‘Something more than a safari’

This article first appeared in our COP30 special issue of My Green Pod Magazine. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox

Main image: The African Queen, star of the eponymous 1951 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, rescued Ernest Hemingway and his wife Mary after the couple crash-landed in Murchison Falls. The restored steamboat now provides trips out from Waterfront
Beach in Entebbe

In Uganda’s largest and oldest conservation area, the mighty Nile River is squeezed through an impossibly narrow gorge; the result is the thundering Murchison Falls: a 43-metre vertical cascade – as majestic as it is sublime – that is considered the world’s most powerful waterfall.

The water spurts and plumes to such mesmerising effect that it almost proved fatal to one of America’s most celebrated 20th-century writers.

In 1954, Ernest Hemingway and his wife Mary were enjoying a sightseeing trip in Uganda when their pilot – perhaps under encouragement to get the Cessna 180 just a little closer – clipped a disused telephone wire and was forced to crash-land in a small clearing close to the Falls.

Of course, no one could survive a night on the Nile: reporters all over the world scrambled to file premature obituaries headlined by Hemingway’s untimely end in the crocodile-infested river.

They couldn’t have known that, back at the Falls, Ernest and Mary had suffered only minor scrapes; their greatest headache was the prospect of rationing their supply of whisky and beer.

The rescue plane caused the couple more serious injuries when it burst into flames on take-off, though not before they had taken a jaunt up the Nile on the African Queen – star of the eponymous 1951 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn – which had spotted and rescued the couple before the whisky had run dry.

When we visited Hemingway Lodge, the location of the telephone wire that brought the bush plane down, we understood in an instant why the site had been such an irresistible draw.

Travelling up the Nile

Hemingway Lodge had been recommended by Brigitte Paye and her musician partner King Whizzy, founders of Afric Adict Safaris, who know Uganda intimately and operate bespoke tours that get you up close and personal with the incredible culture and wildlife Uganda has to offer. That was certainly the case for us.

We travelled from Kampala by car but the final, magical leg of the journey to Hemingway Lodge was a one-hour boat ride up the Nile.

We reached the river’s banks at 18.00, which was a couple of hours later than we (and probably our captain, Milton) would have liked.

The sun was dipping and wildlife gaining new confidence as boat safaris left the water and tourists were ushered back to their vehicles.

Within 10 minutes of casting off a giraffe came into view at close range at the edge of the river, knees buckled and head dipped as it quenched its thirst in peace.

Nile crocodiles climbed to laze on the riverbank and hippos grunted comically before dipping under the water, leaving only their eyes in view on the surface.

‘The hippos are the animals we fear the most’, Milton explained after Roger, his colleague from the lodge, had handed us beers from the boat’s cool box. ‘They’re the only animals that kill man for fun – they’re vegetarian!’

Within an hour, our boat was pulling up to a jetty at the base of a track leading mysteriously through the thick riverine forest; our luxury tented lodge was only a 10-minute drive away, but remained completely invisible until we pulled up outside.

We were warmly greeted by a campfire, candlelit outdoor dinner table and delicious three-course meal, warmly presented by Anita, the wonderful lodge manager.

‘I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy.’

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

A Murchison Falls safari

The Nile is the route in and out of Hemingway Lodge, so each day began with a low-light trip across mystical waters humming with life.

Pied and malachite kingfishers, African fish eagles, egrets, herons and many, many other birds observed us quietly from branches and perches, silhouetted against the rising sun.

Thanks to Afric Adict Safaris, we spent a truly unforgettable day on safari in Murchison Falls National Park, under the expert eye of Silva, a ranger from Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).

Our vehicle, complete with a ‘spotter seat’ that proved a hit with the kids, wound effortlessly through the park, each turn revealing a breathtaking surprise.

The land here shifts quickly, switching from vast, open and sweeping panoramas to buffalo-fringed swamps, borassus palms and clumps of acacia trees, complete with more giraffes than we could count and elephants – strolling carefree, and seemingly out of nowhere – across our track. The highlight for many was a pair of lions resting in the shade of the long grass.

A very special bush lunch was prepared by ‘Chef Samuel’ and served from his vehicle’s bonnet. Irish (mashed) potato, rice and a traditional bean stew were not only delicious but also, unfathomably, perfectly cooked and piping hot. Where many UK restaurants fail, Chef Samuel, in the middle of the bush, succeeded – with flair.

We reclined in our camp chairs, fresh watermelon in hand, and inhaled the unparalleled fragrance that rises from the ground when the sun has had time to warm the African savanna.

We breathed it in, with buffalo, Ugandan kob and giraffes as far as the eye could see, and were reminded why every day in Africa was, for Ernest Hemingway, a happy one.

Hippos & poachers

The hippos were certainly more animated during our dusky returns up the Nile – and their chuckling reached new heights when darkness fell.

Yet it was still hard to believe they were, as our captain Milton had suggested on our first day, the villains of the Nile.

Three days later I was deep in conversation on the subject with Aston and Robin Sparks, family owners of Hemingway Lodge and Lake Albert Safari Lodge in the Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve.

‘You saw it’, Aston said; ‘as soon as the boats stop, that’s when the animals come out – and it’s when the poaching would start.’

In the recent past, poachers would lay nets across the width of the Nile and trawl it for hippos. No wonder they were sometimes aggressive.

Since Robin and Aston began taking a more active role in the management of the lodges, alongside Robin’s father, Bruce, poaching has plummeted by 80%.

We took a trip out to visit one of Aston’s six anti-poaching units on Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve, the location of Lake Albert Safari Lodge, and he showed us some of the rusty, barbaric snares that had been located and collected by his team of rangers.

Community wildlife

Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve used to be a playground for lions and leopards, positioned tactically on a migratory route for large herds of buffalo.

Yet when Bruce bought the Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve 18 years ago, most of its 8,700 km² were pretty barren. This was the devastating result of years of civil war, combined with resource competition due to the 9,000 cattle herded by nomadic owners. They had been known to poison a single cow from their herd in order to kill off an entire pride of lions.

Bruce started out on Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve with two warthogs, 21 Ugandan kob and a few buffalo; today the reserve has 500 buffalo, 9,000 kob and a couple of hundred Defassa waterbuck.

50 Jackson’s hartebeest have been introduced and zebra and giant forest frogs are coming soon.

Fired by passions for conservation, biodiversity and ecology, Robin and Aston are working with the local community to keep poaching away. Aston is keen to create a reserve that benefits the community as well as its wildlife, and show poachers there is another way to operate.

The couple has created a community wildlife area around Kabwoya, which serves as a buffer zone for the reserve. Communities live here and graze their sheep and goats on the land, and this is where the park entry fee goes. Aston’s motto – ‘Let’s have a drink and get on’ – is working.