Day 1.
Following an early start u will meet ur Well English speaking driver guide as u head to Jinja on ur way u will visit the sezibwa falls. River Sezibwa is located in the southern central part of Uganda. It starts from the wetlands between Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga, west of the Victoria Nile and flows in a general northerly direction to empty into Lake Kyoga. The source of River Sezibwa is located in Buikwe District, near the town of Ngogwe, with coordinates: Latitude:0.2700; Longitude:33.0050. River Sezibwa enters Lake Kyoga in Kayunga District, near the town of Galilaya, with coordinates: Latitude:1.3700; Longitude:32.8150. The length of River Sezibwa is approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) from source to end. Between its source in Buikwe District, but before it enters Kayunga District, the river flows through Mukono District.
The site is a Buganda Heritage Site. It is marked with an out-span of sharp-edged rocks and the magnificent sound of soothing waters flowing down the steep ridged stones.
According to traditional legend, the two rivers named Sezibwa and its brother Bwanda, were born by a woman on her way to Kavuma Bukunja. The woman, Nakkungu Tebatuusa, whose husband was called Nsubuga Sebwaato, gave birth to twins in form of water, whereupon Sezibwa flowed west, passing many obstacles and deriving its name, while Bwanda flowed east, toward Nyenga. Many people come to the place for miracles as they believe the site has supernatural powers.
The falls are 7 metres (23 ft) high and the harmony of bird songs above the trees creates a beautiful scenery for relaxation and enjoyment. Rock climbing and bird watching are the main activities at the site. Geologists and other scientists also frequent the site. Wildlife in the surrounding forest includes bush monkeys, red-tailed monkeys and other primates and birds
The smog, the fumes, the constant honking. You crave some serenity. Some serenity now! But you don’t have a whole lot of time to spare. Well, thank goodness for Sezibwa Falls. A fantastic oasis for nature lovers just an hour outside of Kampala.
This Buganda heritage site is thought of as a powerful place where many come for blessings. In local legend, the Sezibwa and Bwanda rivers were born as twins from a woman known as Nakkungu Tebatuusa. The Bwanda River flowed East towards the mother’s village. But the Sezibwa River cut it’s own path and flowed West. Doing so it passed a number of difficult obstacles. Its name derives from a local phrase: sezibibwa kkubo which means “no obstacles can stop me from moving along”
. For those that crave a little more excitement, there are walks that go up to and then over the falls. You cross right above the torrent of water cascading down a seven-meter drop. Further
Laiter u will proceed for a forest walk in Mabira.
The Mabira Forest is a rainforest area covering about 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi) (30,000 hectares (74,000 acres)) in Uganda, located in Buikwe District, between Lugazi and Jinja. It has been protected as Mabira Forest Reserve since 1932. It is home for many endangered species like the primate Lophocebus ugandae. The Mabira forest was leased in 1900 by the East Africa and Uganda Exploration Company, who then set up the Mabira Forest (Uganda) Rubber Company to handle the concession. Their hopes of obtaining 500,000 lbs per annum from the forest proved unrealistic: the cost of clearing the dense forest around individual trees was too expensive, particularly on account of the poor yields which they got for each tree. As a result, the company moved from exploiting wild rubber to planting cultivated rubber, and also coffee.
The Mabira Forest is a rainforest area covering about 300 square kilometres (120 sq mi) (30,000 hectares (74,000 acres)) in Uganda, located in Buikwe District, between Lugazi and Jinja. It has been protected as Mabira Forest Reserve since 1932. It is home for many endangered species like the primate Lophocebus ugandae. The Mabira forest was leased in 1900 by the East Africa and Uganda Exploration Company, who then set up the Mabira Forest (Uganda) Rubber Company to handle the concession. Their hopes of obtaining 500,000 lbs per annum from the forest proved unrealistic: the cost of clearing the dense forest around individual trees was too expensive, particularly on account of the poor yields which they got for each tree. As a result, the company moved from exploiting wild rubber to planting cultivated rubber, and also coffee.
Mabira Forest is home to bush-pigs, blue duikers, red tailed monkeys, grey cheeked mangabees ( a smaller species of mangabees has been discovered here). There is also the occasional leopard you will most likely not see here.
When it comes to birding here,there are 315 Bird Species found here such as theNahan’s Francolin, Cassin’s Hawk-eagle, White-spotted Flufftail, Afep Pigeon, Grey Parrot, Dusky Long-tailed Cuckoo, Black-shouldered Nightjar, Sabine’s Spinetail, Cassin’s Spinetail, Blue-throated Roller, African Dwarf-kingfisher, White-bellied Kingfisher, Forest Woodhoopoe, African Pied Hornbill, Black-and-white-casqued Hornbill, Speckled Tinkerbird, Yellow-throated Tinkerbird, Yellow-spotted Barbet, Hairy-breasted Barbet, Yellow-billed Barbet, Green-breasted Pitta, African Shrike-flycatcher to name a few.
Laiter u will proceed to Jinja town for lunch .
The city was planned under colonial rule in 1948 by Ernst May, German architect and urban planner. May also designed the urban planning scheme for Kampala, creating what he called “neighborhood units.” Estates were built for the ruling elite in many parts outside the center city. This led to the area’s ‘slum clearance’ which displaced more than 1,000 residents in the 1950s.
