Walking the Nile

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Walking the Nile Page 31

by Levison Wood


  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Caput Nili Quaerere was an Ancient Roman metaphor that translates into ‘to Search for the source of the Nile’. It was applied to anything that was deemed unsolvable, mad or impossible. I think that the same could be said for trying to acknowledge all of the individuals that helped me along the way.

  For the outside observer it would be easy to imagine that one man’s pedestrian journey is simply a lone walk into the wilderness. Nothing could be further from the truth. There simply isn’t enough space here to give personal thanks to all those kind hosts that I met along the Nile who housed me in the villages and fed me, despite in many cases not having enough food for themselves. And of course there is the team, friends and family that supported me behind the scenes, and without whose constant backing I wouldn’t have even been able to set off in the first place.

  Personal thanks, however, must go, in no particular order, to the following people:

  Ndoole Boston, Moez Mahir and Mahmoud ‘Turbo’ Ezzeldin, who were so much more than guides, they became my eyes and ears into the places I passed through and ultimately friends for life. The team at October Films, especially Adam Bullmore, Matt Robins and Martin Long, who made my dream into a reality, and, of course, Jamie Berry and Neil Bonner, whose directorship and creative genius somehow not just created thousands of hours of footage, but turned that into a watchable television series. Tom McShane, whose leadership and logistics in the field made the expedition as smooth as it could be. He takes amazing photographs, too. There simply wasn’t enough space in this book to include all the adventures we had as a team and reluctantly, I had to exclude the many stories we shared, but the reader must be aware that for several weeks along the way, I was joined by these three gentlemen who not only kept me company but kept me sane, too.

  I am indebted to Tom Bodkin, whose patience and resolve as a business partner and friend has enabled Secret Compass to grow into the most exciting adventure travel company in the business; Group M and Animal Planet must be thanked for their financial assistance, and Channel 4 – in Particular John Hay – for believing in the project in the first place. For the entire team at Simon & Schuster, especially Abigail Bergstrom. Mike Jones, who gave the book its impetus, and the team at Campbell Bell Communications who provided PR assistance. Thanks also to the several sponsors who gave financial and material support: Chivas Regal whisky, Country Attire, Bremont watches, Berghaus outdoor gear, RailRiders clothing, Know Malaria, Nomad travel and Secret Compass. I must also make mention and thanks to the charities with whom I partnered and chose to support for their reciprocal help along the way: Tusk Trust, Space for Giants, ABF The Soldiers’ Charity, and the AMECA trust.

  Special thanks indeed must go to those friends who used up valuable leave to visit me and walk for parts of the journey, especially Will Charlton, Ash Bhardwaj, who wrote several articles about the expedition; Jason Florio, who was with me in Uganda for the most tragic episode; John Copeland and Susie Cain. Enormous thanks, too, of course, for those individuals who let me stay on sofas and floors and for those who gave me moral encouragement in the months and years building up to, during, and after the expedition; Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Ed Stafford, Bear Grylls, Michael Asher, Tim Butcher, Shane Winser, David Higgins, Maegan Tillock, Pete Wright, Chris Mahoney, Ibrahim Morgan, Dennis Kakande, Simon Clarke, Kara Blackmore, Charlie Bell, Emma Challinor, Wamale Siraje, Andy Belcher, Michael Woodward, Kate Page, Pete Meredith, Col. Andrew Seguye, Briony Turner, Ruthie Markus, Charlie Mayhew, Mary-Jane Attwood, Midhat and Mazar Mahir, Abdallah Houmouda, the team at the MSSG and the late Alex Coutselous. Thanks to Ceci Alonzo, who was a pillar of support for so long, and of course, Pete and my parents, who never doubted that I’d complete the journey, even when I did.

  Finally, I thank Rob Dinsdale for his skill in helping me turn a jumble of memories and scribbles into an actual book and, of course, my agents Jo Cantello and Ben Mason for their unwavering drive and mentorship throughout.

