Jinja & the Source of the Nile

The Nile leaves Lake Victoria at Jinja and starts a 6,700km run to the Mediterranean. John Hanning Speke reached the spot in 1862, and the Source of the Nile is still the town's landmark, best seen from a boat at the point where the lake water visibly begins to move.

What actually draws people now is the whitewater. The stretch below the source delivers commercially rafted grade five rapids in warm water with safety kayakers on every wave, and it is regularly ranked among the best one-day rafting runs anywhere in the world. Milder grade three trips run for families and nervous first-timers.

Everything else has grown up around that: a 44-metre bungee over the river, kayaking courses, quad biking through village trails, sunset cruises and a genuinely good riverside restaurant scene. Jinja is two hours from Kampala, which makes it the easiest add-on in the country.

Highlights

• Grade five white water rafting on the White Nile
• The Source of the Nile monument and boat trip
• 44-metre bungee jump over the river
• Kayaking, tubing and stand-up paddleboarding
• Quad biking and village mountain-bike trails
• Itanda Falls and the Nile River Explorers stretch

Best time to visit

Year-round: the Nile is dam-regulated so rapids run consistently regardless of season, and the water stays warm enough to swim.

Getting there

Two hours east of Kampala on tarmac, or about two and a half from Entebbe. Commonly done as a day trip or an overnight at the start or end of a safari.