UGANDA MINISTRY ESTABLISHES TOURISM STOPOVERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities is setting up tourism stopovers to provide uniform information about the country. The centres will provide washrooms and information board about a particular region and centres of attraction in that region.

The process includes profiling the area and providing all the necessary tourism information to the tourists.Four centres are already running. They are; Muko along the Kabale-Kisoro highway, Kafu in Masindi off Gulu highway, Corner Kamdin in Oyam district and Busitema.

Jimmy Kigozi, a Senior Tourism Officer at the Ministry of Tourism, says the plan so far has four stopovers. He says they have so far profiled Muko and Kafu, and plan to profile Corner Kamdin and Busitema soon. Other sites will be profiled in due course.

The setup will be jointly monitored by officials from the Tourism Development department of the Tourism Ministry as well as physical planners from the Ministry of Lands.

RELIEF AS UGANDA GORILLA PERMITS GO ONLINE

All Gorilla permits will now be displayed online, but the viewing, bookings and sale of the online Gorilla permits will only be by locally registered tour operators.

The debate on putting Uganda gorilla permits was back in the media last month in which Uganda wildlife Authority Executive Director Dr Andrew Seguya was cited blaming the Minister of Tourism for causing the delay of operationalization. While addressing Members of the Uganda Parliament in Queen Elizabeth national Park, the executive director blamed the minister for suspending putting gorilla permits online pending investigations. He said that because of this, Uganda Wildlife Authority has lost of 20 billion shillings in unsold gorilla permits. He further mentioned that tourists don’t know where to find gorilla permits and that he wanted to break the monopoly of Uganda Tour Operators who often charge a price more than that of Uganda Wildlife Authority.

In response to this issue at hand , all Gorilla permits will be displayed online, but the viewing,bookings and sale of the online Gorilla permits will only be by locally registered tour operators.
The Minister of Tourism,Hon.Dr. Maria Mutagamba has made this directive in a letter dated 13th,March,2014 and titled “Operationalization of the online gorilla permits” which she has addressed to the UWA E.D, Chairman AUTO and Chairman UTA.

The squabble between the Association of Uganda Tour Operators (Auto) and Uganda Wildlife Authority began at the AUTO AGM in July 2013. Tour operators were concerned that putting gorilla trekking permits online for booking could put them out of business because it exposes them to international competition, where foreign travel companies could directly buy gorilla permits from UWA instead of going through them.
This good news as a result of the tireless efforts of the Executive of AUTO and its entire membership demand that all tour operators in Uganda heave a sigh of relief and pray that there is no turn of events.

6 Things you must not miss on Lake Mburo National Park Safari

Lake Mburo National Park is a compact gem, located conveniently close to the highway that connects Kampala to the parks of western Uganda (about 4 hours driving from Kampala). It is the smallest of Uganda’s savannah national parks and underlain by ancient Precambrian metamorphic rocks which date back more than 500 million years. This 260km2 park’s precarious past has seen wildlife virtually eliminated several times: firstly in the various attempts to rid the region of tsetse flies, then to make way for ranches, and finally as a result of subsistence poaching. 20% of the park’s areas is a wetland.

1. Wildlife

The park’s varied habitants support 68 mammal species. Rarities include impala, which in Uganda only lives in Lake Mburo , and Burchell’s zebra and eland which are only found here and in Kidepo.
Other species include warthog, buffalo, oribi, Defessa waterbuck and reedbuck. Leopard and hyena are also present while the crocodile and over 300 hippos are found in the lake.
Previously extinct in the park, lions have been recently sighted.

Burchell’s zebra

 

2. Birding

The Crested Crane, Uganda’s national symbol

Lake Mburo National Park is home to 315 bird species. These include the red-face barbet, only seen in Lake Mburo, Africa finfoot, the rarely seen shoebill stork, Papyrus yellow warbler, Saddle-billed stork, brown-chested lapwing, African-wattled lapwing, Carruther’s Cisticola, Tabora (long-tailed) Cisticola, African ScopsOwl, Abyssinian Ground Horbill, and White-winged Warbler.

Acacia woodland bird species are especially well represented, while forest species may be found in rubanga Forest. These include Blue-breasted kingfisher, Hairly-breasted Barbet and Yellow-rumped tinkerbird, among others.

The best birding spots in Lake Mburo National Park are the swampy valley of Warukiri; the road between the camp and Rwonyo jetty; and the viewing platform which overlooks the salt lick. Rubanga forest can be visited on foot by prior arrangement with the warden – this is a real draw for keen birders. Rare species such as the African Finfoot and Red-faced Barbet -  only seen in Lake Mburo National Park – are two of the forest’s featured species.

