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The River Nile has always enjoyed a mythical status in the popular imagination, starting from ancient times when Egyptians believed it was the gift of the gods and fountain of life and served as the basis for their calendar. Indeed, the Nile is the bedrock of Ancient Egypt’s civilisation. 

The classical Greek historian and geographer Herodotus was said to have described Egypt as ‘the gift of the Nile’ to underscore the river’s reputation as the cradle of civilisation. That civilisation greatly influenced Greek philosophy, religion, mythology, and art.

Growing up, our knowledge of the Nile’s significance in the history of civilisation was hazy. We associated the river with Ancient Egypt, but our knowledge of the mythologies that linked it to the Egyptian gods, agriculture, and human settlements was scanty. 

In our geography classes, what struck us was the idea that it is the longest river in the world. In our impressionable minds, we imagined how wonderful it would be to sail along the world’s longest river, and have the good fortune to do so in Africa. 

Because of its historical and geographical value, a boat ride on the Nile was the first item we listed as a must-do when we decided to visit Uganda. 

We felt we would have had a fulfilling holiday by just cruising on the Nile even if we did not visit any other site. Choosing it became all the more compelling because, long before our trip, we had also learned that the source of the Nile was in Uganda. 

It was simply impossible to holiday in Uganda without going on a cruise to see the source of this iconic river.

The Nile’s status as the world’s longest river under threat

We did a fair amount of reading about the river to prepare us for the journey. We were taken aback when we learned that there is a controversy brewing over its status as the longest river. 

The mighty Amazon in South America wants to claim the prize. ‘How could such a basic thing like the length of a river remain unsettled for so long with all the scientific tools available for mapping and measuring the world?’, we wondered. 

We were anxious for a definitive answer, but, at the same time, did not want our childhood memories of the Nile as the supreme river of the world’s more than three million rivers to be erased. 

Until a few years ago, there was consensus among geographers that the Nile, which is said to measure 6,650 kilometres, is the longest river in the world. However, recently, that consensus seems to have broken down. 

Brazilian geoscientists now claim that the Amazon River—previously believed to be 6,400 kilometres—is 6,800 kilometres, and, therefore, longer than the Nile. 

The scientific community is divided on the issue, even though key publications, such as the Guinness World Records, Britannia, New World Encyclopedia, WorldAtlas, and the US Geological Survey still list the Nile as the longest river. 

Terrence McCoy, Lauren Tierney, and Marina Dias writing in the *New York Times* in June 2023, reported that a team of researchers and explorers is determined to settle the dispute by undertaking a seven-month scientific exploration to map and measure the length of the Amazon from the Andes mountain in Peru—where the Amazon river originates—to the Atlantic Ocean, where it ends. A similar exercise will be repeated for the Nile after the Amazon exploration.

These scientific expeditions feel like a throwback to the age of exploration in the 15th to 17th centuries and fights over the so-called ‘discovery’ of territories and landmarks in Africa that facilitated Europe’s colonial project in the 19th century. 

It is doubtful, however, as McCoy et al, and other scholars, have observed, that the two expeditions will lay the matter to rest. Rivers notoriously change; their lengths and shorelines can be affected by floods, canals, and other natural and man-made elements, making it difficult for any measurement to withstand the test of time.

It is also not easy to determine where a river begins and ends. Some geographers, for instance, trace the sources of rivers to the distant ends of tributaries rather than where the rivers collect their largest body of water. 

What is more, nations quarrel over the origins and endpoints of rivers, suggesting that any resolution that disadvantages some countries is unlikely to enjoy universal acceptance. 

The Nile’s geographical and historical significance

Apart from its extraordinary length, the Nile is also famous for its enormous drainage basin, covering almost three million square kilometres or 10 percent of Africa’s landmass.

It is the world’s third-largest river basin after the Amazon and Congo rivers. Eleven countries (Uganda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, Eritrea, Tanzania, and Democratic Republic of Congo), and more than 250 million people, share the basin and depend on it for fresh water and agriculture. 

