Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BEGINNING AT THE END: THE SOURCE OF THE
NILE
December 2013
I
don't know where the idea to walk the entire length of the Nile came from. It was a
question I'd been asked a hundred times or more, by well-meaning family, friends, and
the occasional journalist, in the weeks before I set out on the expedition. I'd given each
of them a different answer - but all of them were true. When George Mallory was asked
by a reporter from the
New York Times
why he wanted to climb Mt Everest, he retorted
with perhaps the three most famous words in mountaineering history: 'Because it's there.'
In the end, I could think of no better way to express the singular urge that drove me to
Africa. I wanted to follow in a great tradition, to achieve something unusual and inspire in
others the thirst to do the same. Much of my motivation was selfish, of course - to go on
the greatest adventure of my life, to see what people can only dream about and test myself
to the limits. But, ultimately, it came down to one thing. The Nile was there, and I wanted
to walk it.
I sat in a truck, rising high through the Rwandan hills. Even now, that same question
was buzzing in my ear. The man sitting beside me was staring out of the window, looking
smart in a green polo shirt, his hair closely cropped. He smiled as the banana plantations
passed us by.
I liked Boston because he hadn't asked why. Boston was different; he instinctively knew
that those who have to ask 'why' would never understand. Ndoole Boston, descendant of
Ngumbirwa, King of the Nyanga, was to be my guide for the first leg of this journey, and
he was more interested in the practicalities of our mission.
'How far is it?' he said, as the green expanse of the Nyungwe rainforest came into view.
'Four thousand miles.'
