By air
Entebbe (EBB), ~120 km, about three hours by road
Africa · Uganda
Jinja, Uganda
The source of the Nile and East Africa's adventure capital
Getting there
Best time to visit
December to February and June to September; rafting runs all year
Don't miss
Source of the Nile
Itanda Falls
Bujagali
Jinja old town
Lake Victoria shore
Mabira Forest
Things to do
White-water rafting on the Nile
Kayaking
A boat to the source of the Nile
Bungee jumping
Quad biking through villages
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Owobusingye · CC BY 4.0
What to pack
Quick-dry clothes, river sandals, sunscreen, a dry bag
A quieter corner
Itanda Falls, a thundering set of rapids upstream that most rafters never see from the bank
Questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Jinja?
December to February and June to September; rafting runs all year. What to pack: Quick-dry clothes, river sandals, sunscreen, a dry bag.
How do I get to Jinja?
Fly into Entebbe (EBB), ~120 km, about three hours by road.
What is there to do in Jinja?
White-water rafting on the Nile, kayaking, a boat to the source of the Nile, bungee jumping, quad biking through villages. A quieter find: Itanda Falls, a thundering set of rapids upstream that most rafters never see from the bank.
What should I eat in Jinja?
Rolex rolls, tilapia from the lake, Indian-Ugandan curries, local coffee.
About Jinja
- Riverside
- Lakeside
Where it is
Jinja is a town in eastern Uganda on the northern shore of Lake Victoria, where the White Nile leaves the lake, about eighty kilometres east of Kampala.
History
A fishing village at the lake's outlet, Jinja grew into Uganda's industrial town in the twentieth century after the railway arrived and a dam was built at the Nile's source. Its Indian-built shophouses recall the merchants who ran its trade, and since the 1990s the rapids below the town have made it the region's centre for rafting and kayaking.
People
Basoga farmers and fishermen, descendants of the town's Indian traders, and a growing community of adventure guides share an easygoing town where evenings are spent by the river.
Known for
- The source of the Nile
- White-water rafting
- Bungee jumping over the river
- Colonial-era shophouses
Did you know?
The explorer John Hanning Speke identified the Nile's outflow from Lake Victoria here in the mid-nineteenth century.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.