Jinja is known as quite an adventure town with an array of possible activities to do. It’s situated right at the start of the Nile (the white Nile which joins the blue (?) Nile later on) on Lake Victoria and is where the main East-African highway crosses the river on a dam. This crossing is heavily guarded since it’s the only viable crossing point without having to go an extremely long way round the lake. Look it up in google maps to see how big Lake Victoria is.
Nile High Campsite
An aptly named campsite situated right about the river with an amazing view from the bar. The campsite also was superb and got 5 ticks on our highly scientific camping rating scheme.
1. Hot Water Showers
2. Flushing and Seated Toilets
3. Toilet Paper available
4. Free wi-fi
5. Electricity to charge electronics
Got this photo as the sunset over the Nile – I’m up in the bar at the moment.
(Nile @ sunset)
White-water Adventure
We spent a full day at JInja and were given the opportunity to do a few activities. A group of 9 of us went rafting and it was fantastic. The group split in half and some of us took the wild option and the others took a milder route. After the safety instructions – which the random Czech guys on our raft didn’t really understand - we headed into the frothing rapids.
Our instructor took nearly every opportunity to flip us out but one of the best places was a rapid called ‘Bad Place.’ At the start of the rapid he said we could take the chicken route (avoid the crashing wave); take a 50/50 route (just clip the edge and it’s random if we flip) or just the Total Annihilation Route (where we just headed straight into the portal to hell). Since we didn’t fully understand what was going to happen we all manned up (including the 1 female on board) and went for the glory.
I got a copy of the video of this rapid and it’s crazy watching it – I was sitting up the front and it disappears in the white water for a while. I got thrown out and was under water for what seemed like forever. Didn’t really know which way was up but finally got to the surface (swallowed a wave when I got there – hopefully I don’t get sick) and the boat was pretty close so grabbed on and followed instructions to getting us back upright. So glad I did it though!
Had a few more spills, including a fairly innocuous wave which we paddled back up to so our guide could tip us over again. Lunch was fantastic by the river and then kept going. The final rapid (called the Nile Special) was another big wave. Our guide told us to forget about holding on – try and make the best photo possible. Luckily my side went high and I bought the photo of us completely 90 degrees to the water. Bodies and paddles are going everywhere… Unfortunately I lost a contact lens in all the excitement – thought I was going to get through but had to be the last flip.
Totally exhausted after the paddling and had an early night – only one more night with the same group before we split up and a group of 10 or so of us continue on south.
Back to Kenya – Equator
Spent two days travelling back to Nairobi. Stopped again in Eldoret where we had a farewell dinner which seemed to cause quite a few people to become sick. We had also crossed the equator a couple of times. Got this photo in Uganda when we stopped for lunch. Think I’ve crossed the land equator 4 times now. Luckily there were no ‘initiations’ like a sea crossing!
(equator photo)
Bit of a short blog – with a few travelling days. Heading into Tanzania soon and beginning the long trek south to Cape Town.
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