Jinja City lies on the northern shore of Lake Victoria, about 80 km east of Kampala, where the Victoria Nile leaves the lake and begins its long journey north to the Mediterranean. It is Uganda’s favourite place for a day of water and adventure.
You can stand where the lake water turns into river. The British explorer John Hanning Speke reached this point in 1862 and named it the source of the Nile; the original Ripon Falls were later covered by the Owen Falls Dam. A memorial also marks where part of Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes were placed in the Nile in 1948. Add the river activities, and Jinja suits everyone from families to adrenaline seekers.
Jinja is the heart of the Busoga Kingdom, home of the Basoga people. A walk through the market and the old colonial-era town centre with a local guide shows everyday trade and town life.
Jinja is good all year. The river activities run in all seasons; the drier months make roads and riverbanks easier.
Allow 2 to 3 hours from Kampala, depending on traffic, and about 1 hour more from Entebbe. On the way you can stop at Mabira Forest or Ssezibwa Falls.
Rafting, kayaking, bungee jumping, quad biking and ziplining are run by local specialist operators who set their own safety rules and age limits. Zip the Nile reports a minimum age of 6 and does not take riders with heart or spine problems. The hardest rafting sections are “hard adventure”: exciting, but with real risk, so we explain the options before you choose. Bujagali Falls were flooded by a dam in the early 2010s, so you will not see them today.
Where the Nile leaves Lake Victoria: take a boat to the source, then go rafting, kayaking or quad biking, or relax on a sunset cruise.
