THE Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) has put up measures to eradicate Tsetse flies around Murchison Falls National Park, the biggest Uganda Wildlife Park in Uganda, famous for wildlife safaris in Uganda. Murchison Falls National Park is a big distance from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, famous for gorilla tours in Uganda.
“This will help restore confidence in the tourists who come to the country as well as boost the tourism sector,” noted the Assistant Commissioner for Entomology Fredrick Luyimbazi.
While on a tour of the Murchison Falls National Park recently, Luyimbazi explained that although the flies had reduced, the few left need to be wiped out.
Luyimbazi who also visited Sambiya River Lodge, Red Chilli Rest House and the UWA offices all located in the Murchison Falls National Park urged government to provide more funds for eradication of the flies.
He explained how the ministry recently received what he referred to as negative publicity towards the tourism sector which he said may upset the trade.
“A tourist who visited Murchison Falls National Park in early August posted bad news on the internet of how they were swarmed by tsetse flies on arrival while cautioning others to avoid the place,” he explained.
He however noted that an aerial spraying using environmental friendly pesticide was the answer to the flies.
Uganda as gorilla safari destination
Uganda is voted the top country to visit in 2012 by Lonely Planet!
Soon
Rwanda New Airport by 2016
Rwanda government seeks bids for new airport
Rwanda government was seeking bids to build a new international airport in collaboration with private sector investors as it seeks to overhaul its infrastructure sector to cope with its expanding economy.
A tender document seen by Reuters in Kigali said the Rwanda government was calling for expressions of interest from airport operators to design, build, finance, maintain and operate Bugesera International Airport through a 25-year concession agreement.
The area is 25km southeast of Kigali City, Rwandan Capital! It is expected to handle 3 million passengers per annum by 2030 and expected to be operational by 2016.
Bugesera International airport will help in boosting Rwanda tourism developments for gorilla tracking, chimpanzee tours, wildlife viewing safaris, mountain hiking, cultural trips, birding tours and many more.
Rwanda Gorillas in the Mist
Rwanda Gorilla Tours – A wonderful Experience
Of all the shows, you can be on a safari in Africa, the most haunting and memorable is an encounter with a mountain gorilla in Rwanda.
Few adventure experiences can compare with the sheer wonder and admiration humiliating to witness these creatures in nature. On your gorilla tour, it was the famous American naturalist George Schaller, who said “Nobody who looks at a gorilla’s eyes – intelligent, gentle, vulnerable – can remain unchanged, the gap between ape and man disappears, we know that the gorilla still lives in us.” Gorilla Trek Rwanda
Schaller is revealing beautifully and succinctly, to see African lions, herds of elephants, leopards and rhinos are exciting and certainly an event focusing on, however, there is something more, something almost ethereal, like clouds of these elusive beasts.
It is this ethereal feeling which resonates so heartbreaking when it comes to you face to face with a distant relative at a time so strange yet so familiar. With fewer than 800 mountain gorillas in the wild in small scattered areas in Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC, the pulses to see these animals, learn from them and therefore understand their situation has never been greater. The major threats to gorillas due to habitat loss to human settlements and agricultural land, sometimes poaching. This to some extent affect mountain gorilla tours.
More on Rwanda Gorilla Tours
By Paul Basudde
Senior Tours Consultant
Africa Adventure Safaris
Baby Gorilla Rescued From Poachers
7th Aug 2011
Rwandan Police, Sunday night, rescued a male baby mountain Gorilla of age between 8 to12 months from poachers. The male baby gorilla was smuggled from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into Rwanda by a group of 3 poachers named as Jean Baptiste Mushebeje, Musabyimana Elia and Tuma Janvier . They were all held under Police custody in Gisenyi.
Jean Baptiste Mushebeje is a resident of Rwazekuma sector in Rubavu district in DR Congo claimd to have bought this baby gorilla at 9 Million Rwandan francs, an equivalent of $15,000. He confessed to have been following up this deal to buy the specific baby gorilla from a DR Congo dealer for about a year and was linked to Congolese poachers based in Rugali.
Rwandan police should be appreciated for quick response and strong collaboration in conservation of natural resources. This baby mountain gorilla was taken by the Chief Warden to the orphanage care facility at Kinigi.
Poaching continues to be a threat to wild animal conservation efforts but Rwandan Government is committed in the fight against poaching.
While investigations are ongoing RDB has contacted their counterparts in ICCN (in charge of National Parks in DRC); the latter are going to check which gorilla family has lost its member.
As per the agreement that unites the three countries (Rwanda, DR Congo and Uganda), the scientific committee advises that a minimum of 30 days quarantine is imposed. Thus, the baby gorilla is kept at the Kinigi Orphanage facility for close health monitoring. Currently the baby gorilla in good health.
All in all, Congo Gorilla Trekking is excellent! The country is very safe and open for international tourists. Dr Congo has both Mountain Gorillas in Virunga Mountains and Eastern as well as Western Lowland Gorillas.
