Jinja District | Uganda
Jinja District is one of the best districts and towns in Uganda for travellers, besides Kampala. Jinja is located in the southern western part of Uganda, where the source of the Nile is the major significant feature; the pint where the Nile flows out of Lake Victoria. Jinja district became famous when the colonialists tried to construct the Owen falls dam a now known as nalubale dam in 1954, which they accomplished. The development of Jinja was the spark of the industrialization in Uganda. Initially, Jinja was not a district on its own; it was part of the Busoga district at the independence of 1962. And later, the change of governments in Uganda changed and Jinja became a district under Busoga province. Jinja district is found in the southeastern part of Uganda, located at the borders of Iganga, Mayuge and Kayunga districts. Jinja districts is bordered by Mukono district in the south west, mayuge district in the east, Kayunga district in the west and lake victoria in the south. Formerly, Jinja district was part and partial, eastern part, of the formerly known as the Busoga district.
Jinja district is not fully occupied like Kampala; it has a population of about 413937 people, both the male and female. The rural people of Jinja district are mainly farmers and agriculture is one of the most lucrative economic activities in Jinja. However, the town of Jinja municipality is an industrialized area of Jinja district. The major food crops grown in Jinja district include beans, cassava, groundnuts, maize, millet, yams, cowpeas, cotton, and sugarcane among others. The cash crops grown in Jinja district include coffee and tea among others. Also, the people in Jinja district love fishing as part of their lifestyle, especially to those near the Lake Victoria shores and along the Nile river banks.
Jinja district is a fully established part of Uganda with all the facilities suiting a city such as banks, schools, health centers, hotels, restaurants, and lodges of all categories among others. in Jinja town, you can find a umber if banks and other banking services like ATMs and visa points for equity bank, stanbic banks, allied bank, dfcu bank among others. Jinja district has a lot of primary schools and secondary schools including Jinja secondary school, and other tertiary institutes such as Jinja nursing school among others. For the health care, there is over 36 government dispensaries, 13 health centers, and one major government hospital. There are other upscale private hospitals, and non-government dispensaries spread out in the towns, therefore there is nothing to worry about emergency health attention. There is also a number of lodges and hotels in Jinja, such as Nile resort, Jinja country resort, sailors club, Jinja backpackers, and kingfisher among others.
Transport in Jinja district
The town is well established with tarmac roads; however, the suburbs have marum roads all the roads in Jinja like straight to Kampala capital city, kamuli, mayuge and iganga, the neighboring districts to Jinja. Jinja town is also a major station for the Uganda railway line and also major port for the Lake Victoria ferries from Kenya and Tanzania. Jinja district also features a small civilian and military airport which is located in kimaka north of Jinja central town. The travellers from Kampala access Jinja town via a bridge over the Nile, it connects njeru town to Jinja town. The new bridge was constructed in 2013 however the construction work was complete in 2018. The local taxis also known as the mini vans are used for public transport. Also the movements in town are made easy by the common boda bodas or motor bikes. You can also reach Jinja by bus from Kampala.
Night life in Jinja
It is just the town center where the night life is felt. Being a tourist hub, there are a number of clubs that the travellers to Jinja love to hit on their time in Uganda. Unlike Kampala, Jinja town is livelier in the night than during the day, the clubs in Jinja are located in all the corners and streets near the source of the Nile, like sailors club, club bourbon near Jinja back parkers among others. However, during the day, the clubs are closed and the people are back to their normal hustles, despite the tiresome from the previous night.
What to do in Jinja?
Most travellers to Jinja, thinks about visiting the source of the Nile, and it is true, the source of the Nile should be your stop point if at all you are planning to visit Jinja on your next Uganda safari. The source of the Nile is associated with a lot of fun such as the cultural dance exhibitions, crafts villages, the boat cruise to the source of the Nile, birding sight-seeing, photography on the new Jinja Bridge and the source of the Nile, canoeing among others. You can also enjoy visiting Nile Breweries Company where you get a chance to take a free beer as a visitor. however, there is a lot of other things you can do to enjoy your stay in Jinja district, such as cycling through the Jinja town, white water rafting at itanda conducted by the adrift, equator rafts and Nile explores, horseback riding, community walks, sundowner cruise, bungee jumping, quad biking among others.
Attractions in Jinja
The major attraction in Jinja is the source of the Nile, the spot where the longest river in the world is located and begins towards Egypt in North Africa, the Owen falls dam is another attraction. It supplies hydroelectricity power to Kenya and Tanzania. The industries are also a major attraction in Jinja district of Uganda such as Nile breweries where you get to drink a free beer as a traveller, Jinja main market, hindi temples, Jinja new bridge, the farm lands in Jinja are also an attraction to many travellers here, plus, the local villages and hotels among others.
