Touring Jinja is incomplete without a stop in Mabira

A tourist at Itanda Falls in Jinja. The falls are among the top tourist destinations in Jinja. Photo by Aggrey Nshekanabo

At the close of October, it was the Tulambule Jinja weekend escape, a Uganda Tourism Board, Uganda Wildlife Authority and Ministry of Tourism initiative. This was on the heels of Tulambule Mbarara weekend escape that took place in September.

While the Mbarara escape was full of glamour with the prime minister launching the initiative, and opening Mbarara Tourism Information Centre, the Jinja one was low key but amazing.

With two friends, Tom Katsyamira of Embassy Tours and Emmanuel Kashaija of Kyambura Go Safaris, we set off to tour Jinja on the weekend of October 28 - 30. Our first stop was at the uniquely designed Rain Forest Lodge in Mabira where we had our lunch.
The Kenyan chef blew my taste buds away.

She is out of this world, this Utali trained kitchen general. I ordered a vegetable starter which was mildly spiced. My main course was steamed rice, vegetables, pork chops and gravy!

And the desert was apple bananas with honey and chocolate scrapes.

I am not into food photography, but I could not resist clicking away! The presentation was skillful and artistic. I asked to meet the chef if not for a tip but a bear hug and a thank you, to which she gladly accepted.

We found two diners at the Rain Forest Lodge and asked to join them at their table which they gladly accepted. There was the bubbly Zahara Abdul, a Ugandan Yemenite, who loves the fine things of life and uses the world gladly to a fault.

She was in company of a British writer, Clare Walsh, who was in Uganda collecting stories of triumph from peasants and Zahara was her in-country photographer.

We did not get to swim at a handsome 10$ (about Shs36,000) for non-residents at the lodge’s swimming pool.

We were, however, shown into the chalets which go for not less than $300 (about Shs1 million) for a couple per night on full board basis. A guided forest walk is at 20$ (about Shs72,000).

The main restaurant at the lodge has an inviting escape window as the sun rays cut through the trees.

If you need an escape and have deep pockets to match 300$ (about Shs1 million) a night for a couple, Rain Forest Lodge, Mabira is the deal. The escape could not have come at a better time for me! A three-course meal goes for 15$ (about Shs54,000) with a soft drink.

Tulambule Jinja
I could not resist the temptation of comparison of Jinja Weekend escape with Mbarara’s. As earlier noted, while Mbarara’s had the pomp, with Desire Luzinda headlining the ‘street bash’ and all the tourism top honchos as it fell on World Tourism Day, Jinja was not that lucky.

The beauty about Jinja was, it attracted more Kampala people and the hotels were much aware about the escape than Mbarara. And this came with handsome discounts. We checked in at Surgios Guest House and were treated to mouthwatering pizzas.

Exquisite lodging
I have not indulged this much on a trip as I did at Surgios! The Ugandan British proprietor was at hand to ensure we never lacked. He was also at hand to share business tips to Katsyamira and Kashaija, the two tour operators I travelled with.

Surgios has a cosy swimming pool that can comfortably accommodate five swimmers at a time. It has a small section for children too. We were told, in the 1970’s Surgios was called Palm Tree Guest House and was the escape joint for the then president Idi Amin. The hotel has a separate TV and library room.

The restaurant area, manned by twin sisters is quieter for conversations to flow without the interruption of a TV, which, I found very intimate.

The next day on Sunday, I had a petition to make with my God and walked to St Andrew’s Church for prayers. It is a marvelous colonial architectural offering and the choir is heavenly.

We later lunched at the Nile Anchor and everything was at a discount thanks to Tulambule Weekend Escape compared to Mbarara. Most hotels too, have free access to internet with good speed.

In Mbarara, if you checked in any hotel save for Igongo, Lake View and Embassy Hotel, they would ask you; “Turambure n’ebiki ebyo?” As in, what the heck is Tulambule? While Mbarara had a town walk about Tulambule, folks wondered aloud about the walkers invading their town!

But not before Adrift rubbed us the wrong way as we chose to visit Itanda Falls along Njeru-Kayunga road on our return to Kampala.

By this time, we had more foreign tourists tagging along with us. To access the falls, we were each asked to pay 20$ and not given a receipt.

We were told this was private property belonging to Adrift. Our calls to Adrift Kampala went unanswered. We painfully paid the 20$ to view the remaining water closest falls to Jinja.