By Paul Basudde
Senior Tours Consultant
Africa Adventure Safaris
Kampala – Uganda
2 Gorilla Groups Open in Rwanda
2 New Gorilla Families open in Volcanoes National Park – Rwanda
The Rwanda Development Board has announced two new gorilla families open for tourism. This is to boost gorilla tourism in Rwanda. This brings a total of 10 gorilla groups in Rwanda. The total number of gorilla permits available per day is 80.
As a result there is now last minute availability of gorilla permits for August and September 2011! There is availability at Africa Adventure Safaris during this period also. These additional gorilla permits are only available until the 1st October 2011.
By Basudde Paul
Nyungwe Canopy walk
The canopy walk located in the center of the track Igishigishigi is 40 meters above ground level and 90 meters long, in a steep valley and deep, offering tourists the vertiginous platform from which to be “eye-level eye “, with different species of primates, and many species of birds, which like to live above the scales of the jungle.
Uwinka interpretation center – Nyungwe Forest Climbing Rwenzoris
Uwinka is new modern Interpretation Centre which gives tourists the chance to experience the park before stepping into the forest. It is an interactive learning centre with exciting facts and images dedicated to the National Park and the surrounding communities.
Uganda Birding Training
Bird Watching training for Uganda Tour Operators
Uganda has a very large number of species of birds, some of which are endemic in a country like a fox weaver. Uganda has more than 1047 species of birds in all, and offers great opportunities for bird watching safaris avid birder.
The lack of marketing in Uganda, along with some quality birding guides have restricted the development of birdwatching in Uganda. In comparison the United States sees more than 80 million bird watchers every year compared to more species of birds in Uganda.
The Wildlife Authority of Uganda, however, recognized the importance of observation of birds and has now begun to focus on the formation of birding guides and many young people and operators in Uganda Tour Company.
According to Mr. Steven Masaba Uganda Wildlife Authority acting Director, responsible for tourism in Uganda – the Pearl of Africa has the largest population of birds across the continent.
Of all the bird species found in Africa 50% are in Uganda and 10% of bird species around the world.
About 50 bird watching guides were passed out at the Kibale forest national park that has the Makerere University Biological field station in Fort Portal.
Uganda’s bird watching potential if properly marketed can generate high income which would rival chimpanzee and other primates tracking and gorilla trekking that are leading Uganda tourist attractions. Additionally, more employment opportunities are created, thus boosting the Country’s economy.
Efforts are underway to help create routes of birds and draw the birding sites of many protected areas to help stimulate the sector.
The 10 best safaris in Africa
The 10 best safaris in Africa: Must see Destinations in Africa
Whether you go deep bush in northern Kruger or follow the big cats in the
Africa Safaris and Tours
Maasai Mara, a trip into the wilderness will be life-changing.
Duba, Botswana
It is generally believed that Botswana’s lions are the biggest in Africa. This is certainly the case with the large, magnificent prides of Duba namely the Skimmer pride and the Tsaro pride, both of which were controlled for some years by two splendid males known as the Duba Boys. The Duba Boys sadly passed away last year 2009, and for the moment a younger Skimmer male has taken over both prides. We shall see what happens next, as inevitably other males will move into the territory looking to take over these prides and all hell could break loose.
What is so unusual about Duba is that these lions hunt by day – most prides throughout the continent hunt at night – and so visitors to Duba can watch marvellous set pieces as the lions and the buffalo take each other on in epic battles. I have been lucky enough to witness some of these battles which, from the initial stalking to the final kill and pride feeding, have run through an entire afternoon.
Mundulea Nature Reserve, Namibia
Covered in seemingly endless bush, the rugged hills and sparse plains of
Namibian Leopard
Mundulea Nature Reserve may match a thousand corners of Africa, but it’s the exceptional resident guide and his vision of conservation that set it apart. A decade ago, Mundulea was four large cattle farms and things were very different.
“It took two years to remove the 127km [79 miles] of internal fences,” remembered its founder, Bruno Nebe, as we wandered through his private reserve. Bruno’s aim has always been to restore the area’s ecology: “And not just the animals; the botanical side as well”, he explained, stopping to talk about the nutritional value of the grasses at our feet. African gorilla trekking
His purple T-shirt and jaunty Rastafarian hat – rather than regulation khaki and cap – bore testament to an unorthodox style. Although one of Africa’s top guides, he has never been to guiding school. Bruno grew up in Namibia, working summers on his father’s game farm, and studied for a degree in zoology before switching to fine art. Eight years at a top German film school, capped with photographic prizes, led to him covering Namibia’s Independence in 1990.
Almost 20 years later, as we climb a rock-strewn slope, Bruno talks enthusiastically about bush encroachment, burning biomass and the digestive tracts of zebras. In the distance, a small group of black-faced impala align their lyre-shaped horns to study our progress. “There are probably less than 1,000 of this native subspecies left; we reintroduced 38 three years ago: now we have 127.”
