Moses, dead sea scrolls, and three months on the Nile

Jinja, Uganda is the source of the Nile River - the single longest river in the world. The Amazon is wider they say, but the Nile is longer. Here in Jinja if you were to spit in Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Nile (see stone marker in pictures) it would take three months until it reached Egypt where baby Moses was rescued in a reed basket. It is easy to see the materials that his basket was made from living in this area for the past three weeks. Reeds are plentiful as is the papyrus tree. This tree thrives in fertile wet ground like is found around the fertile soils of Uganda and along the banks of the Nile (see pictures). These trees were eventually made into a type of paper that some of the first writings like the Old Testament were written on. These rivers are still fished in much the same was as they have been for thousands of years. We were able to see these fisherman with nets and one string and a hook (no pole...see pictures). Uganda is also known for their birds and you will see many in this blog, but the small colorful ones are the King Fishers and they are some of the most famous.