The Times April 01, 2006
Source of the Nile is redrawn by 66 miles
By Will Pavia and Fran Yeoman
According to the history books, British explorer John Hanning Speke discovered the source of the Nile in 1856. But now they will all have to be re-written as British explorer Neil McGrigor and 2 New Zealanders, Cam McCleay and Garth MacIntyre, discovered the true source of the Nile - and made the world's longest river 66 miles LONGER than was previously thought. McGrigor will present his findings to the Royal Geographical Society.
CRAWLING through the undergrowth of the Nyungwe Forest in northern Rwanda yesterday morning, the water finally stopped moving and Neil McGrigor declared that he had found the source of the Nile.
It had, by his measurement, been a journey of 4,331 miles since he set off with three comrades in small inflatable boats from the Mediterranean last September. That made the world’s longest river 66 miles longer than anyone had previously suspected.
He will return to present his findings to the Royal Geographical Society. If he is proved right, text books may have to be changed.
Mr McGrigor, 44, a Briton, and Cam McLeay and Garth MacIntyre, 43, from New Zealand, had travelled through five countries, up rapids and over waterfalls; their craft had been charged by Nile crocodiles and hippos; one of their companions was killed by Ugandan rebels and they caught inumerable tropical ailments.
“We are the first people to travel the full length of the Nile,” Mr McGrigor told The Times yesterday, by satellite phone. “It’s an incredible sight. Perhaps no one will ever see it again.”
Mr McGrigor, from Lymington, Hampshire, made his fortune in the crate industry. In 2002, with his brother Kenneth, he sold the firm for £16 million. Since then he has embarked on a series of adventures, mainly involving powerboats. Last summer Cam McLeay, a Nile enthusiast, suggested a journey along the river finally to pinpoint the source.
The 19th century explorer John Hanning Speke first mapped its course from Lake Victoria. They would go further, following the lake’s largest tributary, the Kagera River.
They set off last September, their party swelled with ministers from the Egyptian government. Crossing into Sudan they entered the swamp of the Sud. Without a reliable map - for most of the journey they relied on a chart composed by Belgian cartographers in 1937 - they navigated using Google Earth.
“A local on a barge had told them to follow the line of water hyacinths that marked the course of the river,” said Tracey Clarke, the expedition co-ordinator. They then faced a series of rapids, but had brought a Flying Inflatable Vehicle — a flying boat — to carry the boats and supplies upstream.
“It was not exactly a smooth take-off,” Mr McGrigor said. “The river was full of hippos and crocs. I did all the flying, couldn’t let anyone else risk it.”
Their progress was halted when Mr McGrigor crash landed, wrecking the craft and breaking his leg. They continued upriver, hiring porters to carry boats and luggage around rapids and entering Murchison National Park in Uganda. They were joined by Steve Willis, 36, a former diplomat from Dartford, Kent.
On November 8, as the four travelled to a camp with a single armed guard, they were ambushed by Ugandan gunmen. Mr Willis was driving and crashed into a gully. They fled in all directions.
Mr McGrigor was caught and made to kneel beside the car. “I thought that was it,” he said.
The rebels looted their supplies and set fire to the vehicle but spared his life. Mr Willis, however, had been shot dead.
The three abandoned the expedition, and returned home.
They returned to Uganda in March. Rebel activity continued in the area, and they had to begin again 20 miles upstream.
As they approached rapids and the Karuma Falls, a helicopter would latch on to each boat, lifting it in the air and carrying the explorers upriver. They left Uganda across Lake Victoria in a tropical storm. Then they were into the Kagera River system, crossing the border of Tanzania and into Rwanda.
On March 26, their boats grounded. The last five days they waded through muddy water into the dense Nyungwe rainforrest.
At 8.27am, the water stopped moving. A detachment from the Rwandan Government was present to mark the occasion with a plaque and ceremony.
“Steve would have wanted us to finish it otherwise it would have been a waste of his life,” Mr Mcgrigor said.
The Royal Geographic Society awaits his presentation.
Water works
The Nile is the world’s longest river at 4,160 miles, flowing through nine countries and ending in the Mediterranean
There are two major branches: the White Nile, from equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile, from Ethiopia
Lake Victoria has been considered the source of the Nile since British explorer John Hanning Speke’s expedition there in 1856
“Nile” comes from the word Neilos, a Greek name meaning river valley. Ancient Egyptians names the river “Ar”, meaning black, after the dark sediment that Nile flood waters left on the land
The Greek historian Herodotus described Eygpt as “the gift of the Nile”, and the ancient Eyptians created a god, Hapi, to protect the river’s vital annual flood
It features in both the Old and New Testament. Hebrew captives made bricks with Nile mud, and Mary, Joseph and Jesus sought refuge on its banks
Nile crocodiles can grow to more than 13ft
guardian.co.uk
Source of the Nile is redrawn by 66 miles
By Will Pavia and Fran Yeoman
According to the history books, British explorer John Hanning Speke discovered the source of the Nile in 1856. But now they will all have to be re-written as British explorer Neil McGrigor and 2 New Zealanders, Cam McCleay and Garth MacIntyre, discovered the true source of the Nile - and made the world's longest river 66 miles LONGER than was previously thought. McGrigor will present his findings to the Royal Geographical Society.
