Mountain Gorilla Consevation In Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Conservation efforts in Bwindi have historically faced a variety of obstacles, which largely emanated from conflicts of interest over land usage, specifically the desire on the part of local community and members to access Park resources. In the past, Bwindi was faced with serious management problems of poaching, pitsawying, gold mining, wildfire, agricultural encroachment, illegal  and removal of forest products, livestock grazing, crop raiding, lack of personnel and equipment. 

During this time the majority of illegal activities have brought under control by law enforcement and  due to population pressure visà vis increased demand for  livelihood needs, the local  communities will continue to depend on the Park’s resources and the tourism. Conservation problems in  the republic of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo meant that all tourists interested in gorilla safaris headed for Bwindi and at this  time, Bwindi can offer  only 10 gorilla viewing permits per day which are  not enough and has caused UWA problems of designing the best “Gorilla Permits Sharing Policy which has not been possible  and secondly, there is  enormous pressure to have more gorillas habituated for tourism which is very  risky to the  continued existence of gorillas and yet already, one of the tourist groups in Bwindi has continued to shrink in group size which is attributed to the  reason in not yet fully known but gorilla contact with humans might be one of the causes. Nevertheless, another group is being habituated in Bwindi and this is  eventually give an  additional six permits though these  are enough for the wide spread market and are compatible with the gorillas’ continued existence, The BINP Tourism Programme emphasizes  continued gorilla tourism activities, constructing and maintaining a network of tourist trails and tourism diversification. The International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) is helping with this.  Community Conservation

The local communities adjacent to BINP are actively involved in contributing to conservation and management of the Park and the Management Advisory Committees and Park Parish Committees have been set up and are functional units linking the entire local people in the neighborhood to conservation. The community conservation programme is addressing community needs as they relate to the long term conservation of BINP through a multiple use programme, a reenuesharing and the programme, and a Conservation Education Programme. Under this section, there is a crucial issue of crop raiding by gorillas. CARD/DTC is helping in advising and implementing a few initiatives. Research and Monitoring Not much research has or is being done concerning gorillas and their habitat. This has been due to a lack of funds, time constraints and a shortage of expertise. Whereas at a broader level, the Uganda Wildlife Authority is currently implementing a Collaborative Research  and Monitoring Programme.

Adventurous trips in Uganda

Guests man oeuvre the rapids during the water rafting bit of the adrift experience 

If you love to get your adrenaline pumping, this place in Jinja will do it for you with its lineup of white water rafting, wild jet races and high bungee jumping.

It may not sound so familiar to local tourists possibly because of the challenges involved and the fee charged but the nice services and beautiful setting of the Adrift camp make it an attractive place. Adrift is currently the only adventure company offering white water rafting, bungee jumping, jet boating and river surfing on source of the Nile near the then Bujagali Falls in Jinja.

With a daily free shuttle from Kampala to Jinja, after booking at $125 (about Shs337, 500) for a day and $115 (about Shs310, 500) for half a day respectively, there are guides available to serve breakfast upon arrival and take you through the drills of white water rafting.

Water rafting

“You shouldn’t carry any valuable items save for the costume you are going to raft in,” Yasin Magembe, a guide, said at a recent visit. Equipped with paddles, life jackets and helmets, you paddle in inflatable boats or rafting boat as you navigate Africa’s longest river, the Nile.

Minutes into the paddling, you are advised to hold on to the boat as the waves lead you to the rapid falls where the high water pressure forces you down the falls. With rescuers waiting down the falls, cheers from fellow rafters who have already completed the challenge welcome you. It all gives cadence to just how memorable this experience is.

Jet boating

Before you get over the rafting challenge, another exciting one awaits you –racing on the jetting boats, up and down the Nile rapids.

At about 90 kilometers per hour, the boat comes with propulsion jets at the sides which spin at 360 degrees, giving you an experience similar to driving a car on a muddy surface. The challenge costs $75 (about Shs202, 500) per person and is just as memorable.

