The city of Jinja is well known for its natural water adventure tours, which include a variety of activities such as white water rafting, kayaking, water sliding, bungee jumping, canoeing, and more. In addition to its tranquil beauty, the city is also home to the source of the Nile, a new bridge over the Nile, Mabira forest, and Ssezibwa waterfalls. However, there is one activity that has captured the attention of tourists from all over the world, particularly Ugandans, and that is tubing on the Nile.
This activity is provided by a company known as Tubing the Nile, which is owned and operated by a group of driven young people as one of their products. Tubing on the Nile was initially based on the sport of white water rafting; however, in the case of tubing, there are tubes rather than rafts. The sport was named after its originator, who was named after the river.
The activity of tubing consists of nothing more than sitting on a series of round tubes that resemble car tires and are tied together in a certain number while a trained guide paddles a kayak behind you while the tubes are attached to the kayak. The tubes are dragged through the water in the same direction as the guide is rowing, and occasionally allow the water to carry the tubes downstream by themselves.
Before we go tubing, we make sure that your safety is our top priority by providing high-quality life jackets for everyone who rides on the tube and by hiring guides who are well qualified and have a great deal of experience working with water.
Accessing the city of Jinja for rafting on the Nile
It takes approximately two hours to travel from Kampala city to Jinja on a day with light traffic, and from Jinja town, it is approximately eight kilometers to drive to the Bujagali area along a murram road that is normally motorable.
Before a new dam was built in the area, Bujagali Falls was well-known for its spectacularly powerful and speedy cascades. However, the dam’s construction resulted in the waterfalls being submerged. It is said that an oracle named Jajja Bujagali watches over these waterfalls, however, despite the fact that he passed away in 2019, nobody ever visits this location and forgets about him.
The experience of tubing down the Nile
Travelers can choose between two different packages when they go tubing. The first is flat water tubing, which costs 70.000 for Ugandan citizens and 130,000 for non-residents. The second tour, which is called white water tubing and costs 130,000 for locals and 180,000 for non-residents, is available. The white water tubing is a terrifying experience that lasts for a longer period of time due to the fact that it passes over dangerous rapids that provide a choppy sail.
You will be greeted by a team of experienced guides as soon as you arrive at the location, and they will take down your information before giving you a rundown of the excursion and providing you with information about what to do and what to anticipate while you are out in the water.
Following the briefing, you will make your way by foot through the campground to the boat that will take you to the starting spot. This is the beginning of your journey through the breathtaking landscape that is found along the riverbanks, and it is where your experience will begin. Here, the guides gathered the tubes into groups and then tethered each group to a boat, where another guide sat to keep an eye on things and provide assistance in the event of an emergency.
You will be assisted to sit on the tubes while wearing life jackets as you get ready for the moment you have been anticipating for so long. When you first start out, you’ll be terrified, but as you progress through the course, the terrifying moments will morph into exciting ones as you navigate the rapids further downstream. When you go tubing, you are not permitted to have your camera or phone with you for safety reasons; therefore, you need to hire a photographer to go tubing with you so that they can meet your photography demands.
It takes around three hours to complete the trek on the inner tubes, during which time you will float down to meet the rapids and then calm water in succession. One of the people on the rapids is screaming and gasping for air as they get closer to the calm waters. You might see a few species of primates here, as well as birds like kingfishers that dive into the water to grab fish and then quickly return to the surface.
In other words, going tubing in the evening affords some of the best opportunities to observe the reflections of the sunset on the river, which is a memorable experience in its own right. In addition to tubing down the Nile, visitors can also participate in other adventurous activities on the Nile in Jinja such as water sliding, water rafting, kayaking, boat cruises, and many others. You can check out our 2 days tour to jinja and experience all the thrilling activities and appreciate the beauty.
