At approximately 0740 local time (0540 UK time) we finally touched down at Entebbe airport – over 24 hours since we arrived at Gatwick. After collecting our luggare, we discovered that somewhere in the past 24 hours we had managed to lose one bag (Paul’s main luggage), but all the boats and remaining kit had made it out successfully. I am pretty certain we are the first group to successfullly take kayaks through Terminal 5 at Heathrow with BA!! We were met by our shuttle driver from Kayak the Nile, loaded up the shuttle bus (I am still amazed that we managed to tie five boats onto the roof of the shuttle bus using only one set of straps!) and set off for the three hour drive to the NRE campsite. The drive across was truly breathtaking, and you need balls of steel to contemplate driving out here!
We arrived at the campsite, checked in, met our guide for the next few days and got some food. Despite all of us being extremely knackered from the journey, we decided we had to experience the mighty Nile, so we set off for a 30 minute drive to Superhole rapid for some playing. The water is amazingly warm – it is like paddling in a bath – and the hole provided much entertainment for all. Once we were all spent, we headed back to camp to experience the local Nile Special beer. We ended up working our way through a selection of local beers before concluding that none of them were a match for Nile Special and headed to bed some time around 2300.
Today we are off to do the day two section of the Nile, from Superhole to the Nile Special wave.