Travel News, African Safari Updates

KIGALI, RWANDA – Rwanda Office of Tourism and National Parks (ORTPN) last year in December unveiled Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda’s third and largest park.

Nyungwe which was a game reserve from the 1930s until 2004 covers a total area of 1,019 square kilometres and the largest Afro-montane forest in East and Central Africa.  

The park is home to 13 types of primates including chimpanzees and constitutes 20% of Africa’s primate species. It is also famous for having over 250 different bird species, 161 known orchids and a place where one can see a troop of 400 colombus monkeys in one area.

The inauguration of the park comes to boost tourism which is the country’s number one foreign exchange earner. It is estimated that it will generate Rwf214million (US$396,296) this year and contribute close to 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

By November this year, 987,280 visitors had visited Rwanda out of whom 4,060 had visited Nyungwe Park and of these, 3,780 were foreign visitors.

The tourism sector is targeting 15,000 tourists by 2012 and some measures such as improving signage in and around the park, construction of lodging facilities, introduction of a canopy walk and an interpretation centre have been put in place to meet the targets.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is sponsoring Destination Nyungwe, a three-year project worth $5.5 million that supports ecotourism development, bio-diversity conservation and public health.

The global environment facility, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project is also funding Protected Area Biodiversity to the tune of $5.4million for both Nyungwe and Virunga national parks.

The government is estimating to generate $168million of revenue from tourism by 2012. This will account for 5.6% of GDP and 4.5% employment for those involved in the sector.

On top of this Rwanda is doing well in gorilla tracking safaris of Parc de volcanoes in Ruhengeri in the northern part of the country bordering Uganda.

<!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} p {mso-margin-top-alt:auto; margin-right:0in; mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>

UGANDA – The Serena Group of Hotels is set to take over management of Ranch on the Lake Country Club in Uganda under a franchise arrangement between Tourism Promotion Services (TPS) and Pearl Development Group Limited (PDGL). This will see Serena investing more funds in the tourism industry in Uganda

The country club, which will be renamed and branded as a Serena facility is currently undergoing transformation into “the region’s premier business and golfing resort; The Citadel,” according to information on the company’s website.

No official announcement or communication has been made by TPS or PDGL, the current owners of the country club but an inside source confirmed the development to East African Business Week.

“Serena is already softly running the place and we are always consulting them on a lot of things,” the source said. “Actually we no longer look at each other as competitors but rather we complement each other.”

Satyen Singh, the deputy general manager PDGL denied knowledge of a franchise arrangement between PDGL and Serena Group saying an official announcement would be made at the right time.

In Uganda, TPS, the tourism and hospitality arm of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (Akfed) owns the Kampala Serena Hotel but it is the group’s ambitions to extend its reach beyond Kampala and this arrangement is the first step in that direction.

During the opening of the Kampala Serena, His Highness The Aga Khan said it was the intention of Akfed to follow up the Kampala facility with a circuit of new resorts and safari lodges in Uganda’s countryside to complete what he called an East African travel circuit.

PDGL, which also owns civil engineering firm Cementers, has invested some US$10 million to redevelop the country club, which is located off the Entebbe-Kampala road on the shores of Lake Victoria.

Cementers, who carried out the civil works for the Kampala Serena, are undertaking the works at the country club while Symbion International; the architects who designed the Kampala Serena are providing architectural and design services.

Ranch on the Lake is located on a 350-acre serene private ranch in the undulating hills of Lweza off the Entebbe-Kampala highway. It’s on the shores of Lake Victoria and has a remarkably alluring view of Lake Victoria.

The serene country club is only a 20-minute drive from either Kampala City or Entebbe Airport.

The new additions to the facility include an 18-hole golf course (Lake Victoria Golf and Sailing Club) that has been designed by Golfplan, Fream, Dale and Raincey, US-based golf course architects.

It will also include a Marina for water sports and other water activities like fishing, a new Olympic-size swimming pool, new restaurants as well as new conference rooms.

When complete, the resort will have accommodation space of 120 deluxe suites.

Uganda has a vast coastline on Lake Victoria but almost all not developed to tap new opportunities. When this is done will increase on Uganda packages towards increased safaris to Uganda. Uganda has got the very conducive climate hot and wet throughout the year . There are chances that when these beaches are developed more tourist population will be flocking the country to enjoy such facilities. Lake Victoria has free bilharzia waters and swimming in these fresh water is real enormous.

By Fred Bukenya

<!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>

Relations between Uganda and the United Kingdom are being strengthened in several aspects the latest of which is in the field of conservation and tourism. Two national parks both named Queen Elizabeth from the two countries on 28^th Jan 2009 signed a twinning agreement in a ceremony that is a follow up to an earlier signing ceremony that took place in Hampshire England on 14^th Nov 2008.The twinning agreement was signed between Queen Elizabeth National Park QENP that is managed by Uganda Wild life Authority and Queen Elizabeth country park QENP located in Hampshire England. This is partnership is expected to open up new opportunities for collaboration in the areas of training research tourism promotion community relations and information dissemination and increase Uganda tours .The relation ship between the two institution will also extend to the younger generation from the communities neighboring the two protected areas as other parks. Exchange visits by staff of the two parks as well as community members will also be organized on a regular basis.

A detailed work plan containing specific areas collaboration has been worked out and will be discussed by the representatives of the two organizations. Commenting on the benefits from the partnership the Executive Director of Uganda Wildlife Authority UWA Moses Mapesha said that UWA would be very keen to learn about how their counterparts in England have been able to cultivate a harmonies relation ship with the neighboring communities.

The objectives of twinning the two Queen Elizabeth parks include exchanging of ideas, sharing best practices and offering mutual support and Uganda Safaris .The two parks will also encourages cultural exchanges between their communities which will enhance understanding and appreciation of cultural differences and similarities between the two countries Uganda will also benefit significantly from increased awareness of its tourist attractions which will result in bigger visitor numbers Queen Elizabeth country park and encouraged to visit it currently Queen Elizabeth National park receives an average of 40,000 visitors annually

British people will also get an opportunity to learn about Uganda rich and unique biodiversity and other conservation programs such as the management of Ramsar sites Lake George world heritage site Rwenzori mountains and Biosphere Reserves MABs and important Bird Areas IBAs

In addition Queen Elizabeth National Park is home to a large number of wildlife species including lions elephants buffaloes warthogs cobs leopards hyenas and chimpanzees in Kyahambura wildlife Reserve it also has a large bird population. Tourists’ activities include game drives launch cruise nature walks bird watching and chimpanzee tracking among others.

Queen Elizabeth country park on the other hand mostly has giant butterflies and snake and the tourist activities mostly include walking and biking.It is expected that the pertnership between the two parks will eventually pave way for a stronger relationship in the management of the challenges facing conservation today .