World’s £1m holiday tour that includes Uganda sites

Gorillas in Bwindi impenetrable forest

Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Rwenzori Mountains National Park, and Kasubi Tombs are part of a globe –trotting tour of all the 962 UNESCO heritage sites that will cost you a whooping £1m.

The snow-capped peak on Mt. Rwenzori

The UK’s Daily Mail reports that “the unique journey, offered by Veryfirstto.com, will visit breathtaking spectacles all over the world…”

It further reports that the sites are “deemed to have outstanding universal cultural and natural value by the World Heritage Committee.”

Tourists in Bwindi impenetrable forest

Last year the National Geographic named Uganda among the top 20 global tourism destinations in 2013 while the lonely planet named Uganda as the best travel destination for 2012.

The National Geographic is an international travel channel affiliated to the National Geographic Society.

During the Magical Kenya Travel Expo 2012 held at Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi last year, the Kenya ministry of tourism, Dr. Nelson Githinji said Uganda was ranked top in tourism industry growth in Africa at 25% in 2011.

A WB report published last year reported tourists visiting Uganda close to 1m. Serenity of Lake Kyaninga and Kidepo one of the bestnational parks in Africa

It takes 15 minutes drive to see chimps in Ngamba islands Tourism

Going to see chimpanzees and the hundreds of bird species in Ngamba islands will now take just 15 minutes from Kajjansi outside Kampala, thanks to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Tuesday.

The MoU between Kajjansi Aero Club (Fly Uganda) and the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT) will see Fly Uganda carry tourists to the Lake Victoria island famed for its chimpanzee conservation, as well as the monitor lizard and abundant bird species.

The chopper bought from the Japanese Police Force about three years ago will also help promote the other tourist features of the island that include sport fishing and community tourism.

The helicopter carries a maximum of four passengers and a return trip will cost $980 for four full packages, including access to the island.

The island has until now been serviced by boats and motorized vessels only, for a journey that takes an average of 40 minutes. By boat, it costs $80 per person for a minimum of four passengers for foreign tourists and $60 for East Africans.

“This is a natural extension to get more tourists to Ngamba islands,” said Russell Barnes, the director of Fly Uganda at the signing in Kajjansi. A trial flight has reportedly already been done with chimps reacting positively by coming over to watch the chopper. Barnes said the longer tourists stay in Uganda, the more money they spend and have a better experience “and the more they can talk positively about the country.”

Lilly Ajarova, the executive director of CSWCT, said Ngamba highlands houses rescued chimpanzees from areas that they were endangered. She cited West Africa, where the chimpanzee is already extinct in four states.

“Most of their mothers were killed and were brought as babies. Some were brought back from Europe after being traced back to Uganda. There has to be a deliberate move to see they continue surviving,” said Ajarova.

The sanctuary receives 4,000 international tourists annually. “It is a destination promoting Uganda because tourists include a lot of other destinations,” said Ajarova.

She explained that a monitoring system has been instituted to check any negative drastic effect of the chopper on the chimpanzees, although the test flight showed there is none so far.

“There have been inquiries for quicker (transport) mean to the islands, this will also provide a chance for medical evacuation,” said Ajarova.

It takes 15 minutes drive to see chimps in Ngamba islands Tourism

Going to see chimpanzees and the hundreds of bird species in Ngamba islands will now take just 15 minutes from Kajjansi outside Kampala, thanks to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on Tuesday.

The MoU between Kajjansi Aero Club (Fly Uganda) and the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT) will see Fly Uganda carry tourists to the Lake Victoria island famed for its chimpanzee conservation, as well as the monitor lizard and abundant bird species.

The chopper bought from the Japanese Police Force about three years ago will also help promote the other tourist features of the island that include sport fishing and community tourism.

The helicopter carries a maximum of four passengers and a return trip will cost $980 for four full packages, including access to the island.

The island has until now been serviced by boats and motorized vessels only, for a journey that takes an average of 40 minutes. By boat, it costs $80 per person for a minimum of four passengers for foreign tourists and $60 for East Africans.

“This is a natural extension to get more tourists to Ngamba islands,” said Russell Barnes, the director of Fly Uganda at the signing in Kajjansi. A trial flight has reportedly already been done with chimps reacting positively by coming over to watch the chopper. Barnes said the longer tourists stay in Uganda, the more money they spend and have a better experience “and the more they can talk positively about the country.”

Lilly Ajarova, the executive director of CSWCT, said Ngamba highlands houses rescued chimpanzees from areas that they were endangered. She cited West Africa, where the chimpanzee is already extinct in four states.

“Most of their mothers were killed and were brought as babies. Some were brought back from Europe after being traced back to Uganda. There has to be a deliberate move to see they continue surviving,” said Ajarova.

The sanctuary receives 4,000 international tourists annually. “It is a destination promoting Uganda because tourists include a lot of other destinations,” said Ajarova.

