On the first of January 1912, the Busoga Railway running between Jinja and Namasagali was opened by Governor Sir Frederick Jackson. The initial cost was £169,128 and 7,700 tons of construction materials had been laboriously hauled up from Mombassa to Port Florence (Kisumu) then shipped across to the fledgling port of Jinja. The planned railhead at Kakindu was shifted to Namasagali after a study by a Commission, appointed in November 1911, found the slipway unusable and the narrow channel of the Nile between Kakindu and Namasagali was too rocky and the current swift. The railway opened up a large area of Uganda to commercial farming. Cotton farmed around the shores of Lake Kioga was the major crop exported by the railway.

The railway from Kenya to Jinja was completed in 1927 and originally ran from Turbo to Mbulamuti where it connected with the Busoga Railway and there to Jinja. The line from Kampala to Jinja was completed in 1930 but the final section of the Nile Bridge wasn’t completed until 1931.

On our safari we will follow this causeway, bashing through the overgrowth where necessary and visit the station and the railhead. To get there we have some of the best quad bike tracks available for our pleasure and the promise of a real adventure.

We continue down the Nile valley and you will get a chance to work up a good appetite on some mean old bits of track before we stop for a picnic lunch on the banks of the river. Some interesting sections after lunch take us to Itanda Falls.After a short stop here (with a bit of luck we can watch rafters getting trashed in ‘The Bad Place’ if thw timing is right!) we have road and track sections to take us further downstream, arriving at the canoe landing site opposite the Hairy Lemon island campsite late in the afternoon. We leave the quads parked by the bank and travel across to the island by banana boat ferry. You will be able to wash the grime from the day’s travels off by diving in from the sandy beach that borders the water-volley ball court or take a hot shower. There is a fully stocked bar. Special dietary requirements must be specified in advance. We will spend 2 nights at this beautiful tourist site.

DAY TWO: Breakfast on the island and then back across the river to the quads. Today the route takes us up to Mbulamuti and out to the old railway station. Most of the old buildings are still standing although not for a lot longer. Then we follow the causeway back into town and pick up the trail of the old railway, in many places just a walking track now, through farms, forest and villages downstream to Namasagali. A picnic lunch underneath the tall mango trees bordering the grounds of Namasagali University and overlooking the steam crane monument will refresh and give you energy to look forward to the return run, retracing our morning route in some places and trailblazing new sections where possible. A labyrinth of small tracks ensures many interesting possibilities.