Source of the Nile is located in Jinja town which known as the adventure capital of East Africa. River Nile is well known to be the longest river in the world. The river starts its 6,500km journey to Uganda, Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zaire and Ethiopia where it pours its water into the Mediterranean Sea. The famous River Nile drove its name from Greek word meaning valley which comprises of two major twigs, the white and blue Nile that connects in Khartoum to form the core Nile that is made up of Cataract Nile along with the Egyptian Nile. The White Nile is the longest and splits into three parts this meaning that the lake plateau region, the sudd, and the central Sudan region.
The river Nile has contributed to a major role in modernizing Uganda and Egypt with its water which provides both domestic and commercial use. Like Uganda, the Nile provides hydroelectric power to Ugandans which is a source of energy, the dam gives electricity to the country to enable them to carry out their daily activities. The banks of the Nile are too fertile to favor agriculture and still provide water to people. Egypt is acknowledged to be a dry land but it has been able to do its farming on irrigation and the fertile soils that are close to the Nile. The Nile has also been the source of life to some animals that enjoy the water like the crocodiles that occupy the river banks in Egypt. The crocodiles discover in Egypt are stated to be longer and dangerous as well. Jinja town where the source of the Nile is located is known as the adventure capital of East Africa because of many activities which carried out river Nile, such activity include water rafting, bungee jumping, Kayaking, boat ride experience, horse riding along the Nile, fishing, jet boating, bird watching, quad biking and so on. These have attracted large numbers of both International and domestic tourists that visit Jinja. While here, you will have a unique opportunity for a boat trip to the source of the Nile where you will come close to the beautiful birds such as Kingfishers searching for fish in the waters and maybe spotting a monitor lizard along the shores. Combined with the visit to the source of the Nile it is possible to make a city tour in Jinja, visiting the crafts shops or making a stop by Ssezibwa falls or Mabira forest along the way to Kampala.
How to reach to the source of the Nile
Source of the Nile excursion requires 2 hours drive from Kampala the capital of Uganda via Mabira forest approximately 54km. The journey to Jinja goes through beautiful scenery of plantations of sugar and tea, and colorful roadside fruit markets, you may opt to have stopover at Ssezibwa falls a beautiful Buganda kingdom cultural site with an interesting legend about origin of the river and Ssezibwa falls and the next stop will be a hike through Mabira Forest; learning about the rich heritage of the Uganda people who lived in the forest and opportunities of sighting or listening to different bird species, beautiful butterflies, primates, and tree species and finally, drive direct into Jinja the “Source of the Nile” at the now submerged Rippon Falls. This is where the Nile starts its 4000-mile journey to the Mediterranean Sea from Lake Victoria. One may opt to use water transport from Entebbe to Jinja through MV Vanessa on Lake Victoria departing from Water Front Beach, Entebbe at 9 a.m. and returning from Jinja at 2 pm on Monday, Friday and Sunday. This will offer you scenic view of Lake Victoria