As the end draws near for a classic, new heroes emerge…

With the cold and dark turning paddling in the UK into a truly character building experience, It was decided that we had quite enough character already, and some warm water paddling was in order. With this in mind, and with the completion of the Bujagali Falls dam drawing closer everyday, Tim T and I booked some last minute tickets, packed our flip flops and suncream, and boarded a plane to Uganda.

Almost a mile wide at its source, emerging from lake Victoria 1100m above sea level, the Victoria Nile is a geographical marvel, and kayaking aside, would be worth the visit purely to look at.

Sitting almost squarely on the equator, the Nile enjoys year round warmth, with an average daily temperature of ‘very hot’, and water which can only be described as ‘quite warm’.

Sadly, several of the section’s classic rapids are very soon to be lost, as the final stages of the new dam are completed. The building site is now starting to look more convincingly like a dam, and is simply breathtaking in its scale. Estimates as to when the section will finally disappear range from sometime around Easter to a couple of years time, however if you’ve not paddled there before, I can’t reccommend a trip strongly enough, and sooner rather than later. Clicking on the link here will take you to Google’s satellite images of the Nile, showing the Dam’s current progress, and what is soon to be lost.

www.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=0.494808,33.147554&spn=0.042914,0.055189&t=h&z=14

For those unfamiliar with the situation and the river; here’s a link to Sam Ward’s video ‘A Dam Shame’, filmed exclusively on the section of whitewater which will be lost upon the Dam’s completion.

Although the classic ‘Silverback’ Section is doomed, the Nile thankfully still has a huge amount to offer besides, with some of the world’s best waves, and incredible freestyle paddling. The standout wave on the river is the world famous Nile Special, which serves as the warm water training ground for the many of the world’s best freestyle paddlers.

Some of the River’s mightiest Rapids will also still remain after the new dam is built, and probably the most well know of these is Itanda Falls. Once classified as a grade 6 monster, but now downgraded to ‘still one of the biggest rapids you’ll probably ever see’, this 300m long maelstrom of white chaos (beige disorganisation at lower flows) contains several of the biggest holes on the river, and has handed out some severe beatings to some of paddlesport’s finest.

This December however, saw the rapid’s 2nd successful (4th attempted) descent in a Topo Duo. With the unflappable Tim Trew at the helm, and a fearless Max Coney providing the Ballast up front, the pair navigated the craft flawlessly through the beast, much to the disappointment of the carnage hungry spectators.

If you can make it to the Nile before the new dam is completed, then do so. If not, then go anyway, whenever you can, it really is as good as everybody says…