This national park has Mt.Rwenzori in it and hence the name. It is about 120km Ruwenzori and the mountain was originally called the snow-capped Mountains of the Moon and about 5,109m high which makes it Africa’s tallest mountain range, exceeded in altitude only by the free-standing Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro.
The distinctive glacial peaks are visible for miles around, but the slopes above 1,600m are the preserve of hikers and consider it the most challenging mountain among all mountains in Africa. Aside from the Mountain, there a lots of animals including very large mammals that stay at the lower slopes, although the Ruwenzori’ are more recognized for their majestic scenery and varied vegetation. The trails lead through rainforest rattling with monkeys and birds, and then tall bamboo forest, before emerging on the high-altitude moorland zone, a landscape of bizarre giant lobelias, towered over by black rock and white snow, looking for the entire world like the set of a science fiction film.
Mountain Rwenzori national park has got basically two major tourists activities and they include Mountain climbing and skiing and this therefore makes it the best place to visit in Uganda for those who love mountain climbing and skiing especially since it is the only snow capped in Uganda. Take a break and take a trip to the Rwenzori national park in the western part of the country close to Queen Elizabeth national park just a few kilometers away north of the equator above the Albertine rift valley.
UGANDA SAFARI NEWS
Mt. Kilimanjaro is located a short distance from the boarder of Tanzania and Kenya in Tanzania with 5,896 meters high which makes it the highest mountain in Africa an d therefore, it attracts lots of people from different parts of the world who would wish to climb to the top of this mountain. According to the reports, 40 per cent of the Kilimanjaro climbers never get to the top of the Uhuru (Freedom) peak simply because it is unbearable up there. It is also likely that about eight people die because of their desire to climb this mountain.
For the past few decades, Kilimanjaro climbing was a profitable business for many tour companies and for very many Tanzanians who were directing the tourists up and down the mountain which is hard, tiresome and a full day job. Shebaz Mohamed Baab is a mountain guide and works with Zara Tours says has climbed this mountain more than 150 times. He said that the rules governing working up and down are a little better now that they have got porters’ associations, guides’ associations and the number of guides has increased working for people from about 3,000 different companies. The porters are provided with good mountain equipment like shoes, boots, warm clothing and sleeping bag so that they are comfortable
Basil Gifend is currently an assistant guide. However, beside the physical problems they face, he also finds it challenging to convince his customers to continue with the journey or to stop when the mountain gets too tough for them to go any farther says Basil Gifend who is an assistant guide. This problem is usually faced by the first-timers they tend to feel dizzy, suffer from headaches and nausea and many other discomforts.
According to the records, Kilimanjaro receives more tourists than Mount Everest which is the highest mountain in the whole world but the Kenyan and South African are the only Africans who enjoy mountain climbing along side a few Tanzanians.
UGANDA SAFARI NEWS
The Wildlife Authority (UWA) with the help of the Police invaded a shrine to get the three pythons which are aid to be used by one traditional healer in Buwama for her witch-craft. The search attracted several people from within the surrounding areas including Abby Ngako the Buwama police chief and the search last for almost the whole day although at the end of the day, they were not able to get these snakes like the UWA officials had wanted.
The shrine was established by the so called Jjaja Bberelimu Nambi a traditional healer woman from Mubende district with the help of so many assistants. In this shrine, there were raw eggs and ready banana in the baskets placed in front of the holes where the three pythons are believed to live. Nambi and her assistants were driven out of the shrine and they went to close by bush with their belongings and begun smoking their pipes saying that the officers were just wasting their time since these snakes were not just spirits and not the usual pythons in the wild, therefore will not be able to get them
The UWA officers dug up the holes in an effort to get the snakes but all in vain and they later called on the Kampala-Masaka highway contractors, Reynold Construction Company (RCC) to help the with their two excavators to dig deeper but they still could not get the snakes but just 3 rats at the and of it all.
Nambi bragged saying that she had already told them that they would not get the reptiles since they are spirits; she added that it’s also possible that they could have turned into rats. They destroyed the entire hill and the shrine at large but Nambi and other residents were so happy about their unsuccessful operation.
Gerald Musoke a resident kept wondering why they had to go destroy the shrine and yet the residents had not problem with it and the snakes being in the area. He added that the reptiles will be returning to the place although the shrine has been destroyed since they are spirits and do not fear humans.
UGANDA SAFARI NEWS
Parents who reside at the Coast province demand that the government lay down harsh punishment for the tourists who get involved with their young boys and girls and have sex with them in exchange for the money. It was during the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission hearing when the parent brought forward their complaint and said that there are some tourists are so immature and there fore require facing disciplinary action.
Ali Salim mentioned that he had a young girl left school for the reason that some Mzungu had cheated her with the so called nice things and emphasized that there are many more similar cases and therefore it is important to react immediately to the matter to be able to protect the children from being abused by these wicked tourists. He also added that the tourists are taking advantage of the fact that they are poor since they believe that once you are poor, you have not choice but accept all nonsense from the rich and this also is making the region lag behind in terms of academics.
Halima Juma, another bothered parent said that if one visited a number of beaches at that very moment would not be surprised to find so many young boys and girls trying to amuse these people amusing the tourists and she wondered if the government has got totally nothing he can do about this problem and be able to save their kids or if the government can do any thing to see that they get well behaved tourists. She added that her son too quit school because of the same tourists but currently he is wrecked because that female tourist who had promised him heaven on earth flew back to her country, left him with nothing and has never heard from him.
UGANDA SAFARI NEWS
The Kenya government of just about to meet all the requirements desirable to have them acquire a direct flights to the United States of America. This has encouraged the Government to consider the regulatory section in the of the aviation industry and up grade it to international standards which is called category one.