She explained that a monitoring system has been instituted to check any negative drastic effect of the chopper on the chimpanzees, although the test flight showed there is none so far.

“There have been inquiries for quicker (transport) mean to the islands, this will also provide a chance for medical evacuation,” said Ajarova.

Rwanda elephants not endangered, says WCS

Rwanda has not recorded a decline of elephants in the past few years, Telesphore Ngoga, the acting Conservation Division Manager at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), has said.

Ngoga was reacting to a study published in the scientific journal by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), recently. The report says elephant numbers have decreased by 62 per cent across Central Africa over the last 10 years.

It was released during the 2013 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, currently underway in Bangkok, Thailand.

“We haven’t encountered any major decline in the last 10 years, instead the population of elephants is increasing. In Akagera National Park, we have about 100 elephants, which live in protected areas,” Ngoga said.

“We no longer have challenges of poaching in Rwanda, although we lost five elephants in 2011 and 2012, two were killed by poachers, one was electrocuted by the park’s fence while the rest died of natural death,” he added.

Ngoga, however, said they have put in place an anti-poaching team that oversees wildlife monitoring patrols in the parks.

“We are planning a census for wild animals soon and that is when we will be able to determine the exact number of elephants in the country,” he said.

Findings from the study indicate that large areas in Central African countries, which were elephant habitats 10 years ago, now have few of the animals remaining.

The survey was carried out in forests in Cameroon, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Gabon and Congo Brazzaville.

In Rwanda, elephants are found in Akagera National Park in Eastern Province and Volcanoes National Park in Northern Province.

Call for conservation

Prosper Uwingeli, the chief warden at Volcanoes NationalPark, said the number of elephants in the park is close to 50.

“It is very difficult to know the exact figure, because they move around Greater Virunga Massif. We haven’t seen cases of elephant poaching in Volcanoes National Park,” he said.

The Virunga Massif cuts across three countries; Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo. The study includes the work of more than 60 scientists between 2002 and 2011.

“Saving the species requires a coordinated global effort in the countries where elephants occur, along the ivory smuggling routes, and at the final destination in the Far East. We don’t have much time before elephants are gone,” says the report’s lead author, Dr Fiona Maisels from WCS.

Conservationists called for immediate action to protect the remaining elephant populations.

Last year, Rwanda’s tourism sector generated $281.8m (about Rwf178b) compared to $251.3m (about Rwf159b) in 2011, according to the 2012 Tourism Report.

Seeing lions is a prized sight

The lion gazes at the tourists in Queen Elizabeth NationalPark. The writer was lucky to see the pride as they are not easy to find.

In splendor the king of the jungle lay, the calmness he exuded would easily make one forget that he is the most feared predator. It was great watching the lion

Seeing the prized lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park is the anticipation of any tourist. Many will tell you that they have visited five times and not seen them, but on my second visit, I was able to see not just one, but a pride, perhaps a family.

There were the two females on the side and then a couple enjoying an early morning bask in the sun as the skies opened. This was the highlight of my weekend in the wild.

You could wonder why the lion is so treasured, but any tourist will tell you that it all lies in its magnificency as a symbol of courage and might.

Excited local tourists kept clicking away on their digital cameras at the sight of the peaceful and proud lions who were taking it slow in the green savannah grass near a thicket as they enjoyed the last pieces of their breakfast, most likely from a previous night’s hunt.

A first-time to be within a meter of these fierce animals was an experience that came with mixed feelings, of tension and excitement, before our guide, Willy of Safari gorillas Ltd, put our fears at ease.

“They are not dangerous at all unless provoked,” he comforted the faint-hearted tourists. “They are enjoying their meal and they are used to tourists coming around, so be strong and enjoy your viewing,” he added. “The female does the hunting as the male and the little ones stay back to wait for the meal,” S.K, a wildlife enthusiast volunteered.

“So when she hunts and returns like it is in the traditional African setting, she will serve her husband then the children and eat last,” he added, something we had a chance to prove during the time we viewed the pride in nature’s splendor.

Very few moments beat the experience of being in the middle of the most popular national park in the pearl of Africa, where Africa’s, and truly Uganda spirit lives on, watching the animal whose sight startles just about any animal.

This partly explains why the lion is part of the enchantments on this voyage of discovery. Nature’s wonder in this park extends to vast open grasslands, elephants that gigantically saunter through them, with gait.

You will find Queen Elizabeth along Mpondwe Road near Fort Portal, 38 kilometers before the Congo border and at the backdrop of the Mountain Rwenzori ranges.

According to historical records, the park was founded in 1952 as Kazinga National Park, and renamed two years later to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s visit.

From the road, as we drive through the extensive park, Lawrence showed us the point at which the Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II whose full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, stood, to honour the park being names after her.