  INDEX

  Abu Simbel temples, ref1

  Acholi, ref1

  Acropole Hotel, ref1, ref2

  Adjumani, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  African Queen, The, ref1

  Ahmad (camel handler), ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7 passim

  departure of, ref1

  request of, to go home, ref1

  saddle-sore, ref1

  Ahmad, Muhammad (Mahdi), ref1

  Ahmadiyya Central Mosque, ref1

  AIDS, ref1

  first reported case of, ref1

  Ajai Wildlife Reserve, ref1

  Al-Kush, ref1

  Al Zabaleen (Garbage City), ref1

  Alexander the Great, ref1, ref2

  Alexandria, ref1

  Allam, Andrew Ray, ref1 passim, ref1

  Boston distrusts, ref1

  and Sudanese secret police, ref1

  Alur, ref1

  Amani (guide):

  Boston’s friction with, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  on Genocide Memorial Centre, ref1

  at Gisovu Prison, ref1

  and Nile’s source, ref1

  nominates self as expedition leader, ref1

  and Rwandan genocide, ref1

  Tutsi ethnicity of, ref1

  Amin, Idi, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  Amun, ref1

  and Bayuda Desert, see Bayuda Desert

  Anti-Dams Coalition, ref1

  Ariike (protection ), ref1, ref2

  Arua, ref1, ref2

  Asher, Michael, ref1

  Aswan, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  author’s confrontation with officials in, ref1

  Elephantine Island, ref1

  quarry at, ref1

  return to, ref1

  Aswan High Dam, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Atbarah, ref1

  Awad (camel handler), ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7 passim

  departure of, ref1

  request of, to go home, ref1

  saddle-sore, ref1

  Ayod, ref1

  Baghdad, fall of, ref1

  Baker, Florence, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Baker, Samuel, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  birth of, ref1

  and Murchison Falls, ref1

  queen shuns, ref1

  and slave trade, ref1

  Bala (camel market overseer), ref1, ref2, ref3

  Banyarwanda, ref1

  Bashir, Omar al-, ref1, ref2

  Batwa, ref1, ref2

  Bayuda Desert, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  haboob in, ref1

  thunderstorm in, ref1

  volcanoes in, ref1

  water found in, ref1

  Bedouin, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  ancient tomb of, ref1

  see also Ahmad; Awad

  Bedouin Lodge, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Belcher, Andy, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Bentiu, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Bhardwaj, Ash, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 passim, ref1

  author’s gifts to, ref1

  departure of, ref1

  last night of, ref1

  Blue Nile, ref1, ref2, ref3

  see also Nile

  Bodkin, Tom, ref1

  Bogart, Humphry, ref1

  Bor, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Boston, Aurore, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Boston, Jezu Adonis, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Boston, Lily, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  Boston, Ndoole:

  on African languages, ref1

  on AIDS, ref1, ref2

  Allam distrusted by, ref1

  Amani’s friction with, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  author misses, ref1

  author’s parting from, ref1

  back in Kampala, ref1

  Congo fled by, ref1

  and crocodile encounter, ref1

  on education, ref1

  and equator crossing, ref1

  and escaped goat, ref1

  on fears of Tanzani
an porters, ref1

  jack of all trades, ref1

  at Kampala home of, ref1

  and Kigali crocodile, ref1, ref2, ref3

  on leadership, ref1

  at Mama Fina’s, ref1

  Martin’s religious conversations with, ref1, ref2

  militia life of, ref1

  and mission’s practicalities, ref1

  and Nile’s source, ref1

  old photographs of, ref1

  outspoken nature of, ref1

  and Power’s death, ref1

  and Power’s hyperthermia attack, ref1, ref2

  recommended as a guide, ref1

  request of, to walk entire Nile, ref1

  royal ancestry of, ref1, ref2

  and Sudanese secret police, ref1

  takes over leadership of group, ref1

  on Tanzanians, ref1

  Uganda’s praises sung by, ref1

  Boston, Penny, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Bunyoro, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Burton (camel), ref1, ref2

