Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE GATHERING DARK
Murchison Falls to South Sudan, March 2014
T
wo days later, as refreshed as it was able to be in the blistering forty-seven-degree
heat, Boston and I were preparing for the final leg of our trip through the park. We
had spent the days exploring the vicinity of Murchison Falls. Patrick, a contact from
the Uganda Conservation Foundation, had taken us out on a marine patrol. Lake Albert
loomed in the west, beyond a vast estuary of papyrus marshes, and it was here that the
patrols picked up illegal fishermen and poachers. According to Ugandan law, fishing is il-
legal within two hundred metres of the borders of the National Park, but this didn't stop
enterprising fishermen crossing the imaginary line in the lake and casting their nets.
Illegal fishing, though, was the least of the threats Patrick exposed on our patrol. Far
worse were the floatation markers we saw along the river and cast across the lake. These
were the early signs of seismic testing - the first stage in oil companies looking to take ad-
vantage of the park. According to Patrick, the deals had already been struck at the highest
levels of government; there was a predicted $55 billion worth of oil waiting to be tapped
inside Murchison alone - and, whenever riches like that await, conservation is quickly for-
gotten. Drilling was already happening on the outermost stretches of Lake Albert. Soon, it
would creep inside the park itself - changing this wonderful, wild part of Africa forever.
On the morning we resumed our trek, turning north where the river met Lake Albert,
we heard news from further north: in South Sudan, the fighting was spreading in intense
bursts across the north of the country. Boston and I listened to the news soberly before
hefting our packs onto our backs and making for the estuary.
The river meets Lake Albert near its northernmost point, but the few kilometres walking
along its shore before seeing the river reemerge seemed to take forever, the heat and en-
tangled bush hindering us with every step. At last, we made the northern tip of the lake
and saw the Albert Nile rise. At the tumbledown town of Pakwach we crossed the river
again, this time by an old military bridge constructed during Idi Amin's rule, and arrived at
the Heritage Lodge before dark. The owner, William, seemed a shadowy sort, with a smile
