Uganda Safari,Gorilla Safaris, Uganda Tour News

Tourism, trade and industry minister Kahinda Otafiire on Thursday launched the tracking of the Nshongi Gorilla group in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The Nshongi gorilla family, believed to be the largest in Uganda, is unique in that it has 34 individuals with three silverbacks. This will go forward to promote uganda tours in the countryOtafiire and Hollywood stars Jason Biggs, Simon Curtis, Nicolas Brendan, Krisy Wu, Eddie Kay Thomas  uganda safaris as well as William Byaruhanga of the Uganda Tourism Board, began tracking the Nshongi group at around 9:00am to symbolise the launch.

They trekked the more than 12km trail until they caught up with the gorillas safaris  after about three hours. “I wanted to stop due to the long journey but after seeing them, everything was different,” said Biggs.

The Nshongi family is the newest group to be habituated in Bwindi. There are six habituated gorilla families, including Nkuringo and Mabaale.

According to Moses Mapesa, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Executive Director, the launch of the Nshongi group was in line with the grand launch of the “Friend-a-Gorilla campaign.”

The campaign, Mapesa said, would be based on mountain gorillas  safaris as Uganda’s flagship tourism attraction.

“It is expected to raise about $100m through the internet and other forms of sponsorships for wildlife conservation,” he noted.

He explained that the campaign would also provide an opportunity for Ugandans and the international community to befriend a gorilla through internet-based social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

Strategically placed cameras in the forest will stream video footage of gorillas to audiences worldwide.
Gorillas in Uganda are confined to Bwindi and Mgahinga parks. There are about 340 mountain gorillas in the Bwindi, of the remaining 720 wordwide.

Gorilla tourism raised $225m in Uganda last year, providing 37% of Uganda’s annual earnings from tourism, and more than half of the wildlife authority’s internally generated revenue.

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.

The fire from Mufumbiro Mountains in Rwanda that ravaged Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda has been stopped, officials of the Uganda Wildlife Authority have said.According the public relations manager, Lillian Nsubuga, the fire started on Saturday and crossed to Uganda on Sunday.

“We had put it under control by 10:00pm on Sunday night,” Nsubuga said.

She, however, stated that the fire was still raging on the Rwandan side of the park and that the authorities were using helicopters to subdue it.

“We are making efforts to ensure it does not cross into Uganda from another point,” she added.

Nsubuga noted that the fire had not affected tourism activities, saying intervention was aimed at preventing it from spreading into the tourism trails.

She said the team created a fire-free zone by clearing away vegetation.

“We created a barrier and when the winds calmed down, the fire fighters, including the communities, the UPDF and the park authorities beat off the fire using tree branches,” she explained.

“The operation was commanded by a UPDF officer.”

She said the authority had a good working relation with the communities, which explained the cooperation of the public.

“Although parks are strictly conservation areas, we allow the communities to collect honey and other forest products such as bamboo shoots, materials for handicraft and trap ants.

Nsubuga explained that the authority also shared park revenue with the communities.

Nsubuga refuted earlier media reports indicating that gorillas had fled to the DR Congo that would affect

gorilla safaris tourism. As of now all gorilla tracking is going on undisruptedMeanwhile, the

Rwanda tourism board has said the gorillas were not harmed by the fire.“The area gutted by the fire is not in the proximity of the gorilla habitat, so tourism activities are going on without any interruption,” a statement by Rosette Rugamba, the deputy chief executive, said.

The statement noted that the affected area was 20km away from the habitat.

It quoted the chief park warden, Prosper Uwingeri, as saying the fire was lit by a farmer who was extracting honey in Volcanoes National Park.“Through the trans boundary collaboration, efforts to stop the fire are still going on and respective wildlife agencies in

Uganda safaris and Congo have been alerted,” said the statement.It said the Rwanda disaster management authority, comprising the army, fire brigade, the police, the airforce and residents in the affected areas, were fighting

An Air France jet with 228 people on a flight to Paris vanished over the Atlantic Ocean after flying into towering thunderstorms and sending an automated message that the electrical system had failed. A vast search began Monday, but all aboard were feared killed.

Military aircraft scrambled out to the center of the Atlantic, far from the coasts of Brazil and West Africa, and France sought U.S. satellite help to find the wreckage. The first military ship wasn’t expected to reach the area where the plane disappeared until Wednesday.

If there are no survivors, it would be the world’s worst aviation disaster since 2001.

Pilots flying a commercial jet from Paris to Rio de Janeiro for Brazil’s largest airline, TAM, spotted what they thought was fire in the ocean along the Air France jet’s route early Monday, the airline said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.