CRAWLING through the undergrowth of the Nyungwe Forest in northern Rwanda yesterday morning, the water finally stopped moving and Neil McGrigor declared that he had found the source of the Nile.
It had, by his measurement, been a journey of 4,331 miles since he set off with three comrades in small inflatable boats from the Mediterranean last September. That made the world’s longest river 66 miles longer than anyone had previously suspected.
He will return to present his findings to the Royal Geographical Society. If he is proved right, text books may have to be changed.
Mr McGrigor, 44, a Briton, and Cam McLeay and Garth MacIntyre, 43, from New Zealand, had travelled through five countries, up rapids and over waterfalls; their craft had been charged by Nile crocodiles and hippos; one of their companions was killed by Ugandan rebels and they caught inumerable tropical ailments.
“We are the first people to travel the full length of the Nile,” Mr McGrigor told The Times yesterday, by satellite phone. “It’s an incredible sight. Perhaps no one will ever see it again.”
Mr McGrigor, from Lymington, Hampshire, made his fortune in the crate industry. In 2002, with his brother Kenneth, he sold the firm for £16 million. Since then he has embarked on a series of adventures, mainly involving powerboats. Last summer Cam McLeay, a Nile enthusiast, suggested a journey along the river finally to pinpoint the source.
The 19th century explorer John Hanning Speke first mapped its course from Lake Victoria. They would go further, following the lake’s largest tributary, the Kagera River.
They set off last September, their party swelled with ministers from the Egyptian government. Crossing into Sudan they entered the swamp of the Sud. Without a reliable map - for most of the journey they relied on a chart composed by Belgian cartographers in 1937 - they navigated using Google Earth.
“A local on a barge had told them to follow the line of water hyacinths that marked the course of the river,” said Tracey Clarke, the expedition co-ordinator. They then faced a series of rapids, but had brought a Flying Inflatable Vehicle — a flying boat — to carry the boats and supplies upstream.
“It was not exactly a smooth take-off,” Mr McGrigor said. “The river was full of hippos and crocs. I did all the flying, couldn’t let anyone else risk it.”
Their progress was halted when Mr McGrigor crash landed, wrecking the craft and breaking his leg. They continued upriver, hiring porters to carry boats and luggage around rapids and entering Murchison National Park in Uganda. They were joined by Steve Willis, 36, a former diplomat from Dartford, Kent.
On November 8, as the four travelled to a camp with a single armed guard, they were ambushed by Ugandan gunmen. Mr Willis was driving and crashed into a gully. They fled in all directions.
Mr McGrigor was caught and made to kneel beside the car. “I thought that was it,” he said.
The rebels looted their supplies and set fire to the vehicle but spared his life. Mr Willis, however, had been shot dead.
The three abandoned the expedition, and returned home.
They returned to Uganda in March. Rebel activity continued in the area, and they had to begin again 20 miles upstream.
As they approached rapids and the Karuma Falls, a helicopter would latch on to each boat, lifting it in the air and carrying the explorers upriver. They left Uganda across Lake Victoria in a tropical storm. Then they were into the Kagera River system, crossing the border of Tanzania and into Rwanda.
On March 26, their boats grounded. The last five days they waded through muddy water into the dense Nyungwe rainforrest.
At 8.27am, the water stopped moving. A detachment from the Rwandan Government was present to mark the occasion with a plaque and ceremony.
“Steve would have wanted us to finish it otherwise it would have been a waste of his life,” Mr Mcgrigor said.
The Royal Geographic Society awaits his presentation.
Water works
The Nile is the world’s longest river at 4,160 miles, flowing through nine countries and ending in the Mediterranean
There are two major branches: the White Nile, from equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile, from Ethiopia
Lake Victoria has been considered the source of the Nile since British explorer John Hanning Speke’s expedition there in 1856
“Nile” comes from the word Neilos, a Greek name meaning river valley. Ancient Egyptians names the river “Ar”, meaning black, after the dark sediment that Nile flood waters left on the land
The Greek historian Herodotus described Eygpt as “the gift of the Nile”, and the ancient Eyptians created a god, Hapi, to protect the river’s vital annual flood
It features in both the Old and New Testament. Hebrew captives made bricks with Nile mud, and Mary, Joseph and Jesus sought refuge on its banks
Nile crocodiles can grow to more than 13ft
guardian.co.uk