Bungee jumping

As one marvels about the country’s great wonders on the Nile, the guides take you to another exciting activity – the Nile high bungee jumping at a fee of Shs $115 (about Shs310, 500). Here, one is taken to the Nile High Tower which is about 44 metres high, to free fall to the bottom while you are attached to an elastic rope, which lets you hover above the water before rebounding high above the river and back.

Mr. Gav Fahey, the Adrift Director says the challenge is 100 per cent safe and the tower is therefore built with this in mind.

“Because our tower has been built and operated to such high specifications, jumpers are much more likely to get injured on the road travel from or back to Kampala [than on the tower],” he quips.

Lodging

After burning up all that energy with the jet race, bungee jumping and water rafting, a guest is given different meals of his/her choice at the Wild Waters Lodges. The beautiful scenery at the lodges and rare setting provides another experience at $250 (about Shs 675,000) for a night.

Although each adventure has its own price tag, you can take the challenge of doing all of them in one day and leave Jinja believing that Uganda really is the pearl of Africa.

Kidepo National Park Uganda’s best park for Uganda wildlife tours

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This follows the listing of Kidepo National Park in north eastern Uganda as one of the 10 best parks in Africa by CNN Travel, a US television of global repute.
According to the publication, Africa is regarded as a destination for safari, but Kidepo Valley National Park, covering 1,442 square kilometers is one of the top 10 parks where travelers can find the most outstanding trips.
Kidepo was rated highly by the CNN Travel for its spectacular landscapes and great buffalo herds. “With sprawling savannah and soaring mountains, Kidepo National Park might be the most picturesque park in Africa,” stated the publication.
This comes hot on the heels of another landmark rating of Uganda as one of the top 10 tourism destination globally in the year 2013 by the National Geographic. The National Geographic is an international travel channel affiliated to the National Geographic Society. Also, the Lonely Planet, a travel magazine, rated Uganda as the best travel destination for 2012.
Lillian Nsubuga, the public relations manager of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, told New Vision that the accolades lavished on Uganda shows the richness of the country.
A herd of buffaloes in Kidepo Valley national park
But she pointed out inadequate infrastructure, particularly roads that are undermining exploitation of places like Kidepo. “Foreigners who have been to Kidepo rate it highly because it is one place that gives you value for money,” she said, adding that poaching by the Toposa, a tribe from South Sudan, remains a challenge.
Sharing borders with South Sudan and Kenya, Kidepo is Uganda’s most beautiful, remote and least-explored park, according to the publication. Regarded as a hard-to-reach place in northern Uganda because of the poor state of the roads, Kidepo gets fewer visitors than any other grassland park in Uganda.
“Those who take the trouble to get here are rewarded with phenomenal wildlife sightings and a level of exclusivity that can rarely be got at any cost in neighboring countries,” stated CNN Travel.
“Kidepo Valley Park landscapes are never ending and simply take your breath away - and a stillness only broken by the cry from the wild,” stated a source who has visited. “The sounds of the winds sweeping through the valley, you are amazed that such a place as Kidepo Valley Park even exists.”
He added: “There is an abundance of wildlife, stunning scenery and an absence of people with no caravans of vehicles meandering down the game tracks.” Apart from huge herds of buffaloes, Kidepo is also endowed with lions, elephants, giraffes, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, ostriches, stripped hyenas and hunting dogs.
Others are antelopes such as eland, bush buck, bush duskier, defassa water buck, bohor reed buck, Jackson’s hartebeest and oribi. In addition to the ostriches, it also has plenty of bird life.

For your long wildlife safaris you can get enough of Uganda National Parks

                                                  Hippos at Kasenyi fishing village

 

At the heart of Queen Elizabeth National Park, This haven of wild life is one of the must visit places in Uganda. The most incredible thing about the park though, is the fact that each visit is a novel experience and maybe even better than the first.