Brazilian Air Force spokesman Col. Jorge Amaral said authorities were investigating the report, according to the Agencia Brasil official news service.

“There is information that the pilot of a TAM aircraft saw several orange points on the ocean while flying over the region … where the Air France plane disappeared,” Amaral said.

“After arriving in Brazil, the pilot found out about the disappearance (of the Air France plane) and said that he thought those points on the ocean were fire.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090602/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_brazil_plane

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Uganda Wildlife Authority has released information about the birth of twin gorilla babies a few weeks ago at Bwindi Gorilla National Park. The newborns are part of the Nkuringo gorilla group, whose dominant male had passed away earlier in the year before a new ‘silverback’ emerged as undisputed leader. The group is reportedly being monitored by veterinary staff of UWA to ensure the well-being of the gorilla babies and to assist them as much as possible to see them through maturity in a few year’s time.

This a rare situation and the authorities are doing all their best to make sure that these twins will celebrate many birth celebrations. 2 years ago it happened in Rwanda and it was more publicized. Uganda tour industry heavily depends on gorilla tracking . Gorillas safaris are the back borne of Uganda tourism industry and when such twins are borne it assures the world of more Uganda safari to increase.

Air Uganda a local airline registered here in Uganda has celebrated its 1st anniversary. The airline  has entered  into partnership with  Belgian Airline SN Brusseels to fly its passengers to European destinations.

Under the agreement Air Uganda will also fly all SN Brussels airlines passengers who are traveling to Zanzibar Entebbe and Juba in south Sudan. Air Uganda is also in talks with the Qatar the Middle East while Air Uganda takes Qatar passengers to its regional  destinations of Zanzibar Entebbe and Juba.This will also increase tourists coming to do Uganda tours

Negotiations are also underway with an undisclosed regional airline to fly Air Uganda passengers through linked flights from Entebbe direct to Khartoum with stop over in Juba.

When negotiations are finalized Air Uganda hopes to issue single tickets from either Entebbe or Khartoum that will be honoured from Juba for onward connection thus eliminating the need for different tickets  connected flights .

Speaking at the company’s  headquarters in  Kampala recently the airlines chief executive officer Peter de Waal said as part of the company first anniversary celebrations of operation in Uganda it was taking into consideration the provision of quality products  to exploit the potential  that takes exists in the region alongside the need to provide a Ugandan carrier for the region. He also mentioned that this will increase Uganda Tourism by tapping new areas initially not having direct flights here.

Air Uganda begun operations on November  14^th 2007. Last week they announced a new partner for the Juba Khartoum Route. Plans are also under way to take the carrier to the Rwanda skies for amore complete coverage of the East African skies de Waal said .Since inception Air Uganda has flown over 70,000 passengers introduced and begun operations on new routes signed land mark agreements with Kenya air ways and will soon launch its cargo service which will  be available on all routes that the airline has operation.

Air Uganda joined .The Uganda aviation industry is so hostile that some times the mortality rate is reduced to just six months as was the case with Victoria International  Airline.

Musiime also  said the airline had over the past few months been in negotiations with several stakes holders in the regions aviation industry so as to make the air lines a regional carrier despite the troubles that are involved while joining a near market monopoly. Among the new Air Uganda parterners are Kenya Airways that has for long been players on the Entebbe Nairobi route SN Brussels and soon Qatar Air.

Imagine having numerous travel consultants and agent all over the world and one can talk and communicate with them so easily. This Amazing. Indeed the Internet is one of the most fascinating innovations of the century. You can access any information or transmit  messages  across the world in a flash. To get on the Internet populary known as

the Net you simply connect your computer to the International net work via an Internet service or access . Once you are on line connected to the Net  your computer can talk to any other computer on the Internet.

Before the internet came around the table the fax and telephone was looked as the major and best way to communicate. As I talk am in Uganda a third world country where internet started around 1998. By this time I was already in the tourism sector but confirming safari was not as easy as it is today. It was not easy to deal with your customer/clients directly. It was a must to use an agent in different parts of the world in order to realize sales. We had to travel globally to have that physical contact and establish that trust between the ground tour operator and the agent. As if that was not enough, the     Travel Agent  also had to fly to make sure that he is dealing with real operator. Though Internet also has its short comings, but for those who understand it can easily locate the country,city, location by latitudes and longitudes using the IPS address. Thus this eliminates the doubt where one is located. There those who use satellite addresses but still one can tell.

