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The quest to find the source of the Nile built and shattered explorers’ dreams for centuries, until it was eventually discovered that the river’s birthplace is Lake Victoria. The first part of the great river is called the Victoria Nile; it connects Lake Victoria to Lake Albert through a series of rapids and the powerful Murchison Falls. Nile crocodiles have been using the banks of the river as nesting sites for centuries, showing a nurturing side unique in the reptile world. Dikkops nest near the crocodiles, for protection from scavengers such as monitors. The endemic shoebills hunt along the marshy edges of islands in the wide river. A herd of elephants come to these reed-covered islands to feed, where there is easily accessible food for a calf with a mutilated trunk. The islands, and the banks of the river, form the traditional mating ground for Ugandan cobs. The Victoria Nile is also a convenient stopover for migrating Abdim storks. In this part of Equatorial Africa, seasons do not affect the flow of the river, which continuously provides a stable home for its inhabitants.