Paragliding Near Lake Victoria

After watching the birds catching thermals in downtown Jinja, I finally managed to go flying this last weekend. There has been too much talk and I was going a bit stir crazy; I had to go flying again. After arguing with security guards to let me scout a flying site on the Kakira Sugar Farm just outside of Jinja, I left and went to another ridge site and launched from a secondary school. All the kids were super excited when I showed up; they guided me over to the launch site where a friend of mine has flown before. It was a pretty tight, dodgy launch but totally worth it. It was great to get up in the air again and quite entertaining to have such a big audience, both launching and landing. I was able to get in 3 flights and catch a bit of lift, soaring with the birds. I looked down and watched the kids chase me from one end to the next; I heard screams of laughter and excitement as I made 180° turns. After soaring around for a while, I started to head down to land. I looked ahead to see the beautiful Lake Victoria, the second largest lake in the world and the source of the mighty fine White Nile; it is a pretty cool view.

It was a good way to spend my Saturday afternoon. I worked for a bit in the morning, went flying, and then hopped on the back on Muhammad’s boda-boda for a sunset cruise back home.