Its two main tributaries are the White Nile, which starts at Lake Victoria in Uganda, and the Blue Nile, which originates from Ethiopia’s Lake Tana.

The White Nile (so-called because of the clay on its riverbed) is longer than the Blue Nile, but the Blue Nile is larger and feeds more than 70 percent of the water in the Nile.

The Blue Nile is currently the basis of a water dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia, which is building a dam to provide electricity to its people and industries. 

Egypt is concerned that the dam will reduce the water flow of the Nile downstream. The Blue and White Nile tributaries meet in Khartoum in Sudan and form a single river, which flows to Egypt and drains into the Mediterranean.

The Nile is a great source of the cosmologies or belief systems of the people who inhabit its drainage basin. The most well-known of those beliefs can be traced to Ancient Egypt, whose towns were located along the Nile. 

Even today, about 95 percent of Egyptians live within 20 kilometres of the river. The daily lives of Ancient Egyptians were organised according to variations in the river’s water level. A key feature of the Nile is its yearly flooding, which deposits rich soil on the riverbanks, making it ideal for agriculture. 

However, too much flood could damage crops and houses, and flood failure could cause famine. 

Getting the flood level right generated many myths among Ancient Egyptians, who believed that the floods were the work of gods. These myths, among others, are captured in Geraldine Pinch’s Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt. The floods were associated with prosperity and fertility, or life in general. 

Two mythical gods, Khnum and Hapi, were invested with powers of creation and control of the floods. Khnum was the master of the Nile water who brought prosperity, and Hapi controlled the floods. 

The death and resurrection of a third god, Osiris, allegedly killed by his brother, cut into 40 pieces, and thrown into the Nile, was linked with the rise and fall of the flood. The flood was believed to have been caused by the tears of mourning by his wife, Isis. The annual flood occurred between June and September and provided a reference point for the Ancient Egyptian calendar. 

The New Year began with the flood season, followed by the agricultural season, and ended with the harvest season. We now know that the floods are primarily caused by monsoons or heavy rainfall—not gods—in the Ethiopian highlands. 

The belief systems or cosmologies of Ugandans and Ethiopians living in the Nile basin are different from those of Ancient Egyptians, as Terje Oestigaard documents in his study *The Sources of the Nile and Paradoxes of Religious Waters*. Ethiopians perceive the source of the river as an outflow from Paradise and are, therefore, holy. 

To Ugandans, however, the water is not holy but possesses spiritual powers derived from the forces of the waterfalls. The river spirits are believed to have healing properties that can cure various kinds of illnesses and problems.

Fighting for the source of the Nile 

Locating the source of the Nile has been a mystery since time immemorial. It has captivated explorers, geographers, and philosophers, even though people were already living at the source thousands of years before outsiders started to be obsessed with it.

The North American Review, the oldest literary magazine in the US, provided a 21-page rich overview of three major works on the sources of the Nile in 1867, just a few years after John Speke succeeded in identifying its main source.

Three prominent figures in antiquity stand out in that review: the Greek historian and geographer Herodotus, the Roman Emperor Nero, and the Greek geographer and astronomer Ptolemy. 

Herodotus propounded different views about the Nile. In one view, he believed that the sources of the Nile could be traced to the far west in the Atlas Mountains in North Africa.

In another view, he traced the Blue Nile to Ethiopia where, he believed, Egyptian soldiers were allowed to settle by an Ethiopian king as compensation for helping him defeat an army mutiny.

And his explanation of the Nile’s annual low floods in winter, which he linked to wind blowing the sun to Egypt and sucking up the water, was fanciful. It was during the reign of Nero, a Roman emperor, in the first century that the first serious attempt was made to navigate the Nile and identify its true source.

Nero sponsored two commanders to trace the origin. They sailed as far as the south of Sudan, but aborted the journey because of a huge, seemingly impassable swamp, called the Sudd.

