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