By mid 1998 there were about 14 million Internet users world wide. Today more than 800 million have access to the Internet. The Net has become a fast growing tool for communication .The Internet demands a completely new way of doing business. It is now possible to send large amounts of information to a practically unlimited number of address ees recipients round the world. People can communicate and work with others in a rapid and simple way.

Fast data transfer automatically results in higher levels of quality and increases the speed of transactions connected with any given project. Today many people exploit the opportunities for business. For example some people transact their entire deals on line.

When it comes to Travel industry internet has become the most needed tool today. Talk of airlines booking air tickets on line, hotel and lodge reservation on line, and above all the process of payments done on line using credit cards has made this industry very enjoyable.

People can have access via  Internet to the products they have ordered for  explains engineer Fred Okullo a communications specialist. Every stage of the of the value chain can be Internet based. Information on product development  the manufacture of goods and services and the entire logistics chain associated with supply and delivery can be accessed through the Net.

The Internet was commercially introduced in Uganda at about the same time as cellular telephony services. Like in other countries the demand for  Internet  Services in Uganda has increased. Twelve years ago there were only two Internet Services Providers  ISPs. Currently there 17 ISPsand 13 infrastructure provider lincensees with a mandate to provide voice and data services according to the Uganda Communications  Commission UCC The Commission regulates Internet services among others

There is an Internet Point of presence PoP at all district headquarters and there has been an increase in the deployment of wireless access infrastructure based on WIFI  wimMAX hostspots  .

All this has made the Uganda tourism and the world over a global village where one can communicate so easily and achieve his targets within shortest possible

By Fred Bukenya

Wildlife guards are being evacuated from a gorilla reserve in the Congo as Tutsi rebels close in on the park.

The ranger station, which lies in the southern half of the Virunga National Park on the border with Rwanda and Uganda, was set up to protect around 200 of the world’s 700 surviving mountain gorillas.

Rebel fighters loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda have seized an army base from government troops two miles from the station at Rumangabo, in Kivu province.

Virunga park director Prince Emmanuel de Merode said: “The fighting started about a year ago, as soon as the fighting started the rangers were forcibly removed from the gorilla sector by the CNDP forces, Nkunda’s rebel army.

“We have not been able to go back since, we are hoping to, negotiations are continuously under way with the Congolese government trying to regain access to the sector,” said Virunga park director Prince Emmanuel de Merode.

Up to 50 rangers are being evacuated from Rumangabo where they have been living since Nkunda’s insurgents invaded much of the park last September.

“Unfortunately over the past month there has been a massive renewal of fighting with very intense fighting in the last few days, that obviously affects our work, it effects the security of the rangers who are on the ground trying to patrol the forest,” said Mr Emmanuel.

In the past decade, 120 Virunga park rangers have been killed in clashes with armed groups and poachers, making protecting the gorillas almost impossible and doing gorilla tours in the area.

“Nowadays in our forest it is very difficult to work because there are different groups of army who are in the park. You can see the FDLR, the Congolese army, the CNDP, it is very difficult to work,” said Innocent Mburanumwe, Director of the gorilla project in the Virunga reserve.

Around ten mountain gorillas were slaughtered last year in the Virunga reserve, which is Africa’s oldest national park.

With this situation gorilla tracking safaris in Congo has not been taking place for some years due to the insecurity brought by the fighting groups that have monopolized Congo forests

By Fred Bukenya

A new airfield has been opened in the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The airfield is located between the Famous Bwindi national park famous for Mountain gorilla tracking safaris. Also located just outside the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth park famous for climbing lions. His Excellency the President of Uganda Yoweri  Kaguta Museveni opened the field in the first week of September.

This airfield will help to easy landing for light aircrafts carrying tourists. Some tourists who would like to do gorilla flying safaris to Bwindi National park will be using this airfield. Not all tourist have enough time to drive to Bwindi that takes 9 hours from Kampala thus some will be taking flying safaris to this area and connect with Bwindi.

The airfield is under the management of Savannah Country Resort located outside the Ishasha – Queen Elizabeth Sector owned by Tycoon Garuga Musiguzi.

Scientists who thought they were fighting a loosing battle to protect the gorillas of central a Africa, a report of a rare piece of News came up about these gorillas after new census of western lowland gorillas in the Republic of Congo came out with report saying that more than 125,000 nearly a double what they thought were still living in the Congo and seven surrounding countries.

“A lot of Nests were seen and so the conservation scientists wanted to know the survey and approve this. But we had a sense there that there was something special” said Steven Sanderson, president of the New York-based wildlife Conversation society, which did the census along with the Congolese government.

