Walking the Nile

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I can tell by the reaction of the men surrounding the campfire that this is causing some amusement but having come this far the head massage that follows is a welcome treat.

Yes it’s true they have to contend with making a living under the most trying circumstances, yet somehow they manage and remain the most generous and warm hearted people you could ever wish to meet.Being of Dinka extraction he is clearly worried by the prospect of meeting members of the ethnic Nuer tribe who are opposing the Government in this part of the country. Nevertheless even these men are desperate and will do anything to conceal their tracks and thus we are strongly advised to stay close to the road. Apart from being stripped to the waste they begin by washing my shaggy uncut hair in a strong smelling water that turns out to be indoctrinated cow urine. Finding the Australian outback too tame he crossed into south East Asia through Thailand, Cambodia and on into India before reaching the Himalayas in Nepal. However, as East Africa developed in the colonial and post-colonial era, some saw it as an under-used, or under-exploited, resource.

For the first time on our walk through Africa nobody appeared to show any interest in our progress through the throng. Evidence of wildlife isn’t that far away saw elephant dung everywhere and at the banks of the river was confronted by ten hippos. The following day wrapped in a blanket and tied to my chest the newly christened ‘Florence’, who is less than a week old, joins our walk northwards. And with that grave warning my ‘watcher’ and I retrace our steps through the maze of streets back towards the checkpoint.

Ruined and destroyed, the once busy market place stood silent and empty, burnt to the ground by rebels in January.

Spreading inland from the northern shores of Lake Albert it is named after the Murchison Falls waterfall. This new four-part series follows British explorer Levison Wood’s expedition to walk the length of the River Nile from source to sea.

He tells me over mint tea that things will become more interesting north of Khartoum and promises dinosaur fossils, prehistoric rock art as well as gold mines.