  on finding water, ref1

  and need for water, ref1

  Burton, Richard, ref1

  camel named after, ref1

  and 1864 Nile debate, ref1

  in Somalia, ref1

  and Speke’s death, ref1

  and Speke’s source-of-Nile claim, ref1, ref2

  Buwama, ref1

  Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, ref1

  Cairo, ref1, ref2

  Al Zabaleen (Garbage City), ref1

  author’s welcome in, ref1

  Christian ghetto of, ref1

  modern-day incarnation of, ref1

  Mokattam, ref1

  Pyramids, ref1, ref2

  Rabaa Massacre in, ref1

  Sphinx in, ref1, ref2

  Tahrir Square in, ref1

  Zamalek, ref1

  camels, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  author’s purchase of, ref1

  on finding water, ref1

  and need for water, ref1

  cannibalism, ref1

  Casson, John, ref1

  Charles (ranger), ref1

  and Power’s hyperthermia attack, ref1

  Charlton, Will, ref1, ref2, ref3

  passim, ref1 passim, ref1

  author’s gifts to, ref1

  departure of, ref1

  last night of, ref1

  Christmas, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Churchill, Winston, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Cleopatra, Queen, ref1

  Commanda (Ugandan biker), ref1

  Commander Dan, ref1

  Coptic Christians, ref1, ref2

  coral, ref1

  Dabuka, ref1

  Dan, Commander, ref1

  Darfur, ref1

  Democratic Republic of Congo, ref1, ref2, ref3

  education in, ref1

  Ituri Forest, ref1

  ‘tree fish’ (snakes) in, ref1

  Dinka, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Discover Rwanda, ref1

  Dongola, ref1

  Eastern Sahara, ref1

  Egypt:

  Abu Simbel temples in, ref1

  Al-Kush, ref1

  Alexandria, ref1, ref2

  Aswan, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  author’s confrontation with officials in, ref1

  Elephantine Island, ref1

  quarry at, ref1

  return to, ref1

  Aswan High Dam, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  author’s arrest in, ref1, ref2

  Cairo, ref1, ref2

  Al Zabaleen (Garbage City), ref1

  author’s welcome in, ref1

  Christian ghetto of, ref1

  modern-day incarnation of, ref1

  Mokattam, ref1

  Pyramids, ref1, ref2

  Rabaa Massacre in, ref1

  Sphinx in, ref1, ref2

  Tahrir Square in, ref1

  Zamalek, ref1

  Christian churches burnt down in, ref1

  Coptic Christians in, ref1, ref2

  dwindling tourism in, ref1, ref2

  England at war with (1882), ref1

  Hatshepsut Temple, ref1

  Islamic conquest of, ref1

  Kom Ombo, ref1

  mosque in, ref1

  Luxor, ref1, ref2

  massacre in, ref1

  Temple of, ref1

  Memphis, temple at, ref1

  and Muslim Brotherhood, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  as part of Roman Empire, ref1

  and pyramids, Meroe’s compared with, ref1, ref2

  Rashid, ref1

  Rashid/Rosetta, ref1, ref2

  Red Sea resorts, ref1

  revolutions in: 2011, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4 2013, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  and smuggling, ref1, ref2

  Sudan incorporated into, ref1

  Thebes, ref1

  Valley of the Kings, ref1

  violence against tourists in, ref1

  virtual police state, ref1

  El-Mahdy, Tarek, ref1

  Eldamaty, Mamdouh, ref1

  Elephantine Island, ref1

  Elizabeth, Queen Mother, ref1

  Emmanuel (porter), ref1, ref2, ref3

  police rob, ref1

  Entebbe, ref1

  equator, crossing of, ref1

  Ethiopia, and second Sudanese Civil War, ref1

  Ezzeldin, Mahmoud ‘Turbo’, ref1, ref2 passim, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Ferlini, Giuseppe, ref1

