A Boat Tour on River Nile and Discovering Source of the Nile at Jinja, Uganda

Vising the source of River Nile - this was one excursion I have looked forwarded to the most on this African trip.

I have heard so much about River Nile that I could hardly wait to be there to experience personally this historic river.





We went for a boat ride on the River Nile in Jinja, Uganda.

Gandhi's statute at the source of the Nile, Jinja, Uganda

One of the pleasant surprises was discovering Gandhi's statue by the River Nile, Jinja, Uganda.

Gandhi was shot to death in 1948 while on his way to a prayer meeting. It was Gandhi's wish to have part of his ashes scattered over the River Nile in Jinja, Uganda.

"Gandhi is remembered in the world for four virtues: non violence, truth love and fraternity."

It was amazing learning more about Gandhi and his work by the River Nile in Uganda, Africa!

As soon as we arrived near the bank of the river, a group of singers and dancers started their performance to welcome us.

There were many vendors along the path leading to the dock.
I bought an elephant painting and a necklace.

There were people playing an African game by the river.

We took the 1 hour boat ride hiring a boat, the captain and a guide.















They explained to us about the history of this river as we were taking a ride on River Nile.

A boat ride on River Nile, Jinja, Uganda

 
 River Nile is much wider and bigger than I thought.

The river is home to numerous birds and wild life.

Besides wild life,
we saw numerous buildings and houses along the River Nile.

















The river was busy with human activities.

Many locals depend on the River Nile as a mean to their livelihood.















Many were like us touring the River Nile on a nice sunny African afternoon.

At approximately 4260 miles ( 6860 kms) long, River Nile is the world's longest river, followed by the Amazon River and the Yangtze River in China, third longest river in the world.

The Nile has two major tributaries.

They are the Blue Nile in Ethiopia and the White Nile which begins at Lake Victoria, Jinja, Uganda.

The two Niles meet at Khartoum, capital of Sudan, and then flow into Egypt.











Because of the dams built on the River Nile, the water level has risen for there meters in the past few years making many houses along the river uninhabitable.














This fishing village was once a thriving community but it has been abandoned as fishermen no longer can live in them.
















What once was dry ground has been completely covered by water. Many buildings have become unusable.


This coffee bar, souvenir shop along with the River Nile sign were  on an island a few years ago.

Visitors reaching the Source of River Nile used to be able to stand beside this sign on dry ground for  pictures.













Unfortunately, the island has completely disappeared; visitors  would no longer be able to stand beside the sign for pictures.


I did manage to get a picture standing on what used to be a walkway.








After the boat ride discovering the Source of the Nile, we headed back to our resort. I had a nice relaxing swim in the pool enjoying the mild African temperature. Fantastic!
















R.T.
Source of the River Nile
Jinja, Uganda
Day 6

Driving from Kampala to Jinja, Uganda

Leaving the guest house in Kampala

We have stayed in Kampala, Uganda,  for five nights and seen a lot in this capital city.

 It was time to check out of the Catholic Centre Guest House and head to Jinja, Uganda, our next destination.

Before getting there, we made a couple of stops for some necessary business.

Muhai needed some documents from the Canadian government. but there is no Canadian embassy in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

A Canadian Visa Application Centre, Kampala, Uganda

However, there is a Canadian Consulate here but they have contracted out to a company handling travels paper and necessary documents.

Waiting around in our rented van in Kampala

We waited for sometime there before continuing our journey. It gave us sometime to rest a little.

A nice modern local mall in Kampala, Uganda

Since we have been in Uganda for almost a week, we needed some cash and went to a bank at a shopping mall.

We found a Barcley Bank and tried to use our credit cards to get some local cash. It was quite a spectacle with a queue of senior Canadian women lining up at the cash machine trying to figure out how to use the machine. In the meantime we were holding up the ATM.





But Ugandans are polite and patient people. No one got mad at us, they just watched us patiently taking our time calculating how much Ugandan shillings we needed to take out.

With cash in hands, we went to shop at some local craft markets. We all bought different things. I bought sandals, pants and a long dress. Jerome was very patient with all of us. He bargained for us in his own language and carrying our things.




The drive to Jinja was a long one as the traffic was slow since this was also a Valentine weekend. Our driver also brought along his wife for a long Valentine long weekend. How romantic was that?

Ugandan men lining up to buy flowers for Valentines at a local mall

We passed by green hills, forests and many roadside vendors. The roads were busy crawling with numerous fast moving trucks.

