Helly Hansen

"'The Endless Summer' ... it sounds like a cliché, even an endless dream - not even possible, but believe it or not, it exists. My endless summer first came in the form of an annual season of kayaking and rafting on the Zambezi river in Zambia, in between my adventures in the northern hemisphere's summer months. But in 2002 I visited Uganda for the first time. Imagine a river exiting Africa's largest lake, already big enough to offer some of the world's best big-water and freestyle kayaking. At times half a mile wide, the river braids into countless channels flowing in between islands and forming over thirty rapids that have drawn paddlers from all over the world. That river is the White Nile - at its source. Look at a map of Africa and you'll quickly spot lake Victoria central and slightly to the east. From its north end, the Nile exits and begins its 6000 Km journey to Cairo and then Alexandria, Egypt on the Mediterranean - The world's longest river! During the first time that I paddled on the Nile I was just starting to get malaria and stopped on a small island for a break. I thought, "Wow that's a pretty cool island!" The 40 km stretch of river offered such good paddling that I ended up returning at least once a year after that. Three years ago I bought the very island where I'd stopped on that first day. The price wasn't high but I was required to propose how I'd help the local rural community with my presence. The idea worked great and I've now created what I consider to be the ultimate paddling paradise. I'm typing these words as I sit on a white beach with palm trees, a hammock, a small house and the river passing by. After this I'll jump on my inflatable motorboat and fly up the rapids and channels to all the best 'play spots' for paddling. That makes it a great spot to rest from my world travels and go paddling every day. In addition to this particular stretch of river, Uganda also has a lot more to offer. It turns out that there're a number of unexplored rivers in the mountains to the east and more white water on the Nile River to the North (down stream). One key stretch is from Karuma falls to Murchison falls in the famed Murchison falls National Park. My 5-day descent was the forth on this rarely run section. The white water is spectacular with many massive technical rapids, but what makes every descent feel like a first is the dangerous and unpredictable wildlife. The run boasts the highest concentration of hippos in the world (20 000 in 80 km) and many crocs over 17 ft, not to mention elephants, buffalo, lions etc. all of which can kill you in a heartbeat. Whilst our team made it through in one piece, the trip wasn't without incident: Our support raft flipped four times^ I was approached by seven different crocs in the water and got scared off by a hippo in the jungle whilst scouting a rapid. Those were just a few of the stories that came from our adventure. By the time we made it to the end it was one of the best pieces of river that I've ever done, and the best part is...it's just in my back yard! But although Uganda is a great country with some of the friendliest people to be found in Africa, it's not all perfect and rosy. Over 50% of the population of 28 million is under the age of 15 years old. The average birth rate is 6.1 children for every female. That's a population explosion of note and, in terms of the environment^ this tiny country is struggling to handle that explosion, especially given that 98% of families use only an open fire as a form of energy. I've never been a particularly active environmentalist but after watching almost every tree along the river banks vanish over the last few years it's prompted me to at least try to do something. It's a loosing battle for sure but a few residents along the Nile, including myself, have been replanting trees along sections of the bank. The difficulty is that unless you own or lease the land first you have no control of the maintenance or regeneration. So we've bought up small pockets and next we plan to establish environmental education centers and arrange policing of the sound environmental laws that already exist. Hopefully we'll at least preserve a few small pockets of what used to be. Yet another good reason for me to keep returning to what used to be known as 'The pearl of Africa'. Over the previous two 'winters' much of my time in Uganda was occupied with building my island pad and getting generally set up in Uganda. This year was the first time that I arrived back to a home all ready to go. After settling in, the first order of business was the Nile Freestyle Kayak festival. About sixty paddlers from all over the world turned up for the event. I was nervous: Being that it's my 'backyard wave' about 300 yards from my house I'm always expected to win any event there. But it's tricky business. Obviously anything can happen on the day and there are definitely more than a few guys who are keen to take me out. In addition to that comes the pressure where, when you're expected to win, you must explain if you lose, but if you do win, well then it's just taken for granted. But I guess overcoming those mental games is all a part of the satisfaction. With up and coming paddler Sam Ward of the UK hot on my heels throughout the event the finals turned out to be the most awesome I've ever witnessed. We kept pushing each other higher and higher until eventually I squeaked ahead by the narrowest of margins. It was awesome but I would have been just as satisfied with 2nd place because the score sheet was ridiculous - We basically did every move in the book. For those who don't know, a freestyle kayak event takes place on a stationary wave in the river. Unlike in the ocean where the water stands still but the wave moves, in the river the wave stands still whilst the water passes under you. Other than that the concept is similar and you're able to perform various tricks on the wave. In the case of the 'Nile Special' wave down here, those tricks are fast and aerial - sometimes 3 feet off the water. The kayak festival continued with two races over the following day but I had to leave the country on my next quest - a scout trip to the Congo. For years I've had my eye on the Congo River - Africa's largest. It flows through the gnarliest of jungles and through a country where civil unrest and battles have raged on for years. We headed off to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of planning a future expedition on this mightiest of rivers. Apart from it being one of the toughest expeditions on earth, the amount of red tape, permitting and planning is mind-boggling. After a few weeks and dozens of meetings with government officials we're now a bit closer to launching on the world's wildest river. One of accomplishments was flying over some of the key sectors of the river as well as hiking in for a better look at the rapids from water level. Over flight and hiking in to the river was not only to get a look at the river but also to test ourselves and our permits gained so far to see that logistically we can in fact move around safely in what can easily be considered to be seriously hostile terrain. Watch this space! Once back in Uganda is was time for a well-needed Christmas break. This is where Uganda has always excelled for me over places like the Zambezi where it's slightly harder to go out and do other activities when you're not kayaking. Fishing for example. I've actually measured twenty steps from the water's edge to my stove where I can cook the fish I catch. Between paddling missions I dab a line in the river quite regularly and have also done a few trips on Lake Victoria. But the prime spot for sport fishing here is in Murchison falls national park. The fish get huge and it all takes place amongst spectacular wildlife. I did two trips down there this season and got to snap a few awesome pics of the surrounding wildlife as we fished. This year I also brought back my paraglider to check out the flying potential in Uganda. Over the last year I've been using a powered paraglider to help me with finding and scouting rivers. But the free flying is what I enjoy most. It turns out the conditions for flying are epic in Uganda. The area around the source of the river is a bit flat but you don't need to go too far to find awesome mountains with awesome air: Sipi falls and Mount Elgon to the East, and the Rwenzori's to the west with a great escarpment to the north along Lake Albert. Those spots will definitely become more a part of my future seasons spent here. All in all a great winter spent on the equator with out having to have an off-season as such. Now it's time to hit the airways to the next destination. The schedule for this year is packed with the next stops in South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia. From there I'll be off to Canada to catch the flood runoff from one of the biggest snow packs in history. Later in the year I will of course also stop off at the home of Helly Hansen - Norway, which also happens to be one of the best white water destinations on the planet! Steve Fisher"