17/12/2024
We saw this huge crocodile basking in the sun on the left bank of the White Nile in Uganda's Murchison Falls National Park, on our way from our nearby lodge to the falls. Here, the water flowing between Lake Victoria and Lake Albert thunders through a very narrow rocky gorge, just seven to ten metres wide, at around 300 cubic metres per second creating a permanent mist with rainbows shining through it. We walked along a great hiking trail from the top of the falls which took us through lush vegetation to the bottom where our private boat was waiting for us. Here the mighty river, flowed gently and silently offering fabulous views of the surrounding jungle and wildlife.
In 1954, the famous writer Ernest Hemingway then in his mid-50s, had hired a pilot to take him and his fourth wife, Mary Welsh, on a sightseeing tour of falls aboard a small Cessna. During the flight, “their plane clipped a telegraph wire and plunged onto the crocodile-infested shores of the Nile,”. Miraculously they escaped unscathed from this terrible experience.
We visited the crash site and were astonished that neither he or his wife fell into the jaws of the many crocodiles lurking ominously nearby.
This was one of the most memorable experiences we had had up until that moment in this incredible country. That night back at the lodge, we pondered about the adventure while enjoying a sundowner by the river.
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Photo by our Director and our Founder Lucia's Fellow Traveller