  Florence (monkey), ref1

  see also monkeys: vervets

  Florio, Jason, ref1 passim, ref1 passim, ref1

  Fountain of the Four Rivers, ref1

  Francis (ranger), ref1, ref2, ref3

  Gangsta (Ugandan biker), ref1

  Garang (soldier), ref1

  Garang de Mabior, John, ref1

  Genocide Memorial Centre, Rwanda, ref1

  Geoffrey (Kiga village chief), ref1, ref2, ref3

  George (porter), ref1, ref2

  Gisovu, ref1

  prison in, ref1

  Gladstone, William, ref1

  Gordon (camel), ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  on finding water, ref1

  and need for water, ref1

  Gordon, Gen. Charles, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Grant, James Augustus, ref1

  Green Hills of Africa (Hemingway), ref1

  haboob, ref1

  Hamed (chef), ref1

  Hatshepsut Temple, ref1

  Hemingway, Ernest, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Hepburn, Katherine, ref1

  hippos, dangers of, ref1

  HIV and AIDS, first reported case of, ref1

  Hotel Le Bougainviller, ref1

  Hutus, and Rwandan genocide, see Rwanda: genocide in

  Ibrahim, Meriam, ref1

  Ibrahim (tour guide), ref1, ref2

  International Criminal Court, ref1, ref2

  Iraq, and fall of Baghdad, ref1

  Ituri Forest, ref1

  James (in Kiga), ref1, ref2

  Jebel, ref1

  Jebel Barkal mountain, ref1

  Jinja, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Ripon Falls, ref1, ref2, ref3

  John (protection ), ref1, ref2

  Johnson, Hilde, ref1

  Juba, ref1, ref2, ref3

  arrest in, ref1

  Bedouin Lodge, ref1, ref2, ref3

  conflict in, ref1

  Jebel, ref1

  Rafaj Hill, ref1

  Julius (porter), ref1, ref2, ref3

  Kabaka Yekka, ref1

  Kabalega, King, ref1

  Kabarega Falls, see Murchison Falls National Park

  Kabila, Laurent-Désiré, ref1

  Kadabas, ref1

  Kagera region, ref1

  Kagera river, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Kakwa, ref1, ref2

  Kamaagagi, Dr, ref1

  Kampala:

  Ahmadiyya Central Mosque, ref1

  AIDS reaches, ref1

  arrival in, ref1

  description of, ref1

/>   ethnic and cultural mix in, ref1

  Hotel Le Bougainviller, ref1

  Nakasero Market in, ref1

  Owino market in, ref1

  urban sprawl of, ref1

  Kandt, Dr Richard, ref1, ref2

  Karima, ref1

  Karuma, ref1

  Kasansero, ref1, ref2

  and AIDS, ref1, ref2

  Kazungu, ref1, ref2

  Kenya, independence movement in, ref1

  Kerma, ref1

  Kerreri, ref1

  Khartoum, ref1, ref2

  Acropole Hotel in, ref1, ref2

  cultural diversity in, ref1

  modern nature of, ref1

  origins of, ref1

  siege of, ref1, ref2, ref3

  and slave trade, ref1

  Kiga, ref1

  Kigali, ref1, ref2 passim

  boom-town status of, ref1

  as centre of genocide, ref1, ref2

  Kandt founds, ref1

  Natural History Museum in, ref1

  Kiir Mayardit, Salva, ref1, ref2

  Kimisi Game Reserve, ref1

  Kitchener, Lord, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Kom Ombo, ref1

  mosque in, ref1

  Kony, Joseph, ref1

  Korti, ref1

  Kosti, ref1

  Kush, Kingdom of, ref1, ref2

  Lake Albert, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Heritage Lodge, ref1, ref2

  and seismic testing, ref1

  Lake Bisongu, ref1

  Lake Gashanga, ref1

  Lake Kidogo, ref1

  Lake Kyoga, ref1, ref2

  Lake Miravi, ref1

  Lake Mugesera, ref1

  Lake Nasser, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7

  rules concerning, ref1

  Lake Nubia, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Lake Rumira, ref1

  Lake Sake, ref1

  Lake Superior, ref1

  Lake Tana, ref1

 

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