The fishermen of the Nile

And again a day that starts at 5:45 am. We have breakfast in the early morning and wait for our boat. A 5-hour journey on the Nile to the delta awaits us. The boat turns out to be slightly larger than a rowboat with a small roof, a small guide, and an engine. Just as big as a hippopotamus, very comforting. We are alone on the trip. We are also alone on the Nile. Green banks look like rainforest, whole floating carpets of plants pass by us. The landscape is unbelievably beautiful - a paradise for animals. Isaak explains the bird world to us in his mysterious English. I dig into my memory for previous knowledge of biology and then explain the mixture to Olaf, who has given up on this language by now. It took until I found out that 'Badds' should mean birds, so birds. There are plenty of them here. Hippos lie in the water, nose and ears sticking out. Baboons populate the trees. The crocodiles give us time for two photos before coming directly towards us and diving in front of our boat.

We reach the delta, it opens up to Lake Albert. The mountain range opposite already belongs to the Congo. On the lake, fishermen in long wooden boats. Isaak becomes restless. 'Let's see what they caught. They speak my language.' A minute later, I find myself opposite two fishing boats, each with two black men on board. One holds our boat, one works on a fish with a giant knife, one looks interested at the boat engine (needless to say, a fisherman cannot afford an engine), one looks at our cameras, which, considering their ragged rags, look like they are from another world. Call it prejudice, but for a brief moment I thought: ok, this is where it ends. In a dreamlike landscape on the Nile with a dirty fish machete. Isaak chatted happily in Ugandan and exchanged news, while the plump white people slowly broil in the sun. Then he buys three tilapia, the whole catch of the day, for €5.50, throws them into the boat hull, stuffs the boat cover over it, and laughs happily like a child. Today we have fresh fish for lunch.