Swapping the White Nile for the Zambezi...

So the last few days and weeks in Uganda before getting on the plane for Zambia were pretty sweet, rather rushed and a little bit gutting, here's a bit of a photo diary...

The Bujagali Dam - we used to be able to drive to the Ugly Sisters play wave here, now we get told to leave by guys in Camo Fatigues and AK47's. Me and Anna cruised in here to have a look a couple of weeks ago as we had the Hairy Lemon car for the day, we wern't exactly welcomed - but I promised not to take any photo's so they sent us on our way!!

I had a couple of weeks up in Sipi before we flew out of the country. Mostly it was all head down and working - cooking food for the restaurant and making sure things were ticking over, but I had a bit of time to play too. Oh and check out my Sombrero!!

Did I mention we own a waterfall and a river? So the boys claimed the first descent a few months ago, but me and Fraggle fancied a blast with the water running at an optimum level!! Here is Fraggle hiking in with our falls in the background.

-Me at the put in-

So fair enough it is a bit of a ditch - but it filled an hour!!

The last day before Sam and I flew out was hectic! I was sure I had important things to sort out but in the end bent to the persuading of Tim Flowers and drove down to Nile Special for one last wave session...

Anna on the wave

I literally had to pack my stuff in 10 minutes. After a meal with the missus we got back to NRE as the taxi pulled in, Sam was drunk, and I'd missed our leaving bender!! Ow well it was all good. After throwing our stuff in the car we left to the Airport and for the next few hours we passed out at every opportunity! In Nairobi airport the air hostess' had to wake us up and tell us to get off the plane - when we woke up everyone else had already left and the guys were cleaning the aisles!! We had a night in Johannesburg where I picked up my new Fluid Nemesis, and the next day flew the short distance to Livingstone. Flying over Victoria Falls was pretty spectacular and for some reason me and Sam had been put in First class for the flight!! I'd thought to keep my camera close at hand and as we made our final approach to the airstrip I got this cool photo of the Batoka gorge of the Zambezi, Zimbabwe on the far side and Zambia on the near side.

I'm in the Zambezi to run another trip for LiLi, we have a bunch of guys coming out on the 25th for a 2 week experience and it's going to be amazing. I've been on the river for the last few days and it's at a perfect level. I'll get some paddling shots soon!!

Happy travels!

Photo's by Will Clark & Anna Bruno

Gear Test. Ainsworth 4-way Splits...

A few weeks ago I took out a set of the new Ainsworth 4-way splits for a test run as Jamie of Kayak the Nile had asked me to see what I thought. So I decided to huck them off Kalagala Falls - where more than anything you need to be able to depend on your kit.







So first inspection of the paddles - They were perhaps a little bit short - certainly in the shaft - but felt pretty solid. They use a standard button fixing system and didn't need to be taped up or anything like that. The main fault in the set up is that they will set to a feather of either 90, 45 or zero degrees. Nobody paddles at 90 degree feather these days so the holes should have been offset by 45, then you could have 45 Right, zero or 45 left. Then your splits are fully versatile for right and left handers. I've just looked on the website and apparently they will set up for left handers too - maybe it's just not all that obvious.

If they do set up for left handers too then I reckon these are pretty solid splits. I don't know how much they cost - but I'll bet you it's pretty reasonable, and if you broke your blades these would get you through the thick of it.

More info at www.ainsworthpaddles.net


Photos by Anna Bruno

How to build a lodge, an Idiots guide...

Hello everyone. I guess I should explain my absence from the Nile Progression and the world wide web. I 've been building a Lodge!

Two of my good buddies (Ian Odell and Calum Main)and I got offered an opportunity just before Christmas last year. We decided to take it. Beginning in March this year we moved up to Sipi Falls (3 hours East of the Nile) and began work on 'Sipi River Lodge'.

We own 17 acres of grounds and a 200 foot Waterfall in Sipi. We're in the foothills of Mt Elgon near the Kenyan border and our place is at 1811m altitude. The climate is cooler and the area is absolutely stunning! Check out these photo's - quite a few before and after shots, and some cool photos from the area. The Photo's above are a few I was playing around with to use as adverts or postcards...

-Before-

-After-

-Before-

-After-

Early Days of the Building Site

-Roofing the Bandas-

-Almost Finished Bandas-






-The Bar-

We've still got a bunch of work to do - but we're getting there. The Restaurant, Bar and main lodge are open - we just need some locks on the doors and a few pictures on the walls. The Bunkhouse sleeps 12 with on-suite and it's already open.

We just need a bit more time to finish off the Banda's and we have a thousand small jobs to do.

Once everything gets finished we should have more time to further explore the local area. I've allready scoped a river that should have some good Creeking and there's heaps of climbing around! Sipi is a cool place to live!