Travel News, African Safari Updates

Gorilla tracking is no. 1 tourist attraction in Uganda. Uganda Wildlife Authority the custodian of Uganda national parks is setting a new way and easy way of tracking gorillas in the wild by exploiting new technology. And come September 26, 2009, the virtual network to track the gorillas will be launched in Kampala and will be witnessed by world leaders and local and international superstars.

This was revealed by Ms. Eunice Mahoro, the Director of Tourism Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in an interview with East African Business Week.

Mahoro explained virtual gorilla tracking will involve stationing of cameras within Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and trackers will only be able to track gorillas with the help of Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates.

“All this will be possible by one logging on website which will work in the same way as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Once you befriend a gorilla or gorillas, you will be interacting with your gorilla friend on a weekly basis and you will get updates on the movement of your gorilla friend(s) in Bwindi. And all you do is paying just one dollar or an equivalent in Uganda shillings to any of the mobile telephone networks and you will get yourself a gorilla friend,” Mahoro said.

She said once one ‘buys’ or rather befriends a gorilla; one becomes able to follow births, new relationships and genealogy of your friend, all life long.  Also this will increase uganda tours as many people will gorilla tracking  easy.

“But you do not have to be on the social network site, you can track your gorilla friend on www.friendagorilla.org site by going to the web page Geotrack,” Mahoro said.

She explained that come September 24, the Nshongi gorilla family in Kisoro will be officially launched by tracking this biggest family of gorillas with 34 individual members which has been habituated for tracking recently.

“This is the year of the gorilla and we want to get everyone on board. We shall have many campaigns starting August 31 with gorilla road shows; culminating in a fundraising corporate gala at Kampala Serena Hotel. With the website connection and the gala, we hope to raise about US$2 billion (US$1 million),” Mahoro said. She explained that tourism last year contributed $600m and the biggest chunk came from gorilla  safaris tracking and currently, the tourism sector contributes 4% of the country’s GDP.

 Lilian Nsubuga, the Communication and Public Relations Manager UWA, said the money raised will mostly be used for constructing fully operational clinics around the national park and one project that will be initiated by the community.

This type of system will increase gorilla awareness and increase gorilla safaris in Uganda.

Bemused residents looking at Portuguese tourists Pedro Lobo do Vale and wife Fatima kissing shortly after the plane landed on the highway

Pilot Steve Considine and the passengers, Pedro Lobo do Vale and his wife, Fatima, were unhurt and visibly relieved. Residents came to the rescue of the group and pushed the plane from the road towards Jireh High School.

“We don’t know what happened,” said Pedro Lobo do Vale. “We just saw the plane going down abruptly and the pilot directed it towards the road which he used as a runway.He didn’t speak to us until we came out.”

The tourists arrived in Uganda on Monday and were touring the country on a Uganda safari. “This is an emergency but it is a wonderful experience that we never had before,” said Fatima. “We never came across so many children and native Ugandans and mixed with them so freely.”

The pilot said the plane was about 2,000 metres above the ground when it developed technical problems.

“The engine could not respond. Probably it was failure of the fuel pump to supply the engine.”  Spotting spills of fuel below the left wing of the Cessna plane, he remarked: “This could have been a leakage that led to the low supply of fuel to the engine.” It was the first time he had to do an emergency landing, he added.

By press time, the plane was surrounded by curious revellers. “I am confused on what to do with the passengers. I have called my boss in Kampala to come with a technical team to assist me,” Considine said.

 

 

 

 

Recently  a group of fourteen  German tourists  arrived in the country  to study opportunities in eco- tourism. The group will also provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Masaka district.

The tourists, who came from Rotenberg, Stuttgart on the southern coast of Germany, will camp at Lwaggulwe, a Catholic parish in Masaka district.

Peter Heisig, the group leader, said they had come to Uganda not only  for Uganda  tours, but also to support water projects in Masaka.

He added that they would also support the construction and renovation of a Covent in the parish, which is under the Masaka Catholic Diocese.

“We have mobilised around 60,000 euros (about sh138m) for these projects. Our friends in Germany, who have not traveled with us, have been part of this contribution,” indicated Heisig.

Heisig said 30,000 euros (sh91.5m) would cater for water projects, while the other 30,000 euros would be used to construct convents for priests and in the renovation of the existing ones.

James Bahinguza, the Uganda Tourism Board general manager, welcomed the group to Uganda at Entebbe Airport last week. He elaborated about Uganda  safaris  which Germany tourists will enjoy when they visit Uganda. He emphasized gorilla safaris that are done in Bwindi and Mgahinga national parks in the southwestern of the country.

By Fred Bukenya