A total of 73,000 came from the Ntokou-Pikounda region and another 52,000 from the Ndoki-Likouala area including previous unknown population of nearly 6000 gorillas living in an isolated swamp.

The report was released at meeting of the international Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh Scotland. Its authors say they invite other scientists to check their results. The last census in the 1980s estimated that about 100,000 remained and it was thought that since then numbers since then could have halved.

This census date was released by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) during the International Primatological Society in Edinburgh, UK.

Which gorillas are Increasing in numbers. Mountain Gorillas or Lowland gorillas
From both fronts the 2 types of gorillas numbers are increasing. The mountain gorillas which are specifically found in the Virunga mountain ranges of Uganda, Rwanda Democratic republic of Congo in the natinal paks of Bwindi, Volcanoes and Kauzi Biega  also have figures indication that they are increasing in numbers. There are now a total of over 380 mountain gorillas in 32 social groups across in Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo confirmed by head counting. However the number is put around 700 in the mountain gorilla zone of Uganda, Rwanda and Congo
By this research that was carried out indicates that t the population of gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park had grown by 26 percent from 300 in 1997 to 380 by 2007.

Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is planning and has started  mock tourism on two newly habituated gorilla groups based in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, in southwestern Uganda.

This is in a bid to test the gorilla’s readiness to receive tourists to carryout gorilla tours.

Struggling to soak up the ever-growing demand for gorilla tracking permits, in 2006, UWA has passed a resolution allowing for habituation of two new gorilla groups in Bwindi.

The decision to habituate more gorillas was informed by high demand for the permits, the location of the two groups, and loss of tourists to neighbouring DR Congo and the fact that one of the already existing groups could disintegrate among other reasons.

For the last two years now, trackers have followed the gorillas on a daily basis to make them familiar and comfortable with human beings.

Habituation is a process that enables mountain gorillas lose their fear of humans and in the same way cannot be harmful to humans.

The gorillas of Bwindi have been habituated for eco-tourism in the dense Bwindi forest since April of 1993.

The habituation process also involves collecting data on each individual gorilla in the group especially with regard to feeding habits, personality traits, temperament, physical features, general health, grooming and mating habits, and how they react in different situations.

Mock tourism has been carried out over a period of four to six months.

“It is meant to enable the gorillas adapt to seeing people of different colours, dress and smell because the people they see for the whole duration of the habituation process look, dress and smell the same,” said Ms. Eunice Mahoro, the director of tourism and business services at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).

She explained that mock tourism involves the systematic introduction of different people and objects to the gorillas by the trackers as a means of gauging their level of adaptation to having intruders in their space.

“Tourists come dressed in different colours, with different smells and different voices, and they carry all sorts of gadgets such as cameras and recorders, all of which are foreign to the gorillas,” Mahoro said.

“Mock tourism enables the gorillas to get used to such things. It is the final phase of the habituation process.”

The two new groups are called Bitukura (13 members) in Ruhija, Kabale district and Nsongi in Rushaga (28 members), Kisoro district.

These will join Mubare, Rushegura, Habinyanja and Nkuringo to charm the tourists who pay $500 for each gorilla tracking permit. The permits are valid for just one visit.

Launching of the two new gorilla groups will address the problem of chronic shortages of gorilla tracking permits and increase gorilla safaris to Uganda .

Currently, only four gorilla groups are available for tourism in Uganda, and each is allowed only eight visitors per day, which makes a total of 32 permits per day.  As a result, there has been difficulty in meeting the high demand for gorilla tracking permits especially during the heavy tourist seasons that stretch from June to September and from November to February.

With the two new groups, the number of available permits per day will increase to 48.

The local communities in Kabale and Kisoro districts will also greatly benefit from the additional tourism groups through increased access to a larger market for their goods and services such as handcrafts, cultural performances and general entertainment.

The expanded gorilla tourism will also trigger improvements in infrastructure such as roads, health facilities, communications, transport and local business.

Gorilla tourism started in Uganda in 1993, and since then it has captured the hearts of many international tourists especially from Europe and America who are always excited to see the famed primates.

The gorillas have also been the subject of many documentaries and films produced by reputable media and film companies.

A research that was carried out in 2006 discovered that the population of gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park had grown by 12 percent from 300 in 1997 to 340 by 2006.

This represents over half of the total population of mountain gorillas remaining in the world. Gorillas are grossly endangered by poaching, commercial trade, disease and civil wars, and are therefore classified under Appendix 1 of the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species of wild flora and fauna (CITES).

By Fred Bukenya

Travel Hemispheres: African Safari Management Company