Claudius Ptolemy, another great classical geographer, used information he claimed he obtained from merchants who had traveled to East Africa to draw a map of Africa that depicted the Nile originating from two parallel lakes six degrees south of the equator that received their water from what he believed were ‘Mountains of the Moon’.

This was, of course, pure speculation, even though his guess about the location of the lakes was not too far off the mark as explorers later confirmed in the nineteenth century. Even though great strides have been made to establish the Nile’s source, we were astonished to learn that the issue remains hotly contested even today. 

Our background reading revealed two interesting disputes over the source. The first was a vicious quarrel between two Englishmen, Richard Burton, and John Speke, in the nineteenth century, with each claiming to be the first to identify where the Nile started; the second relates to the competing claims of Burundi, and, to a lesser extent, Rwanda that the Nile originated in their sections of the river basin, and not in Uganda.

Foreign expeditions, sponsored by European governments or private trading companies for territorial expansion and commerce were common in the nineteenth century.

As Dane Kennedy, a historian of the British empire, points out, one of the big mysteries of the Victorian era that ruling classes and explorers obsessed about was the source of the Nile. Indeed, the Nile’s source was seen as the biggest geographical puzzle of the time. 

To unravel its mystery, the British Royal Geographic Society decided in 1857 to sponsor Richard Burton—an eccentric, racist aristocrat with a passion for adventure, writing, and languages—who invited John Speke, a surveyor of lower social standing to join him in the expedition.

The difficulties Burton and Speke encountered in their East Africa adventure, and their fierce rivalry and public spat, when they returned to England, are elegantly narrated by Candice Millard in river of the GODS: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile.

Speke took advantage of Burton’s illness to venture deep into the interior to work on information the team received from locals about a big lake that was larger than Lake Tanganyika, which Burton thought was the Nile’s source.

The big lake, which Speke later named Lake Victoria (ignoring its various local names, such as Nalubaale, Nyanza, and Ukerewe), turned out to be the source of the Nile.

Speke rushed back to England and announced his ‘discovery’ to the consternation of Burton, who denounced him as fraudulent.

Both men were scheduled to debate each other in public but Speke died from a discharge of his gun a day before the debate. 

The second dispute over the source of the Nile involves the rival claims of Burundi and Rwanda as the true sources of the river.

Burundi’s claim is aided by a German explorer, Burkhart Waldecker, who challenged Speke’s Lake Victoria finding and traveled to Burundi in 1937 to look for the southernmost tributary that he believed was where the true source of the Nile should be located. His journey, which was believed lasted four years, took him high on the hills above Lake Tanganyika, about 115 kilometres from the capital, Bujumbura. 

He identified a stream, which he claimed was the source, that fed the Luvironza River, a tributary of the Kagera River, which is fed by Lake Rweru in Rwanda.

The Kagera River itself has two major tributaries —the Nyabarongo in Rwanda and the Ruvubu in Burundi—and flows into the mighty Lake Victoria, which feeds the Nile.

Waldeker built a stone pyramid at his proclaimed source in Burundi with a Latin inscription stating that it is the southernmost head of the Nile.

The problem Burundi has in pushing this claim is that the tributary source monument it has constructed for public view flows from a small pipe and is very underwhelming.

It cannot match the spectacular sight of the Nile connecting with Lake Victoria at Jinja in Uganda. 

Journey to Jinja and the Nile’s riverbank

We left Kampala early in the morning to travel to the source of the Nile at Jinja, Uganda’s second-largest city and industrial hub before the expulsion by Idi Amin, of Indians, who dominated business in the city, in the 1970s. Our main driver, Bosco, was indisposed, so he recommended his friend, Hassan, to drive us.

Hassan warned us about the large number of trailers that ply the 80-kilometer Kampala-Jinja highway, which is the main road that links Uganda to Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan, and Eastern DRC. 

