So, DID top gear find the source of the Nile?

[williamp]

Aside from he entertainment/car programme element, do they have a point, and have they discovered the source of the Nile??? Its a technicality, but so often these things are. If programmes like "time team" can challenge accepted history and change our view on things, did top gear do this?

Were they right vis gibralter and the med? Or was it nonsense from a historical perspective?

[Gorbyrev]

Ah, Dr Williamp, I presume?

[Conian]

My uninformed guess would be 'no'
The Nile stops being a river when it hits the Med, it was just top class silliness

[31mph]

No.

Great show though.

IBTL.

[JREwing]

Gorbyrev said:

Ah, Dr Williamp, I presume?

Unless the Mediterranean is an estuary, I'm inclined to say that they didn't

[iva cosworth]

Don't spoil the plot,i was planning on watching the repeat on Saturday

Was there a plot ?

Was there any point to it ?

IBTL2

[JREwing]

iva cosworth said:

Don't spoil the plot,i was planning on watching the repeat on Saturday

Was there a plot ?

Was there any point to it ?

IBTL2

It was the best episode for a while. As always with Top Gear, the plot is unnecessary
The important part is the little petty jokes

[goldblum]

williamp said:

Aside from he entertainment/car programme element, do they have a point, and have they discovered the source of the Nile???

Lol, haven't seen the TG episode you're talking about but until recently the source of the Nile was thought to be Lake Victoria: Now it's considered to be somewhere in Rwanda.

[JREwing]

goldblum said:

Lol, haven't seen the TG episode you're talking about but until recently the source of the Nile was thought to be Lake Victoria: Now it's considered to be somewhere in Rwanda.

The argument that they made was that it's east of Lake Victoria. You'd have to watch it to see the whole saga

[goldblum]

JREwing said:

goldblum said:

Lol, haven't seen the TG episode you're talking about but until recently the source of the Nile was thought to be Lake Victoria: Now it's considered to be somewhere in Rwanda.

The argument that they made was that it's east of Lake Victoria. You'd have to watch it to see the whole saga

I've not watched TG for about three years now. Was this episode very good?

Daily Telegraph link to Rwanda story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/activityandadven...

[JREwing]

goldblum said:

I've not watched TG for about three years now. Was this episode very good?

Daily Telegraph link to Rwanda story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/activityandadven...

It wasn't as good as Top Gear of past years, but it was better than other recent ones. I'll have a look at that link in a moment.

[CBR JGWRR]

If you define the end of a river as when it gets to the ocean, then yes they did - the Med is only a sea afterall, it's where the med meets the atlantic which is the true end of the nile. And the furthest from that point known to man is the foot wide pond that May got to first, and the other two missed out on.

If not, and the conventional position is taken, no change.

[ShayneJ]

CBR JGWRR said:

If you define the end of a river as when it gets to the ocean, then yes they did - the Med is only a sea afterall, it's where the med meets the atlantic which is the true end of the nile. And the furthest from that point known to man is the foot wide pond that May got to first, and the other two missed out on.

If not, and the conventional position is taken, no change.

WDH has the med/end/estuary got to do with finding the <source> of the river ya know the bit where it STARTS!

[JREwing]

ShayneJ said:

WDH has the med/end/estuary got to do with finding the <source> of the river ya know the bit where it STARTS!

When multiple tributaries etc have multiple sources, it can be difficult to decide which is truly the source of the resulting river.

[Talksteer]

williamp said:

Aside from he entertainment/car programme element, do they have a point, and have they discovered the source of the Nile??? Its a technicality, but so often these things are. If programmes like "time team" can challenge accepted history and change our view on things, did top gear do this?

Were they right vis Gibraltar and the med? Or was it nonsense from a historical perspective?

The concept of the Nile flowing to the straits of Gibraltar is also bks from a hydrological point of view. The Mediterranean evaporates more water than the rivers flow into it hence the flow through the straits is entirely from the Atlantic to the Med.

[Monty Python]

It's probably in the Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda (at least this is the furthest from the mouth of the river.

[mrmr96]

CBR JGWRR said:

If you define the end of a river as when it gets to the ocean, then yes they did - the Med is only a sea afterall, it's where the med meets the atlantic which is the true end of the nile. And the furthest from that point known to man is the foot wide pond that May got to first, and the other two missed out on.

If not, and the conventional position is taken, no change.

How do you know that point is the furthest? Either:
i) they knew it before they went, in which case someone else discovered it first, or
ii) they didn't know at the time, in which case it would have to be properly corroborated after, in order to make history. (Has that happened?)

I don't think they've made a new discovery or changed history. But I did like how they showed things like picking up the broken glass by hand. And showed paying the people (locals) who helped them. And commented on getting the Union Flag the right way up etc, which might mean they knew there'd be complaints if they didn't show these things so took them more seriously. Which was nice.

[jmorgan]

I can imagine the various societies asking for verification and all the other cobblers needed for such a claim.

Society for finding things. Where is it?
Top Gear. In Africa near a rock.

[CBR JGWRR]

mrmr96 said:

CBR JGWRR said:

If you define the end of a river as when it gets to the ocean, then yes they did - the Med is only a sea afterall, it's where the med meets the atlantic which is the true end of the nile. And the furthest from that point known to man is the foot wide pond that May got to first, and the other two missed out on.

If not, and the conventional position is taken, no change.

How do you know that point is the furthest? Either:
i) they knew it before they went, in which case someone else discovered it first, or
ii) they didn't know at the time, in which case it would have to be properly corroborated after, in order to make history. (Has that happened?)

I don't think they've made a new discovery or changed history. But I did like how they showed things like picking up the broken glass by hand. And showed paying the people (locals) who helped them. And commented on getting the Union Flag the right way up etc, which might mean they knew there'd be complaints if they didn't show these things so took them more seriously. Which was nice.

Furthest that's been recorded, since everyone else thinks it was to the left of Lake Victoria. Not that it matters, since it's unproven right now...

[McSam]

ShayneJ said:

WDH has the med/end/estuary got to do with finding the <source> of the river ya know the bit where it STARTS!

This did tickle my "not sure if trolling" gland and crack me up


I did admire Clarkson's logic in finding a way to justify a "new" source that was miles away from anywhere else that people would have been looking, but as someone said above, to justify it you would need to define the Med as an estuary of the Nile, which really does seem to be pushing good sense a bit.

Made for good viewing, though.