Lots of trucks carrying supplies from Kenya into Uganda

Since Uganda is a landlocked country, they have no ports. Supplies have to be trucked in from the port in Kenya. These were the trucks coming in from Kenya. Lots of truckers need to buy food and other things creating business for these roadside vendors.

One new thing we did try was buying food from the roadside vendors. As soon as our van stopped, we were swarmed by men and women carrying BBQ chicken wings, cold beverages and fruits etc.
They were trying to sell us their goods through the car windows.

We bought some BBQ chicken wings and drove off. These chicken wings were surprisingly delicious! We enjoyed them so much that we stopped for the second time and bought more from the roadside vendors.

We arrived to Jinja in late evening, had our first dinner at the 2 Friends' dining room which was pretty busy with couples celebrating Valentine and enjoying their dinners.

We called it a night and went to sleep right after dinner. I was sharing a room with Rose and Elaine.

R.T.
Jinja, Uganda
Day 5

Witnessing the Intelligence of Chimpanzees at Ngamba Island Chimpanzees Sanctuary, Uganda.

After more than an hour's ride on Lake Victoria's choppy water, we finally reached the Ngamba Island Chimpanzees Sanctuary, Uganda.

We had a short introduction from Joseph, one of the guides from the Chimpanzees Sanctuary.

      The Chimpanzees Sanctuary is about 100 acres in area.






However, 95 acres have been allocated to the chimps for them to roam free while five acres are for administration, other and visitor uses.












This five acre human use area has been fenced off by electrical fences powered by solar power.

All of the chimpanzees have been rescued and brought to this sanctuary. Many have experienced some kinds of traumas while some baby chimps became orphans due to conflicts of wars in Africa.  One of the baby chimps was brought here by soldiers who found him beside the body of his dead mother.

Each rescued chimpanzee has a story of its own.

We climbed the stairs to the viewing platform.














However,  I was not sure if the chimpanzees were observing us from the other side or the other way around.












The chimpanzees are very smart and have complicated social interactions among themselves.














They recognized family structure such as the grandmother chimp, Connie, adopting baby chimps who are on the lower hierarchy of the chimpanzee society.

Connie helps to look after the baby chimps protecting them from other aggressive adult chimpanzees.













Each chimpanzee has been rescued and carefully documented by the sanctuary staff.

Visitors can read all about them from their pictures displayed at the viewing platform.

















We learned about two chimps named Surprise, and Easy. These were two interesting stories told by the keeper.

Chimps at the Sanctuary are fed four times a day at: 8:30a.m., 11 a.m., 2p.m. and at 6 p.m.












We were there in time to see the 11 a.m. feeding by a staff member and a volunteer.

















The meal for the chimps were consisted of fresh fruits cut into big pieces.

Chimps knew it was meal time and a few waved at the keepers to get their attention.

The keepers threw the fruits over the fence to where the chimps were. He was also watching carefully to make sure that all the chimps, not just the aggressive ones could catch the fruit.

He deliberately threw the food to some chimps who were far away as the closest spots were usually occupied by the more dominant and aggressive ones.
















During this feeding, an eggplant landed outside the chimps' fenced area beyond their reach.

The chimps were smart enough not to reach over to grab this piece of fruit as they have learned that they would be shocked by the electrical fence.

Instead, they gestured to the keeper to get this piece of food for them.

The keeper picked up the fruit and placed it one the ledge just below the wired fence.

The chimps were smart enough not to touch this fruit with their bare hands. They thought for a while.

One of the chimps got a branch long enough to move the fruit away from the ledge pushing it onto the ground.

He picked up this fruit from a safe distance and got to enjoy it. How smart was that!









After watching and learning about the chimps, we walked around the island and admiring the beauty and tranquility of Ngamba Island.





We saw some trees full of birds' nests hanging all over the branches.

These birds nest were built by these yellow birds where they live.

We discovered some cottages which visitors can rent and stay for a few days on the island.















We enjoyed a fantastic grilled tilapia and chips plus beer served outdoors.

We shopped for some souvenirs and I bought a bag from the gift shop to support the sanctuary.

I must admit that visiting the Chimpanzees Sanctuary was not high on my priority at first.

But I went with my team as most members wanted to go. I was glad that I did accommodate my team members' wish and went along.

I enjoyed visiting the Chimp Sanctuary tremendously!

It was a highly valuable excursion!


R.T.
Ngamba Island
Chimpanzees Sanctuary
Uganda