Like a colleague quipped, you can never get enough of Queen Elizabeth National Park. This statement is very true. Every time you get there, there is still something new to discover. Although I had been to this place before, it was still quite refreshing to revisit what Uganda Wildlife Authority dubs as Uganda’s most popular tourist destination.

A light drizzle accosted part of the morning ahead of the Uganda safari. On that Friday morning, a group of journalists and I set off from National Theatre at 11.15am, one hour late from the originally scheduled time.

A journey of learning

Our two safari Omnibuses were to move together, as matter of policy from Uganda safari trail, our hosts. A stopover at the equator which divides the earth into the northern and southern hemisphere was made and as usually happens here, Kodak moments took centre stage. “Smile, say cheers,” and other such requests combed the air as camera flashes shone on our faces.

Kato William, our guide and driver was good company as he explained several things along the way, things he had learned over the years from when he was an “intern” of sorts, like he were reading from a book about the park.

Going through its unique selling points, he said the park used to have rinderpest and tsetse flies in the past. These helped drive away many people who had started encroaching on the land. When it was sprayed and eventually rid of the “enemy”, people moved back into it but are now mostly live on its fringes.

At the haven of nature

We arrived some minutes past 7pm, exhausted. After we were allocated double and triple rooms, dinner and sleep occupied our minds most ahead of Saturday’s game drive. On Saturday, we woke up for a 6am breakfast and William spread out the itinerary.

“The park has about 2,500 elephants. Males have rounded foreheads,” he explained. The park has a network of many game tracks which end at the Kasenyi fishing village. As William had intimated, we saw elephants, waterbucks, warthogs, the Uganda Kob and herds of Buffaloes.

Kobs make sharp sounds to alert each other of potential danger in case they see strange faces or a lion in vicinity; such sounds were made when our vans inched forward. When mating is a whole different game.

However, our highlight was when we quietly watched lions at their mating ground. With the aid of binoculars, we saw about four lying down quietly around a rock. Not far from them were the Kobs, also at their mating ground, north east of Mweya. “Males have their own territories they keep from fellow males,” says our guide.

He added that females search for strong males to mate with preferably those with better genes. Uganda Kobs prefer flat areas because they can then easily see the lions from a distance. We saw a female Kob trying to win the hearts of some males but by the time we left she had been unsuccessful. Edroma told us that unlike humans, the female Kobs search for their mating partner.

They swing their tiny tails as a sign that they are ready and available. Although the males sniff at the tails when wooed, it is the females to make their pick, a tumultuous task, so we learned with first-hand experience. We don’t know if our presence and prying cameras made life hell for the animals, but we let them have their peace and off we continued to Kasenyi.

The Kasenyi community

At Kasenyi crater where Lake Bunyampaka lies, William told us, plots (portions containing salt in the lake) are demarcated and sold the way land is sold. In the Kasenyi community, we saw how life entirely depends on fish. Most people here say they do not benefit from the animals and that the animals sometimes encroach on their land. Life is slow and residents have many children. Most houses are made of mud and wattle and people spend time conversing as they wait for the fishermen.

At Kyambura Gorge, Bernard Twine, another guide told us that the 100 metres deep place has five primate species. It comprises the gorge, Kyambura River and Kyambura Forest. I was lucky to have visited this gorge sometime back, unlike my colleagues because it wasn’t on the itinerary. Seeing that this large expanse is also within Queen Elisabeth National Park, it tells you how big this park is. Touring it in two days may seem quite hectic, but you won’t have seen everything.

Cruising along Kazinga Channel

The following day we set off at Kazinga Channel at 3pm. Edna Pukwatsibwe, our guide, took us through the history of the place as we sailed on the waters. It is then that I remembered she was the same guide some years back when I visited the park no wonder she knew the channel like the back of her hand.

Edna says the channel is within the Albertine Rift Valley. The natural channel is eight metres deep and stretches 40km long. It is home to 95 mammal species and 612 bird species. Hippos, which live for 45 years, can kill but do not eat people. Hippos stay in groups called schools. A school has 40 members usually with one dominant male.

