At recently held conference for business development in Kampala , an official of Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) ; Geoffrey Masaba the business Development Manager, in Kampala last week said that national parks of Murchison falls and Queen Elizabeth Have received over 70,000 visitors. Masaba said Murchison falls And Queen Elizabeth national parks are the top destinations for both local and foreign tourists with Kidepo National Park being the least visited destination.
“It is not true that we have ignored local tourism. In fact our nationals and foreign residents dominate the entries into our parks. We are both inward looking and outward looking in attracting tourists to visit these heritage destinations which we are proud to conserve” Masaba said.
He said that there is growing trend of tourists visiting Uganda and hopes that by end of the year, the figures will be much more impressive than last year or the year before. In 2008 over 130,000 tourists visited our parks compared to over 120,000 tourists in the year 2007 we see an appreciation trend which we are excited about and we believe that by end of the year we shall post impressive results he added Uganda has 12 national parks with unique fauna and flora .These Include Queen Elizabeth National park ,Rwenzori mountain National park, Lake Mburo National park, Bwindi Impenetrable National park, Kibale Forest Reserve, Semuliki Wildlife Reserve and Mghahinga Forest National park all in Western Uganda . Others are Kidepo National park in the north bordering Sudan and Kenya Mount Elgon National park Katonga Game reserve Murchison Falls National parks and Semuliki Wildlife Reserve.
Uganda tours have a lot to offer when you combine the above parks. Will find that Uganda safaris include gorilla safaris, primate tours , wildlife safaris and many more attraction ranging from sight seeing , culture and eco tourism services. Gorilla safaris are offered in Bwindi and Mgahinga national parks. Of recent new gorilla families have been habituated and this has helped to solve the scarcity of gorilla permits.
By Fred Bukeya www.travelhemispheres.com