River Nile explorer arrives in Kampala

KAMPALA - Levison Wood, a British adventurer on a mission to walk the Nile River across six countries, arrived in Kampala on Sunday.

Levison entered the city at the Kibuye roundabout, accompanied by a guide, a group of bikers, a film crew and Police.

“We made it!” he shouted as he waved and stopped to take pictures with fans who surrounded him.

The 31 year- old explorer started his journey in Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda on December 3, 2013 and followed River Kagera, believed by some as the source of the Nile.

Throughout his journey on foot, Levison will cross six countries which are Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.

He aims to be the first man in history to walk the whole length of River Nile.

A writer and photographer, Levison co-founded Secret Compass, an exploration and adventure travel company that explores some of world’s wildest places. 

He has worked in over eighty countries and led teams across every kind of terrain and environment.

Levison was inspired by Africa from an early age, when he met painter and conservationist David Shepherd at a book signing.

Moved by Shepherd’s paintings, Levison grew up wanting to travel the world, documenting the wildlife and people he encountered.

In December 2013 Levison embarked on one of the world’s last great expeditions, attempting to walk the entire length of the River Nile.

He will be walking 4,250 miles across the six countries from source to delta through varying terrains over one year.

His expedition will be filmed for a four-part documentary to be aired on Channel 4 in the UK and Discovery Animal Planet in the USA 2014.

During his stay in Kampala, Levison will be blind-folded to take part in a boxing match with a blind boxer on Friday. He will also hang out with young people.

He says his expedition along the River Nile and subsequent activities will help change the narrative about African as a ‘continent of beggars.’

He will then walk to the source of River Nile in Jinja.

A travel note shows that Levison has a degree in History, and started out as a student journalist covering the invasion of Iraq in 2003. A year later, he was hitch-hiking from England to India, via the Caucasus, Iran, and Central Asia, where he lived at the mercy of Afghan gun runners and tribal warlords.

When he returned home, Levison was accepted into the Royal Military Academy Sand hurst and was commissioned into the Parachute Regiment.

He spent several years as an Officer, leading several large expeditions including jungle trekking in Colombia and mountaineering in the Nepalese Himalayas.

In 2010 Levison left the army and worked for a charity project delivering ambulances to Malawi, driving the vehicles through 27 countries overland from London. Since then he has pioneered expeditionary travel in a number of post-conflict zones and remote areas.

He trekked to the source of the Oxus in Afghanistan, rafted the River Nile, has taken television crews into the wild bushland of South Sudan, completed a record breaking walk across the entire island of Madagascar and climbed unnamed peaks in the Zagros Mountains of Kurdistan.

Levison has dedicated his time to raising funds for a range of charities, often using his expeditions to bring much needed help to organisations in the field as well as in the UK.

His Nile expedition will raise funds for a variety of selected charities including Tusk Trust, AMECA and Space for Giants

Miss Tourism Uganda, Barbara Nakitto was crowned Miss Friendship for her verve during the recently concluded Miss Tourism International pageant in Malaysia

Miss Tourism Uganda, Barbara Nakitto, who was also crowned Miss Friendship for her verve during the recently concluded Miss Tourism International pageant in Malaysia, has given a green light to you all eligible bachelors who might want to try their lack at the latest beauty on the block.

She is single!

But you will need all your machismo coupled with chivalry and girl charm prompts to impress, because she is not searching. If you are the kind who doesn’t beg women, don’t bother trying.  She is not needy.

During her welcome party, or so it was, at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel Thursday, the beautiful Barbara said, “I’m single. But wait a minute, I’m not searching.”

She also warned that she has a fleet of dudes around her (not her boyfriends because she is single) so if you are the insecure type you might also want to throw out the rag, before you never had it really in.

But that shouldn’t scare you. She’s also vulnerable. And if she gets a dude who will treat her right, who said nothing is impossible?  She actually said, “If God brings him, why not? I’m above 18.” So there you go guys.

Nakitto, 22, flew out of the country for the pageant over a month ago, alongside her trainer, Sarah Nyamwenge. While in Malaysia, she said, they visited (her and the other 59 contestants) various tourist attractions, museums, and abc.  

“I did my best to showcase Uganda’s attributes,” she said.

And sure she did. During the event’s grand finale, Nakitto walked away with the Miss Friendship crown, one of the crowns competed for on the night. And overall, she came 14th, beating majority of the 60 beauties who participated in the event.

The annual event was won by Philippine’s Angeli Dione Gomez. First runner up was Thailand’s Sunidporn Srisuwan. And second runner up, Australia’s Sarah Czarnuch.

She touched down at Entebbe on January 3.  

During her welcome thing at the Sheraton, Maria Mutagamba, the tourism minister, was quick to point out that Nakitto’s victory was synonymous with Uganda’s hospitality “because we are known as friendly and very welcoming people.”

She, Nakitto, was flanked by her trainer, Nyamwenge, and a couple officials from the tourism department.

And all the while she listened to speech after speech congratulating her for lifting Uganda’s flag high, she just sat there like a baby queen, only constantly flushing her very cute smile.

Mutagamba promised at some later event, date not mentioned, the ministry would present Nakitto with a car (didn’t specify the type) to aid her do her work as Uganda’s Miss Tourism.

Nakitto said she hoped to move around the country, visiting school after school, encouraging the young about Uganda’s heritage and traditions.

“What sets us apart from those developed countries is our culture, our heritage, and values. Yes, they may be developed, but they don’t have our culture. They don’t have our green. They don’t have our environment. Our young people need to appreciate these values,” she said.