Elephants have 80-100 year life span, we learned. Edna said an elephant has a sharp memory. It can take revenge if you encounter it again, years after doing something bad to it. Along the channel, there are plenty of fauna to see.

There were lots of bird species such as Egyptian geese, the yellow billed stork and white pelicans as well as hippos swimming side by side with buffaloes. Elephants and crocodiles were also a good sight attraction. The two hour journey includes a point where Lakes Edward and George “meet.”

At 5pm, true to the guide’s word, we were back at the shore with our vans waiting for us. Departure on Sunday morning at 7.50a.m made us yearn to reach our respective homes.

Viewing lions on our way back made the whole trip worthwhile. Several tourists’ cars inched close to the animals who felt agitated seeing cameras flashing away and disrupting their seemingly peaceful and quiet evening. safari gorillas

Lost in nature’s richness at Kyambura

A bird that does not fly will never know where the millet is ready, goes a local saying. If you have not visited the Kyambura Gorge and Kazinga Channel in western Uganda, you do not know how much you are missing.  Lawrence braved the six-hour journey and long trek in the valley and gives you a feel of the memorable adventure.

Part of the gorge through which a river flows, It is one of the most beautiful scenes in Kyambura.

As an artist, I have always thought of a woman’s body as God’s most beautiful creation. But that was before last month when I joined seven tourists on Uganda Safaris that turned out to be the most exhilarating adventure at Kyambura Gorge and the Kazinga Channel.

Both are situated in the western Rift Valley of Uganda, which stretches through Queen Elizabeth National Park. At these two spots, I got the real feel of perfection in beauty.

We took an exhausting six-hour drive from Kampala along the Bushenyi-Kasese highway under the scorching African sun. After that, nothing sounded so sweet and relieving like the sound of “we’re finally here!’ as said in the husky voice of Samuel, our driver, who also doubled as our guide. We were 38km away from the Congo border.

One after another, we stepped out of the tour taxi setting our feet on the rich soils of Kyambura that was densely covered by dark green grass. Naturally, it was not long before most of us punched the air in triumph as we were fuelled by the excitement of having arrived safe and sound.

Mysterious Kyambura Gorge

Suddenly, our attention was stolen by the roaring sound of a waterfall. However, it was confusing to discover that even with all-round turns of 180 degrees, our eyes could not see any falls. It then dawned on us that the roar was coming from a river down in Kyambura Gorge.

From what I saw, I can define a gorge as a sunken forest in a wide valley. In the particular case of Kyambura, the valley was 100 metres deep, the reason our eyes could not sight the waterfall we were hearing.

Being the coward I am, I kept my distance from the gorge’s elevated viewpoint which was situated on the edge of the land.

But I guess I have little regrets over this decision because those who dared to go there seemed to develop cold feet immediately. They deserted the place as soon as Bayer Anyesiga, the Kyambura guide who would take us for chimpanzee tracking, appeared.

Chimp tracking is one of those activities that Uganda is famous for and it was something I looked forward to doing.

However, the fact that Anyesiga armed himself with a panga before the tracking began almost made me reconsider trying it out. To me, this was a clear signal that ahead of us lay immense danger.

Luckily, 10 minutes into the tracking, I discovered that his only reason for carrying the panga was to trim off the branches of the wild thickets to open a path on our way into the dense forest.

That is when my speedily pounding heart normalised as I took a deep sigh. My gaze kept dropping on every tree branch we approached because my heart was quivering with immense anticipation.

To see the subtle primates, we calculatedly walked down the slippery slopes into the dense tropical rainforest that covers the gorge’s floor. Anyesiga advised us to resort to whispering if we found it impossible to keep mute because the primates often turn violent if their peace is disturbed with noise.

Save for the roar of Kyambura River and the tweeting of crickets, it was absolute silence down there, probably more silent than a grave.