3. The launch trip on Lake Mburo

Hippos

Nile crocodile

The wildlife-rich eastern banks of Lake Mburo can be explored during tranquil two-hour noat voyage. Keep an eye out for crocodiles, buffalo, and hippos as well as colorfull kingfishers, magnificent fish eagles, hammerkops and their enormous nests and even bizarre-looking shoebill.

4. Hiking and Nature Walks

Unusually, the whole park is open to walkers as long as they are accompanied by a ranger guide. At Rwonyo, a guided walk leads to the salt lick where many animals are attracted to the salty rocks. Walks on the western side of the lake and take two hours. At this time of the day, you may encounter hyenas returning to their dens and hippos retreating to the lakes.

5. Horseback safaris

Horseback safaris are an exciting way to view wildlife including elland and buffalo. Also commonly sighted are warthog, topi, impala, dukier, bushback, waterbuck and zebra. The four-hour hacks take visitors up to the hilltop viewpoints with the option of bush breakfasts or sundowners.

6. Sport Fishing

Lake Mburo contains around six species of fish, with tilapia being the the most common. The designated fishing spot is at Mazinga. Visitors planning to fish here should carry their own equipment and obtain a permit from Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Aside fro  the abundance of wildlife, the best thing about this little park is the peace by the lake. For the entire stay in the park, you will experience numerous uninterrupted sightings of wildlife and yet have the opportunity to relax by the calm lakes.

 

Safari Packages to Lake Mburo National Park

• 1 day Lake Mburo National Park Safari
• 2 days Lake Mburo National Park Safari
• 3 days Lake Mburo Safari
• 4 Days Uganda Gorilla Trek in Bwindi with Wildlife Safari in Lake Mburo National Park
• 5 days Lake Mburo and Gorilla Tracking tour
• 6 days Lake Mburo, Gorilla tracking and Queen Elizabeth National Park Safari

 

 

 

Rwanda’s Mountain Gorilla Naming Ceremony (Kwita Izina) set for Awards

Rwanda’s annual Kwita Izina, which invlolves the Rwandan tradition of having the community and invited guests name the baby Mountain Gorillas, will join two other projects for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Ulysses Award.

The finals are set for Madrid, Spain on January 22nd. This was announced by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) after a list of the finalists were published at the end of last year.

“We are so grateful for this chance to participate in the finals of innovative projects by UNWTO,” Valentine Rugwabiza, the RDB Chief Executive Officer said.

He said this was a global recognition of the efforts by Rwanda in innovative, community focused and sustainable tourism.

Kwita Izina was launched in 2005 and has so far seen 173 baby gorillas named by different people who include the Rwandan President Paul Kagame, the First Lady Jeanette Kagame, various Hollywood stars, renowned journalists, tourism personalities, conservationists among others.

Such an event is in line with creating and raising awareness for the conservation of the endangered mountain gorillas. At the same time Rwandan tourist attractions and destinations are promoted, particularly for the community surrounding the Volcanoes National Park where the gorillas live.
“Rwanda is on the right track of developing tourism and RDB will continue forming a basis for continued positioning of the country as a high end destination that puts first sustainable tourism development which integrates both biodiversity and the community development,” the Head of Tourism and Conservation at RDB, Rica Rwigaba, said.
She said this was a great opportunity to market Rwanda even more widely in the tourism industry.

During the forthcoming 10^th edition of Kwita Izina later this year, it is anticipated that the event will get increased publicity due to UN-WTO recognition.

To date, the event has raised Rwf586,838,751, (about $978,065) for community development as part of the RDB’s tourism revenue sharing scheme.
it has evolved from a one day celebration to weeks and this mainly benefits the surrounding community.

Since 2003 UNWTO awards for excellence and Innovation in Tourism have honored tourism initiatives that contribute to advanced tourism through knowledge and innovation in line with principles of the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

This event has again increased on revenue got from tourism and therefore this is why it is crucial to be developed even more.

Meanwhile according to UNWTO, compared to the same period in 2012, international tourist arrivals grew 5 percent in the first nine months of 2013, UNWTO’s latest ‘UNWTO World Tourism Barometer’ shows that destinations around the world welcomed a record 845 million overnight visitors in the first nine months of this year. That’s 41 million more overnight visitors than the first nine months of 2012.

Growth was especially strong in Europe and Asia Pacific, where international tourists numbers rose 6 percent.

Uganda National Museum–A Forgotten Rich Cultural heritage?