Despite the road’s incredibly heavy traffic, it is still a single-carriageway. It is notorious for fatal accidents, which, on average, occur almost every week.

Uganda’s *New Vision* newspaper described it as a death trap in 2011 and called for its expansion into a dual carriageway. Hassan was very cautious during the journey; he rarely attempted to overtake even slow-moving vehicles. 

We learned about the Ssezibwa Falls, which is listed as a spiritual site for the Baganda and located off the Jinja highway, just 32 kilometres away from Kampala.

Unfortunately, we did not include it in our trip, but understand that it is a great place to visit before proceeding to the Nile.

A view of the falls shows water flowing through narrow rocks and dropping from a height of 17 metres into a large basin.

It is reported that the Kabakas of yesteryears visited the falls to seek blessings and good health—a practice that ordinary people still engage in, according to the blog *Mission Africa*, by offering sacrifices, such as chicken, eggs, sheep, and goats to the gods. 

We passed through Mabira Forest, Uganda’s second largest forest, located about twenty kilometres from Jinja. The highway cuts through the forest for about 30 kilometres, providing a rare view of continuous forest for nature lovers.

It was wonderful to be driven for more than twenty minutes and, apart from the tarmac, surrounded by a thick, green forest on both sides of the road. Deep inside the forest is an amazing lodge, The Rainforest Lodge, with 12 elevated chalets built with local forest materials.

The lodge provides an awesome view of the forest from each room. In one of the vlogs we watched, a room relaxation is like being fully immersed in the forest, with its stunning sounds of insects, birds, and small animals. We regretted not spending a night or two there before going to the Nile. 

We drove through the beautiful 525-meter-long cable-stayed Jinja Nile bridge on the outskirts of Jinja.

When we arrived in Jinja, a boda-boda rider kindly led us to the Nile’s bank. We passed through wide and untarred roads with elegant houses before we finally arrived at the site.

We paid a modest entrance fee and were given a guide for the boat ride. The boat owner gave us the prices of two boats for the trip: a small standard boat with one engine and a big boat with two engines, which was twice the price of the standard boat.

He persuaded us to choose the big boat because, as he claimed, the river and lake could be rough. We went along with his suggestion even though we later realised that the smaller boat could also have been safe as the water was very calm.

We ordered lunch at the restaurant to be eaten after the trip and left to explore the Nile with Hassan, the guide, the boat captain, and an uninvited man who turned out to be a photographer. 

Cruising on the Nile and Lake Victoria

The boat was clean and spacious, and we felt very safe in it. The trip was scheduled to last for an hour. We sailed past a forest with lots of birds, monkeys, and other small animals; and spotted a huge and unique lizard as well as a rare monkey.

We also saw what looked like a holiday camp but the guide told us it was used as a site by locals who believe that the river has spiritual powers and that bathing in it in the middle of the night is therapeutic. 

After about 30 minutes, we finally got to the source. It was truly awesome and a moment to savor, especially after everything we had read about the long history of speculations and conflicts to locate it.

There is a small island right at the confluence of the Nile and Lake Victoria where tour boats anchor to allow visitors to grasp the site’s magnificence. However, we later learned that Speke identified Rippon Falls, not far from the island, as the real source of the Nile.

Unfortunately, the British colonial government built a dam in the area (Owen Falls dam, renamed Naalubale Power Station) in 1954, which submerged the falls as well as the nearby Owen Falls, and extended Lake Victoria.

Our guide told us that before the dam was constructed, the water level was very low and it could be seen shooting up five metres; but now, because the falls have been submerged, only bubbles of water could be seen, which he illustrated by pointing to areas where this occurs. Before the dam, the depth of the area was 10 metres, but now, according to the guide, it is 40 metres. 

The submerged Owen and Rippon Falls as well as the nearby Bujagali Falls and Itanda Falls are now famous for rapids and water sports, such as white water rafting, kayaking, bungee jumping, river bugging, and quad biking.

Many tourists stay for several nights and combine visits to the source of the Nile with these activities.

