About Us

About us

Chel and Vade Cottages is located in a quiet residential part of Jinja tucked away from the bustle and hassle of the city centre. We guarantee you real life and comfort for the best price and convenience.

Whether you are travelling for business, work or pleasure, Chel and Vade is the best place for you. Be it a family holiday, wedding and office parties, Chel and Vade have something special to suit everyone’s budget.

We have a total of 18 accommodation units; that is, 15 standard room and 3 apartments.

About Jinja

Before 1906, Jinja was a fishing village that benefited from being located on long-distance trade routes. The origin of the name “Jinja” comes from the language of the two peoples (the Bagandaand the Basoga) that lived on either side of the River Nile in the area. In both languages “Jinja” means “Rock”. In most of Africa, rivers like the Nile hindered migration, this explains the ethnic boundaries along the Nile as one moves north from the river’s source on the northern shores of Lake Victoria.

However the area around Jinja was one place where the river could be breached due to the large rocks near the Ripon Falls. Here, on either bank of the river, were large flat rocks where small boats could be launched to cross the river. These rock formations were also accredited with providing a natural moderator for the water flow out of Lake Victoria. For the original local inhabitants, the location was a crossing point, for trade, migration and as a fishing post.

This might explain why, despite this barrier, the two tribes have very similar languages, and the more powerful Baganda had an enormous influence on the Basoga. The area was called the ‘Place of Rocks’ or ‘The Place of Flat Rocks’. The word for stones or rocks in the language of the Baganda is ‘Ejjinja (Plural Amayinja), and in the Basoga dialect this became Edinda. The British used this reference to name the town they established – “Jinja”

In 1954,with the building of the Owen Falls Dam, (later renamed Nalubaale Power Station, the Ripon Falls were submerged. Most of the ‘Flat Rocks’ that gave the area its name disappeared under water as well. However a description of what the area looked like can be found in the notes of John Hanning Speke, the first European to lay eyes on the Source of the Nile:

“Though beautiful, the scene was not exactly what I expected, for the broad surface of the lake was shut out from view by a spur of hill, and the falls, about twelve feet deep and four to five hundred feet broad, were broken by rocks; still it was a sight that attracted one to it for hours. The roar of the waters, the thousands of passenger fish leaping at the falls with all their might, the fishermen coming out in boats, and taking post on all the rocks with rod and hook, hippopotami and crocodiles lying sleepily on the water, the ferry at work above the falls, and cattle driven down to drink at the margin of the lake, made in all, with the pretty nature of the country-small grassy-topped hills, with trees in the intervening valleys and on the lower slopes-as interesting a picture as one could wish to see”.

The town was founded in 1907 by the British, as an administrative centre for the Provincial Government Headquarters for Busoga region. Jinjais the capital of Busoga region, and in 1956, it was granted municipality status. Jinja was the industrial heart of Uganda between 1954 and the late 1970s – supported by power from the hydroelectric Nalubaale Power Station at the Owen Falls Dam, which was completed in 1954. The people who live in Busoga region are called the Basoga who speak Lusoga as dialect of the Bantu people.

Transport
At the moment, one can travel from the capital city – Kampala to Jinja by the following means;

• By road – There is a good tarmacroad West from Jinja to the capital, Kampala 87 kilometers (54 miles).
• By air – Jinja airstrip for both civilian and military use is located at Kimaka, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles), North of Jinja’s central business district.

Local attractions

• White-water rafting
• Visit to the source of the mighty River Nile and John Speke viewpoint monument.
• Fishing on both river Nile and Lake Victoria.
• Playing golf in the 9 holes (18 tee) golf course was originally laid out in the mid-1920s; and famously had a local rule allowing a free drop of the ball if it came to rest in a hippo’s hoof print. The course has tremendous views of the Nile and Lake Victoria and the second green is within a ‘lob wedge’ of the source of the Nile.
• Jet boating in a custom made 12-seater jet boat imported from New Zealand racing up the rapids at breathtaking speeds powered by the 450HP
• Nile high bungee jumping into River Nile from a height of 44 meters above the water
• Sailingprivate sailing Club on the shores of Lake Victoria
• Horseback riding
• Quad biking tourism at the banks of the river Nile
• Visit to a large brewery that produces the famous Nile Special beer
• Mahatma Gandhi bronze bust donated by the Indian Government in commemoration the scattering of Gandhi’s ashes into the Nile after his death. There is a small memorial garden at the spot.
• Hindu temple and Buddhist temples