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The Nile River begins at Lake Victoria near Jinja (Uganda's second largest city). It takes three months for the water to flow north through the African continent to the Mediterranean Sea. It's a 4,184 mile journey!

Lake Victoria is bordered by Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. It's the world's second largest freshwater lake, after Lake Superior. Lake Victoria is economically important to the surrounding region, with fishing and boat building being the most significant economic activities.

At Jinja, the Owen Falls Dam was completed in 1954. The dam turned the lake into a large reservoir that produces hydroelectricity for the surrounding area. The dam submerged Ripon Falls but the falls can still be made out from a little turbulence that's left in the river.

Also located here is a small memorial garden commemorating Mahatma Gandhi. When Gandhi died in 1948, his ashes were divided up and sent to many locations around the world to be scattered. Some of these ashes were scattered into the Nile River here.

On the other side of the river from where we were at is an obelisk. It was erected to mark the spot were the English explorer John Speke first discovered the source of the Nile in 1862.

Our guide paid for a boat ride on the Nile River so we were able to go right where Lake Victoria turns into the Nile River. We shared the ride with three Germans who were also sightseeing in Africa. The guy driving the boat was also bailing out water as we took our cruise! It was a really neat ride.


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Copyright © 2002, Dawn M. Dalton.
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