Downtown Jinja clock tower.Second biggest city in Uganda but only 110,000 strong.
Just before white water rafting at Bujagali Falls. Here in the back yard of NRE we are getting our equipment.
Helmets? Damn this isn't a joke.
Dude photo op. Colin, Tom, Me and Leo.
Open air bus taking us from NRE head quarters to the Nile River in Bujagali.
Rapids in the mighty Nile
Rural Uganda between the Nile River and Jinja.
Bus ride home from river back to camping area for the night.
Rural Uganda between the Nile River and Jinja.
Rural Uganda between the Nile River and Jinja.
The view from our Explorers Campsite in Bujagali Falls which is where you stay after rafting.
Nile Special beer was my jam. Highest alcohol content in Uganda. Drinking Nile on the Nile....
Sun setting on the Nile
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The source of the White Nile: where Lake Victoria meets the biggest river on earth.
The junction between lake and river
There's running river water closest to the camera and still lake water further from it.
Bridge to take photos of the source of the Nile.
Plaque commemorating the site.
Peace!!!
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On our boat with water proof camera.
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We had to walk over the grade 6 because it isn't safe for rafting.
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Same dude.
Jenny with our raft leader Paulo Babi. NRE trains local Ugandans in rafting and kayaking on the Nile. Paulo was on a Ugandan team who made it to the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Austria. He also placed 8th in the 2004 European Championships in Switzerland.
At the source of the Nile - this boat took us from the east bank to the west bank to see where Speke saw this sight.
WTF?
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White Water Rafting
Feb 13, 2010
We rafted on the Nile in Bujagali Falls with Nile River Explorers. This is one of 2 major companies that runs trips to the Nile. NRE was great: gave us a group discount (it ended being about $110 each) and their package included transportation to and from Kampala, breakfast, lunch and dinner the day of rafting and 1 night of accomodations. They also sell an optional DVD for $30 with highlights of the days rafting.
The rafting itself was unreal. You have 8 person rafts and you do 5 grade 5 rapids and 7 other grade 3 or 4 rapids. It takes about 6 hours and there is an hour of training at the beginning. The rapids are rough and wild. This isn't the smartest thing in the world to do because often the rapids are shallow and you slam against sharp rocks if you're not careful. Otherwise it's nearly impossible to drownd because they have kayakers who surround your raft and come help you when you fall out. I fell out 4 times total and was near death only 2 of those times. Haha, no seriously..... it was pretty damn scary at points. This is a "must do" if you're into water sports or adventure tourism.
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Bus from Kampala to Jinja
Feb 13, 2010
Which ever company you use will pick you up from Kampala and drop you in Jinja for rafting. The trip is about 2 hours and is comfortable enough. The company also takes you back to Kampala either the same evening or the next day. It makes it very convenient to white water raft as a day trip out of Kampala.
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The Source of the Nile
Feb 14, 2010
From Bujagali you can get to Jinja via a cab or bota-bota ($1-2 each) to see "The Source of the Nile." This is a small patio/shopping area set up on the east bank of the junction between the Nile River and Lake Victoria. It costs $5 to get in and there are good photo opportunities. At the junction there is a small island and you can see running water on one side meeting calm lake water on the other aka the source of the Nile River!!!! We actually went a step further and paid $2.50 each to take a 45 min boat cruise to the west bank of the junction where the Scottish explorer Speke first itentified this geographical wonder. This was fun and informative. Fairly touristy but I thought it was cool.
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Downtown Jinja
Feb 14, 2010
After seeing the Source of the Nile you can simply walk (less than 1 mile) to downtown Jinja. This is the 2nd largest city in Uganda but very rural by other standards (about 110,000 people). There are places to eat and mansions to oogle along the road.
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Special Hire
Feb 14, 2010
We took one of these (this is just a regular cab by western standards) to Jinja from Bujagali which is a 9 km drive. It was only $5 total per car but they driver tried to milk us for $7.50. Given the argument and hastle, it was slightly annoying.
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Bota-bota
Feb 14, 2010
After the fiasco with the special hire we took these motor bike taxis back from Jinja to Bujagali. This was only $1 and a thrill. A 9 km ride on a tiny motorcycle that was flying at 35 mph on dirt roads......kinda risky. We were covered in dust at the end but alive.
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For white water rafting you should try to wear board shorts to protect your knees from the sun. The sun is outrageous here and no amount of sun screen is good enough.
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We stayed here at the Explorers Campsite Saturday night in Bujagali Falls. This is the campsite where you eat the buffet BBQ after rafting and it has a full bar. It also has a GREAT view of the Nile River from the bar's poarch. One problem: the dorm-style rooms were boiling hot at night. Insanely hot.
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These two companies compete directly for tourists to raft on the Nile. Here are the 2 differences we found: NRE has a lighter lunch (just pinnaple and cookies) and bigger dinner; Adrift has bigger rafts that are less likely to flip over. If you want a thrill, go with NRE to increase your odds of getting wet.
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Source of the Nile: there are a lot of random and confusing things being thrown out there about Lake Victoria being the source of the White Nile. The Blue Nile's source is definitely Lake Tana in Ethiopia. However many people hated on John Hanning Speke's theory that Lake Victoria is the true source of the White Nile (1862). Two other Brittish explorers (Richard Burton and David Livingstone) argued Speke's theory to be wrong years after his accidental death. Bottom line: Welsh-American explorer Henry Morton Stanley confirmed Speke's discovery some 10 - 20 years later. However, it is known now that Lake Victoria is not the most upsteam contributor to the White Nile (these waters are in Burundi and Rwanda and are still being debated) but is definitely the only major source.
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