The guide showed us a shallow area by the island that looked like a pool, with a man removing stones from the water.

He referred to it as a jacuzzi because, according to him, the water was not only warm but bubbled where the river connected with the lake.

We learned that visitors could pay a fee to get into the ‘pool’, but we did not try it. Many other boats with several tourists anchored on the island, creating a lively atmosphere.

We bought a souvenir that depicted the source of the Nile at a small shop on the island and continued the rest of the cruise on Lake Victoria where we saw some fishing boats, that supply fish to the restaurant we had placed an order for lunch on our return.

The flow of water on Lake Victoria was much calmer than at the confluence. We saw a lot of birds on the way and were shown a harbour where ships from Kenya and Tanzania were said to anchor. 

One of the most memorable sights was a huge floating island with vegetable and wild plants—almost the size of a football field—that was moving on Lake Victoria.

We initially thought it was stationary until we cruised close to it and the guide told us that heavy rains sometimes detach large chunks of land from the mainland and deposit them as floating objects on the lake.

We got a spectacular view of the floating island when we returned to base on the riverbank, and the island entered the Nile and picked up speed. It was an amazing sight.

We had never seen anything like it before and wondered whether it would end up in the Mediterranean 40 days later without obstruction (the time, we learned, floating objects take to travel from Jinja to Egypt).

We later had a heavy lunch of tilapia fish and chips to crown our very enjoyable cruise, with Nigerian Afrobeats music blaring from one section of the riverbank complex and a few tourists having fun on a dance floor. 

The only part of the trip we did not like was when the uninvited man who posed as a photographer showed us a large number of photos of us he had taken with a bill.

We told him we did not hire him for the trip and that we had also taken many photos and videos with our phones.

However, we later decided to pay for the photos after reducing the price and warned him to not repeat the trick on other visitors because he might not be lucky to get paid. We justified our payment as a small tax or gift for the truly amazing fun that we had. 

Conclusion

The best way to enjoy a cruise on the Nile is to be armed with sufficient information on the controversies that have defined its geography and history.

The Nile is not only the bedrock of ancient civilization, but it is also arguably the only river in the world that is invested with so many historical myths stretching back to antiquity, claims and counterclaims on its source and length, and having a basin that serves hundreds of millions of people in almost a dozen countries and over which nations quarrel and may fight for control of its water.

As Robert Collins has observed in his book, *The Nile*, no other river has supported so much human diversity and curiosity. 

Visiting the source felt like a pilgrimage that needed to be performed. Burundi and Rwanda will surely continue to claim that the real sources of the Nile are tributary streams or rivers in their areas of the Nile basin.

It is doubtful, however, that the feeling we had at the confluence of the Nile and Lake Victoria could be replicated by visits to the tributary sources, which are devoid of direct links to the Nile.

Going to the source at Jinja was a high-water mark of our tour in Uganda and an accomplishment of childhood dreams.

Bio Note: Yusuf Bangura was a Research Coordinator at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva between 1990 and 2012 and the lead author of the Institute’s flagship report Combatting Poverty and Inequality: Structural Change, Social Policy and Politics (2012).

He was Series Editor of the Palgrave-Macmillan and UNRISD Series Ethnic Inequalities and Governance of the Public Sector and Developmental Pathways to Poverty Reduction.

After leaving UNRISD he taught international political economy at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone in 2013-14. He also taught political science at the Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria from 1980-88.

Kadiatu Bangura was trained as a nurse at the National School of Nursing in Sierra Leone and worked at the Connaught Hospital and Princess Christian Maternity Hospital in Freetown in the 1970s and 1980s.

After moving to Switzerland, she pursued a reintegration course at the Centre Romand d’Education Permanente de l’Association Suisse des Infirmières et Infirmiers in Lausanne in 2002 to enable her work in Switzerland.

She worked as a nurse at Fondation du Midi in Nyon between 2003 and 2021.