The museum, which occupies 3.359 hectares (approximately 13 acres), located on Plot 5, Kira road in Kamwokya, is in dire need of a facelift. Although it is evident that the exterior recently got a fresh brush of paint, a number of things need to be fixed. For instance, the benches in the garden are dilapidated, while the parking yard needs to be widened and repaved.

The museum was founded in 1908 and has exhibits and artifacts of traditional culture, archeology, history and science. It has various interesting sections riddled with artifacts that bring to life the different historical aspects of our society. For instance, in the Stone Age section, one is able to observe physical tools used by Stone Age people. These tools include stones, bones and wood used for cutting, scrapping and chipping, and how they evolved into the modern tools that Ugandans use today, or used in the recent past.

One is also able to see how we evolved from our ancestors, from the pre-historic period through the history of apes and how they evolved into humans. The story is told by the displayed pictures, as well as real tools and bones or skulls that make the history we learn in school seem more real.

Uganda’s multicultural and colourful past comes alive as one tours the History and Iron Age displays depicting the traditional ways of life in different kingdoms, tribes and communities of Uganda. Here one finds striking displays of traditional clothing (mostly bark cloth and animal skin), headdress, hairdressing, as well as hunting, the history of transportation, fishing, agriculture, war, religion, and how our ancestors spent their free time (traditional recreation).

Also of interest is the display that describes how justice was dispensed in Uganda many years ago. With no penal code, police force or criminal investigations department as they exist today, how did people in earlier days know/prove who had committed which crime and what punishment fitted him/her? One would be able to learn that the Madi and Lugbara used divine pots to assess the innocence of the accused.

However, despite this rich cultural heritage value, government believes that the museum has become a liability, having failed to generate any meaningful revenue. A trade centre in the same place, government feels, would perform much better. Yet government must also take part of the blame, having continually underfunded the museum. For instance, for the 2011/2012 financial year, it was allocated a mere Shs 50 million, money that certainly is not enough to meet its needs.

Over the years, the management of the museum has tried to come up with innovative ways to circumvent the funding crisis. It has, for instance, leased part of its land to the Uganda Wildlife Authority, which has established offices and to private developers like Ibamba restaurant. However, sources told us that the museum has no direct control over the resources generated from these ventures.

Management also introduced entry charges to boost the facility’s income. Until the early 2000s, Ugandans visiting the museum were not charged but, today, adults pay Shs 1,000 to enter and children, Shs 500. The entry fees for foreigners are Shs 3,000 for adults and Shs 1,500 for children. Visitors carrying still and video cameras pay an additional Shs 5,000 and Shs 20,000 respectively.

NEW WATER VESSEL PLYS BETWEEN ENTEBBE AND KALANGALA

Uganda Tour operators and tourists can now heave a sigh of relief after the introduction of MV-MOSES which is to provide transport to Kalangala ssese islands from nakiwogo Entebbe as the MV Kalangala undergoes a total overhaul in Mwanza.

According to a reliable source, each person boarding is charged Uganda Shillings 15000. The departure time from Entebbe time: 10:00am
Arrival time at ssese islands. 12:00.
Departure time from Ssese Islands: 3:00pm
Arrival time at Entebbe. 5:00pm.

Uganda Wildlife Authority New Card System a “Huge Success”

Uganda Wildlife Authority’s newly introduced Visitor card system has reportedly been a huge success making the authority save lots of money. Recently UWA decided to gradually change from  issuing paper entry permits and gorilla permits to plastic cards which act like ATM cards. The cards are loaded with a certain amount of money which the visitor can spend on any activity in the parks.

Jossy Muhangi, the acting Public Relations Manager Uganda Wildlife Authority says the Wildlife Card has been a huge success. He says they expect to roll out the wildlife card to cover all parks across the country, after the successful pilot project in Mgahinga Park last year.

The wildlife card system allows UWA to capture the details of the activities a tourist intends to carry out in the park after payment. On arrival, the card is loaded on a computer to check the details, after which the visitor is granted permission to proceed with his intended activities. Muhangi says with the card in place, those who used to dupe tourists into paying extra money cannot now succeed. He says criminals who forge UWA receipts and other documents can now easily be detected.

Muhangi says the system will also protect both tourists and wildlife officials from criminals who have been targeting with hopes of getting cash.

Muhangi says once paid, the card entitles a tourist to all the activities they have paid for. He says a visitor who wants to increase the number of activities within the park pays additional money to park officials who in turn will load all the details onto the card so that the visitor can enjoy his or her preferences.