Speaking about the tragic turn of events Lev said: “We are all shocked and saddened by the tragic news of journalist Matthew Power’s death while covering the expedition for Men’s Journal magazine. Demanding our papers and the usual administrative fee that usually enables progress, our pace is slowed to a crawl. The landscape appears like an endless green carpet, devoid of any evidence of habitation and rather daunting to say the least. From my previous experience I estimate that the sounds could not have come from more than 300 or so metres away.

His nine-month journey takes him through jungles, savannah, deserts, cities and war zones in some of the continent’s most remote and spectacular locations.Being a Nubian and proud of his culture our conversation turns to the building of dams on the Nile, which he believes will destroy his country and its people. The country is the newest political entity in the world, having only come into being in July 2011, when it gained independence from its northern counterpart.

His final wave signals yet another low point of our shared journey; how different this is to the laughter and joy we enjoyed together while passing through Uganda. The fish that are landed here are Nile Perch, although they are named for the river they are not native species. With a swamp the size of England just ahead in South Sudan, the Sudd must be navigated before the rains arrive. Accompanied by a two man film crew from Channel 4 who are recording this leg of his journey and flew to the Bwindi National Park. Over the last few months Captain Levison Wood, aged 31, of Cheadle Road, Forsbrook, has been undertaking a record breaking walk along the 4250 mile length of the River Nile with his local interpreter and guide Boston.Together they encounter some of the most spectacular sights of the mission, camping among the ancient Meroe Pyramids. With food running short and with no villages nearby, Boston was forced to use his catapult to hunt birds for something to eat; pigeon became the staple food, but in one period over three days the only delicacy we had was a half starved sparrow.

This community has set up a cattle camp on an island in the middle of the River Nile, where its members lead a very simple and sustainable existence of only drinking milk, burning cow dung, washing in cow urine and covering themselves in ash to ward off flies and mosquitos.Yes, we certainly worry but he is leading the lifestyle he wishes to follow and in that we have always supported him.

Making the excuse that we had ‘military’ equipment they chose to confiscate yet more of our kit and disappeared back into the safety of the trees as quickly as they had appeared. Since his epic trek began in December 2013 he has already passed through several countries and has experienced many trials along the way, yet nothing could have prepared him for his encounter that was to take place just a few miles north of the city.The journey has also had its highlights however and Levison can report that the Vervet baby monkey he rescued and described in his report to the newspaper is doing extremely well and putting on weight.