Later walks yielded more game – a herd of eland, a relaxed leopard in the fading sun and even a glimpse of rhino – but the animals and conservation projects at Mundulea aren’t the main attraction. If we had only seen the impala, it wouldn’t have mattered: a guide as inspirational as Bruno is what makes a truly great African safari.
Northern Kenya Tourism Zone
Up in Northern Kenya region, right up against the Ethiopian border, far away from the fashionable animal-stuffed parks, you can find it. To wander through a land that is populated only by the indigenous peoples to whom it belongs, who live easily and naturally among all its inhabitants, the lion and the elephant as well as the goat and the cow, is to have a glimpse of how things once were and how perhaps they ought to be.
To go deep into Samburu, expect to enjoy a glimpse of an Africa that almost everywhere else has vanished. The days acquire a rhythm of their own. With them you can walk in the morning, lunch in the shade of some acacia trees and then as the sun begins to cool you walk some more, arriving at the end of the day to find the tents are up, there’s a kettle on the fire and dinner around the campfire is already cooking.
The downside is that the game is sparse and very skittish, but for an intense immersion into the Africa many of us dream about, it’s hard to beat.
The Zambezi Valley, Zambia
There are few other places in Africa that feel as unspoilt as this valley, through which the sluggish Zambezi river flows past grassy floodplains and lush riverine forests beneath a soaring purple escarpment. It is only here you can see full-moon eclipse: a burning white flat circle brightening into a bulbous orange orb against a black sky littered with billions of glittering stars. While in The Zambezi valley, expect sleepless night as lions moaned and roared around my tent. Here where I marvelled at the migration of clouds of brown-veined white butterflies en route to East Africa, watched a leopard flick its tail on a branch above my head, saw a baby elephant swim beside its mother across the waters from Zimbabwe, and held my breath as a prehistoric-looking crocodile slithered off its sandbank into the murky waters beneath my canoe.
This is not a park; it’s a wilderness that happens to have a sprinkling of rather comfortable camps and expert guides to bring comfort and knowledge to the experience: Chongwe (www.chongwe.com), with its romantic open-sided tented suites, or Chiawa (www.chiawa.com), with its passionate guides, or Sausage Tree (www.sausagetreecamp.com), with its perfectly positioned sunset cocktail deck. Best of all are the activities available, from walking with armed guides in the early morning to angling for tigerfish, canoeing, boating and spotting nocturnal creatures by torchlight. Or just sitting with a cold beer, listening to hyenas whoop in the hills at night.
Gorilla Tours in Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo offer an unforgettable, life-changing experience. Gorilla trekking, offers a thrilling adventure experience on a Uganda Safari or Rwanda Tour. Africa Adventure Safaris specialise in creating these magical journeys that take you for a trek into Parc National des Volcans, in search the endangered mountain gorillas.
The Central Kalahari Game Reserve
This is Africa`s greatest wildlife reserve in Kenya. It is without a doubt Africa’s most famous tour destination. The Mara Ecosystem holds one of the highest lion densities in world and this is where over two million wildebeest and zebra migrate annually. The park is also famous for the Big Five Kenya safari.
Masai mara plains covers 1510Km2 within the Great Rift Valley. It is just 275Km from Nairobi. The land scape is characterized by open savannahs, rolling grasslands as well as undulating hills that set the scene for the splendor of the Mara.
The wildlife is abundant and the gentle rolling grasslands ensure that animals are never out of sight. Avi-fauna is prolific and Includes migrants, over 450 species have been recorded, among them, 57 species of birds of prey.
According to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the number of Wild animals in Uganda’s national parks and game reserves has soared over the past decade.
The latest figures show that the population of some species has doubled since 1999, spokeswoman Lillian Nsubuga said.
Wildlife had benefited from improved monitoring and the expulsion of rebels from the country, she added. The animals on the rise include buffalos, giraffes, and elephants.
New statistics show that the population with the biggest increase is that of the Impala, a grazing antelope. The number of Impala in Uganda has surged to more than 35,000, from around 1,600 at the time of the last census in 1999. Hippopotamuses, waterbucks, and zebras are also on the increase.
Ms Nsubuga said the UWA had been able to reduce poaching by improving the monitoring of national parks and reserves and by offering incentives to local communities to protect wildlife.
Since the expulsion of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) from northern Uganda, wildlife officials have also been able to limit poaching in Murchison Falls National Park.
“We can’t say that poaching is no longer a problem, but we have been able to reduce it”, Ms Nsubuga said.
Murchison Falls ins the biggest wildlife park in Uganda, with major tour activities being Game Viewing drives, launch cruise to the Bottom of Murchison falls, Nature walks, Chimpanzee trekking in Kanio Pabidi Forest reserves and excellent birding among others.
