A Kigali Sun down (Rwanda)
Arrrrrrgh final few months of uni. wow wee it was going to be a struggle placement was a high secure forensic hospital so for the entire three months I saw little to no sun shine . but essays were handed in and some how I had squeezed enough cash together to buy a ticket to Rwanda for the day after I graduated . With that in mind I bashed my way through the hours and packed my bags again and stuck new NOOKIE stickers on my shiny WAVESPORT Project X .
August the second, 0900 hours boat blagged on to the plane, bashed a sleeping pill, woke up some hours later , walked up and down Cairo airport until my feet hurt , Boarded a plane slept like a log, had a G&T landed drank a beer found a hotel out like a light .
They say Rwanda is the switzerland of East Africa
Morning broke. I had to know what it felt like to stand in a land where a Meer 18 years ago 80,000 people were hacked to death, plus I had been told that the rivers were worth a look.
Looking toward Kassase and Western Nile (the place of Amine )
Kigali was super cool and relaxed , but no water in sight, the drought that had consumed east Africa paid its toll on Rwanda too. So nice to know you Rwanda cheers for all the beers . I got a bus to the Uganda Congo border . It took ages and the man I was squashed next to stank like a pig , but I was back in Africa and didn’t give a shit. Crossing a national park on route I saw elephants and gazelle grazing at the side of the road . I think my stinky companion thought I was mad as I pointed in delight and grappled for my camera . I had to explain to him after that we only had cows and sheep in England. He asked inquisitively weather the lions ate many of the cattle. Laughing I said we had the fox.
Crammed in to the matatu talking about Lions
So the Congo border was a laugh, along with some stunning sights around lake Ungaruba, a crater lake in the Ruwenzori mountains . I wanted to go up there to do some time laps filming for my movie Im making . So a few days went by and a lot of games of cards sat next to a rolling camera . Time to bugger off back to the Nile for a few weeks and then on to Kampala for more filming and coffee.
The congo border
Doug air screw
high water made malalu work, a wave i hadn't seen in years
Surf till sun set , the river just keeps rising
Early morning super high Club wave
After three more weeks of surfing and filming on high water Nile , I spent a day in Entebbe at lake Victoria drinking with some south African gold miners from Congo . Then it was time to fly home and do some work , and quite possibly plan a few more trips.
Lake Ungaruba, filming with a beer
So what will become of our adventurer ? Gabon, Mexico, Senegal, or even back to morocco. Looking back its been an epic year , and it couldn’t have been done without all the awesome gear that NOOKIE WAVESPORT and STREAMLYTE have given me . Massive thanks.
Hear is a short flic of the trip.
east africa from douglas cooper on Vimeo.
Article by Team rider Doug Cooper
