Jinja is the second biggest city in Uganda, though population-wise that’s not saying much. It’s really only a dusty market town 80 kilometres east of Kampala and 143 kilometres to the Kenyan borders at Malaba and Busia. You are destined to pass through it if you are arriving in Uganda overland. It lies on the banks of Lake Victoria and is best known as the location of the source of the River Nile as it spills out of Lake Victoria on its journey to the Mediterranean. The Nile is undoubtedly the greatest river on the African continent and at 6 650 kilometres, the longest river in the world.
In 1862 the explorer John Speke traced the course of the Nile and claimed Lake Victoria’s Ripon Falls at Jinja as the source. Then in 1954 the Owen Falls Dam was opened, submerging the Ripon Falls and making Lake Victoria one of the world’s largest reservoirs. The main Kampala to Nairobi road runs across the top of the dam, and the nearby hydroelectric station supplies Uganda and much of Kenya with electricity. More recently, another dam has been constructed below the Owen Falls Dam and another is in the pipeline further upstream.
There’s not much else in Jinja to keep you there, other than the staggering amount of internet cafes – nine – and most people move on to Bujugali Falls, 8kms upstream. This is a spectacular scenic spot with 1 kilometre of thundering rapids, forested islands in the Nile and an abundance of bird life. There are a couple of lively campsites overlooking the rapids and a number of adventure activities and community projects to keep you occupied.
Bujugali Falls is the first rapid on a half or full day white water rafting trip through a turbulent series of rapids with sinister names like ‘Overtime’ or ‘The Bad Place’. If getting wet is not your thing, explore the Nile riverbank, the surrounding villages and countryside by quad-bike. You could even bungi jump over the Nile on a jump that includes a water touch – your head is submerged at the optimum end of the jump. Very unfortunately, though its probably necessary for the power needs of East Africa, the completion of the third hydroelectric dam in the Owen Falls dam project will see an end to river rafting at Bujugali. The existing rapids will be flooded, so go now before this beautiful spot disappears forever.