chirping of the birds & the roar of the river.
Birds, though, are not the only vocal creatures here. While at supper some evenings near the bar, we can hear a symphony of frogs croaking all around the nearby swimming pool, as if heralding the rains (which dutifully obliged in the next few hours, whence began the pitter-patter of the raindrops on the rooftops). We are told that when not too many people are walking about, as it was last evening, the frogs try to fill the gap, and also take the occasional dip in the pool. As for non-vocal creatures, of the winged kind, there are a few cricket-like insects flying about on the grass lawns (which every cottage is surrounded by), as also sundry wasps and some other ones, though mosquitoes are conspicuous by their relative absence, at least there are not as many as one would expect near a river & especially during rains. Nevertheless, I take care to be in full-sleeved attire most of the time after evening, and also use the spray.
Natural beauty is strewn around here, not only here but also on the road to Kamuli, about 60 kms. away. The highway to Kamuli is a treat, rising and falling like the fragment of a wave or a great python. And all around there is thick vegetation, with some well laid out clusters of tall trees in between, going right upto the small hills in the distance. A few small towns in between serve to break the monotony. When I look at places like this, I so marvel at the wonders of packaging and branding. Kenya in this region may be having much less of such naturally beautiful places, but they have packaged their treasures so well that it's well known as a tourist destination (though more for the safaris). But places like this in Uganda (and some others like Sierra Leone), which are not able to package it well and also provide the requisite infrastructure, languish. Though, on second thoughts, this may not always be a bad thing, as too much tourist traffic doubtless spoils the natural environs.
Sunday evening we went to the Source of the River Nile, which is down a small hill with a winding road. What surprised me firstly is the bulk & the flow of the river even at the source, maybe since I am more used to rivers starting as trickles from some mountaintop. I was told that the river Nile begins from Lake Victoria but, looking at the surrounding mountains, never realised this was the place.
We hired a boat with an outboard motor strapped on, and we were taken to a place where the river reportedly starts flowing from the lake. We were shown the difference in the movement of the lake water (which has waves) and the river water (which flows). At the source, we were shown how water seems to rise up & break the surface in small puddles. And we were shown the difference in the colour of the water, supposedly deep blue in the lake & a lighter hue in the river. All this was explained to us while standing at a rock outcropping at the confluence, with a small platform erected to mark the place. We also sailed by the big island in the middle of the river which has lodges and all, and could see fishermen going about their work. All in all, a good trip. And when we came back to the shore again, we landed at a place which had a bust of Gandhi - supposedly his ashes were immersed in the Nile.
It's a nice feeling looking out over the river in the morning with a cup of tea in hand, where I can see the small white birds flying in formation over the group of small islands in the middle of river. Rains have already started (it rains cats & dogs some nights), and everything around is green, with the white walls & red tiled roofs of the cottages providing contrast. From where I am, I can look across the river, right past the lodges on the opposite bank, glancing at the great curving bridge (where the speed limit is 20 kmph for some reason - probably because the old dam got damaged when the new one was constructed) and some structures coming up nearby (hope they are not ugly concrete ones), up the slopes of the surrounding hills right till the top where I can see the power & communication towers. When it is not raining, you can see the golden clouds over the hills, bathed in the reflected glory of the Sun. So even if the food is crappy and the service worse, the view compensates a lot.
After breakfast today, we went around the stone pathways inside the complex. Sadly, the pathways don't loop back but end after the particular rows of cottages, only the middle one going beyond towards the bank where a lodge of some kind with an observation tower is under construction. It would be a good idea to sit at one of the swings near the cottages with a nice book in hand, though when it rains in the morning I have to sit in my verandah & read the book while listening to the chirping of the birds & the roar of the river.
Birds, though, are not the only vocal creatures here. While at supper some evenings near the bar, we can hear a symphony of frogs croaking all around the nearby swimming pool, as if heralding the rains (which dutifully obliged in the next few hours, whence began the pitter-patter of the raindrops on the rooftops). We are told that when not too many people are walking about, as it was last evening, the frogs try to fill the gap, and also take the occasional dip in the pool. As for non-vocal creatures, of the winged kind, there are a few cricket-like insects flying about on the grass lawns (which every cottage is surrounded by), as also sundry wasps and some other ones, though mosquitoes are conspicuous by their relative absence, at least there are not as many as one would expect near a river & especially during rains. Nevertheless, I take care to be in full-sleeved attire most of the time after evening, and also use the spray.
Natural beauty is strewn around here, not only here but also on the road to Kamuli, about 60 kms. away. The highway to Kamuli is a treat, rising and falling like the fragment of a wave or a great python. And all around there is thick vegetation, with some well laid out clusters of tall trees in between, going right upto the small hills in the distance. A few small towns in between serve to break the monotony. When I look at places like this, I so marvel at the wonders of packaging and branding. Kenya in this region may be having much less of such naturally beautiful places, but they have packaged their treasures so well that it's well known as a tourist destination (though more for the safaris). But places like this in Uganda (and some others like Sierra Leone), which are not able to package it well and also provide the requisite infrastructure, languish. Though, on second thoughts, this may not always be a bad thing, as too much tourist traffic doubtless spoils the natural environs.
Sunday evening we went to the Source of the River Nile, which is down a small hill with a winding road. What surprised me firstly is the bulk & the flow of the river even at the source, maybe since I am more used to rivers starting as trickles from some mountaintop. I was told that the river Nile begins from Lake Victoria but, looking at the surrounding mountains, never realised this was the place.
We hired a boat with an outboard motor strapped on, and we were taken to a place where the river reportedly starts flowing from the lake. We were shown the difference in the movement of the lake water (which has waves) and the river water (which flows). At the source, we were shown how water seems to rise up & break the surface in small puddles. And we were shown the difference in the colour of the water, supposedly deep blue in the lake & a lighter hue in the river. All this was explained to us while standing at a rock outcropping at the confluence, with a small platform erected to mark the place. We also sailed by the big island in the middle of the river which has lodges and all, and could see fishermen going about their work. All in all, a good trip. And when we came back to the shore again, we landed at a place which had a bust of Gandhi - supposedly his ashes were immersed in the Nile.
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