In 1954, the construction of the Owen Falls Dam submerged the Ripon Falls. Most of the “Flat Rocks” that gave the area its name disappeared under water as well. A description of what the area looked like can be found in the notes of John Hanning Speke, the first European to lay eyes on the source of the Nile:
The national census of 2002 estimated Jinja’s population to be 71,213 of which 36,325 were males and 34,888 were females. In 2010, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) estimated the population at 82,800. In 2011, UBOS estimated the population at 89,700. In 2014, the national population census put the population at 72,931 However, the Municipality Authority contested the recent census of 2014, saying it under-counted Jinja’s population. The majority of the population are of Bantu origin. Lusoga is the main local language. Jinja has a large population of inhabitants who are defined as “working urban poor”. The average annual household income is estimated at US $100.
Jinja had the second largest economy in Uganda.In the past, factories chose Jinja as their base because of the nearby electric power station at the Owen Falls Dam. Since the early 2000s, the economy of Jinja has picked up steadily. The main economic activities take place in the central business district. After lunch have a short drive around the city as u see a few of the colonial buildings that still exist in the town of Jinja.
After the short drive u will be taken to the starting point heading to the source of the nile.
River Nile is well known to be the longest river in the world. Its source starts right from Jinja Uganda, some people may be wondering how the name Nile come about. It’s a famous Greek word simply meaning valley. The river starts from the Northeastern part of Africa. It flows from the surrounding areas close to the equator to the outrageous Safari desert and up to the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The river is about 6696km long and pours its water to over nine countries although it’s more centered to Uganda as well as Egypt. Countries include Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zair and Ethiopia.
This famous river and longest 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 Egyptian Nile. The white Nile is the longest and splits into three parts;1) the lake plateau region,2)The sudd,3)The central Sudan region.
On the cruise u expect to see a lot and that the Nile oaters, Nile monitor lizards, birds, source of the Nile and much more.
Later you will proceed to your hotel for an overnight stay and relax as it was abussy day for you,
DAY2
After break first your guide will drive u to the rafting office for registration where laiter u will be driven to the start point and then: Get wet! Get wild! Get rafting! You have no idea how much fun you are about to have! Considered one of the finest one day white water rafting trips in the world, no safari to Uganda would be complete without truly experiencing the Nile from its source. t is in Jinja, a small colonial town in Uganda that rafting trips can be taken. Rafting the river Nile in Uganda has become a huge tourist attraction and Jinja is often quoted to be the ‘adventure capital of East Africa’, white water enthusiasts have been rafting here for over 10 years. From the apprehensive who have never been on a river before to the seasoned adventurer, the Victorian source of the Nile in Uganda has something for everyone. The Nile is the classic pool‐drop river with deep, calm pools interspersed between powerful and exciting rapids and multitudes of different channels. At no point is the Nile constrained to one channel. The multiple of rapids between the beautiful mid‐river islands allows the expert guides to chose milder options for those not willing to subject themselves to certain dunking in the river.
The white water rafting is done in paddle‐rafts, each person joins as a member of a team and a professional guide captains the team. Paddlers are instructed comprehensively on how best to enjoy themselves on the water and on all aspects of safety including the use of safety kayaks which accompany every raft trip on the water. The highly trained safety kayakers are world class paddlers who adeptly pilot their kayaks through the rapid ahead of the raft. When the rafts flip upside down or people are washed overboard they are nearby to provide assistance in getting people back to their boats.
The trip on the water begins slowly and the first few kilometres give the raft guides an opportunity to train their crews fully on all aspects of Nile rafting. The river becomes much more adventures at Bujagali Falls and one major rapid follows swiftly after another for most of the morning. Once the rafts enter Wildwaters Reserve (protects the unique flora and fauna of the mid‐stream islands of the Nile), there is more time between the rough water but the rapids become larger and more spectacular. At Itanda (The Bad Place) the Nile is too powerful for the rafts and so the rafts are taken around the top by land.
The grading of the rapids rafted on this stretch of the Nile range from 1 – 5. At each of the larger (higher graded) rapids you are given the option of whether you want to go the hard way (through the middle) or the easy way (around the edge). The choice is voted on, however, it might not always turn out the way you expected because you (everyone in the raft) if do not paddle in the right direction you may not take the route you wanted.
The family rafting trip is a wonderful river journey for the whole family. Instead of choosing the biggest and wildest rapids, these rafts instead drift swiftly between the beautiful forested islands, bounce down smaller rapids and explore the many different channels of the river.
The night is spent on the ‘Hairy Lemon’ a beautiful secluded island right on Nile. The next morning the adults have a chance to river surf at ‘Nile Special’ the infamous surf wave found near to the Hairy Lemon. The light weight boogie boards will allow provide an incredible thrill on the waves of the Nile.
You will have lunch there and then after u may decide to go back to the hotel to freshen up and later u transfer back to Kampala or Entebbe for your flight or you may decide to check out from your hotel in the morning as u go rafting with you staff.
Note: you may decide to have half day or full day rafting depending on your interest and the payment.
Then at the end of it all transfer to either Kampala or Entebbe.
End of the trip