When all my attention was inclined upwards, having heard the sound of a chimp, I felt a smooth creature as cold as a snake slither up my legs. In micro seconds, my knees began wobbling dangerously and I found myself yelling my grandmother’s name.

In a flash, I was already three feet up the huge mahogany tree before me, only to discover that it was a prank that Otim, another tourist, had pulled off.

He had come up with the brilliant idea of sliding a wet shoe lace around my legs and got the effect he was looking for.

Yes, I felt like sinking my fist into his head. In fact, I folded my fists like I was going to knock him down, but my fists just froze in space before I painfully chickened out because the chap was almost three times my height and weight.

Chimp sighting

Minutes after I had composed myself, the guide pointed us to a family of five chimps nestled in a tree branch about 180m from our track.

“That is Brutus, the leader of the chimps with his family,” Anyesiga explained. “They are part of over 25 chimpanzees that live here.”

It should not matter, but there was something about the way Brutus tilted his eyes sideways and flashed a smile at us that I found fascinating.

“Brutus, together with his team, prefers living in the corridors of the gorge in fear of being confronted by other wildlife like leopards and lions, which live on the Savanna grassland surrounding the gorge,” Anyesiga continued.

It soon dawned on me that there is a lot more to see in the gorge than just chimpanzees. Such included gigantic tropical trees, beautiful flowers, unique chains of spider webs, a variety of birds, colourful butterflies and different species of monkeys.

Fortunately, everything about the tracking was happening so fast. While I expected to spend hours walking and straining to see the chimps in vain, here I was getting a better feel of the forest with every tick of the clock.

I was also swept off my feet by the rays of sunlight that filtered through the forest canopy. In effect, my camera clicked more than once as it took pictures to retain memories of the visit to the unforgettable gorge.

Content with what we had witnessed, we soon found our way out of the forest and headed for our next destination — Kazinga Channel, a 30-minute drive away.

Kazinga Channel

After a brief by our guide, whose name I might have forgotten as soon as it was mentioned, the tour boat was ignited to flag off our trip along Kazinga Channel to the mouth of Lake Edward.

On the map of Uganda, Kazinga Channel is that thin strip of water that connects Lake Edward and Lake George. As the boat made its way through the tranquil channel, I climbed up the upper deck, joining nine tourists there to get a clearer view of the wildlife on either side of the boat.

Birds and game

We espied a kingfisher that had successfully hunted out a medium sized tilapia fish, which it swiftly ferried onto the nearest branch of a whistling acacia tree by the water banks.

What a pity it was to witness the helpless fish poked lifeless like it was its predator’s last meal for months.

Thankfully, it was not long before my spirits were fired up again upon the sight of elephants mating in the open as some white egrets kept flying above them. If my guess is right, they must have enjoyed every bit of the uncensored act by the elephants.

It was also a blessing to discover that while some tourists spend hours and hours peering in vain for game, we were fortunate to experience lots of wildlife after another, especially along the banks as the boat sailed on; all courtesy of the good schedule of the boat ride, which takes place at 5:00pm when most animals are relaxing by the banks as they enjoy the warmth of the golden brown sun as it buries itself in the horizon.

Some of the game to be seen here include water bucks, elephants, antelopes, a school of 12 hippos, crocodiles, birds and monkeys.

Like most of the bird lovers aboard, I cheered aloud as I relished over 150 bird species of 319 in the park. However, this excitement was soon tamed when an ugly black and white vulture flew slightly above my head and dropped its watery droppings on my nose.

Fellow tourists could not resist laughing at me and staring like I was another wildlife creature aboard the boat. Most annoying, some did not hesitate to click their cameras at me.

At the end of such a fulfilling exploratory day, nothing felt as good as devouring lunch at Simba Safari camp. We watched the calm waters of Lake George and listened to waves gently brush the branches of the trees surrounding the place

The icing on the cake was the different species of birds that soon conquered these trees and put up energetic aerobic performances as they whistled different sweet melodies that pierced my heart with the sharp end of their vocals.