Of recent the government accepted the re-grouping and reorganization of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority as the number one step towards achieving the status of category one so says the minister for Transport Amos Kimunya and that once the have acquired the status, it will be a doorstep which is essential and accepted by the US if they are to accept any of their flights to land in any country.
Mr. Kimunya mentioned that he met with the responsible people from the US last Tuesday and discussed the major requirements needed by the government of Kenya if they need to get to get a direct flight to America, something that they are working on at the moment. He said so while at the official launch of the renovated British Airways lounge held at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport last Thursday.
He also mentioned that the flights would help to decrease on the number of hours that the travelers spend on the journey since they have to fly to two different countries as well as the cost of horticultural products in the US from Kenya and in the long run will lead to an increase in the number of tourists visiting Kenya’s wildlife. The only problem is the shortage of facilities to be able to separate the two sections of the arrivals and departure at the airport and the neccessicity to separate these sections became a vital necessity to the American after the September 11 terrorist attack in the US.
There have been other challenges that the aviation authority has been facing which are more like personnel problems due resulting from lack of ability to maintain skilled staff. Meanwhile, it has also gone through an evacuation of flight operators, flight inspectors and many more technical experts since they were not able to pay the price availing in the market. While the ones available are taken over by the private bodies who can afford to give much more payment.
UGANDA SAFARI NEWS
The Kenyan tourism industry intends to improve on its foreign exchange lead from the Sh73 billion that was receive in 2010 to more than Sh200 billion by the year 2015. Ms Cecily Mbarire the assistant Minister for Tourism yesterday said that the industry at the same wants to improve on its contribution the national Gross domestic product four-fold by 2015.
She also added that there are several developments made by the government in an effort to expand the tourism sector for instance the infrastructure development in and around major tourist places; there is a lot of investment in marketing and sustaining essential joint ventures with the private investors.
While Ms Mbarire was addressing delegates who attended the re-branding ceremony of Kenya Tourist Development Corporation (KTDC) on behalf of the Tourism minister, she said that the government is ready to increases by two times the number of international tourists who enter the country.
She also said that the tourism sector remains strong and has got to provide the largest number of the international tourist coming in and it is anticipated to yield 1.6 billion worldwide by 2020. She appreciated KTDC for sustaining the industry which is a source of income to more than 800,000 people in Kenyan in the whole country. A strong brand is an important element in global competitiveness but she is very sure that the country will encourage economic growth and development which will benefit the best part of Kenya so she said.
UGANDA SAFARI NEWS
Tanzania big tourism attractive place which requires serious attention and the support of the US investors to reawaken the huge potentials in the industry while speaking to people in the recent concluded occasion which was for presentation of US tourism market potentials the members of Tourism Confederation of Tanzania (TCT) said that it was very important for the country to combine efforts of draw US investors to the sector.
Dr Edmund Mndolwa who is the director of Lushoto Executive Lodge mentioned that the country has got very nice beaches together with those that are connected to national parks and game reserves for example the Sadani which have not yet been promoted due to lack of sufficient funds. There are massive tourism possibilities which need to be promoted like the tanzanite situated only in Tanzania while Kenya is the major exporter. This is a sign that Tanzania is absolutely in a slumber so says Dr Mndolwa.
However, Ms Mary Kalikawe a Cluster Development expert of Tanzania Private Sector Foundation mentioned that the Lake Zone tourism possibilities will soon be promoted in countries outside Tanzania but have delayed because of lack of advancements. This is why it is important now to have Lake Zone tourism labeled as a new invention around Lake Victoria and go ahead to promote. Ms Kalikawe said there is a trip being organized for the tour operators in the Lake zone for the same reason.
UGANDA SAFARI NEWS
This sanctuary was established and is funded by the Rhino fund Uganda and it is located in about 170 kms in the North- West part of Kampala along Gulu road towards Murchison falls National Park. It is place for pro creation of rhinos as to increase on the number of rhinos in the country after their numbers decreased in 1980’s. Rhinos will be rehabilitated in their original environment in Uganda’s conservation areas and at the same time provide tourists with a wonderful environment. The number of rhinos keeps increasing in the sanctuary especially now that they have had two baby rhinos born within the same month which increases the chance of having more rhinos in the country yet at some point in time, they was almost none.
Aside from the rhinos, there is lots of Flora and fauna. There are particularly two different ecosystems namely the wooded grassland area through which the Lugogo River passes and then there are also other animals like the Bush buck, water buck, oribi, Uganda kob, Reed buck, stitunga, duicker, warthog, bush pig, Aardvark, Crocodiles in the river among others. There are also so many wild bird for example the shoebill, Verreaux’s eagle-owl, pied kingfisher and many more others.
While in Ziwa, you can always go for game drives and with the help of our guide , you an go track our rhinos and also tour the birdlife, crocodiles and you may even e lucky to see a few leopard. Take a nature walk to Lugogo River and have a chance to witness the beauty of the sanctuary and it is also a great place for those who love birds.
UGANDA SAFARI NEWS
There have been serious talks and successful discussions amidst the two agents who included the foreign tour representatives and Tanzanian Ambassadors, hopefully this will help open a new episode for the tourism industry in the country. Such comments were made by Marcel Escure the French Ambassador to Tanzania last Friday while he was talking to during one local businessman. He said that the Tanzanian Embassy in Paris can instigate contact with French tour representatives and begin to market the presented tourist prospects and relations.
President Jakaya Kikwete the leader of Tanzania established a rate via executive induction of an ultra modern College of Tourism situated in Dar es Salaam close to the end of previous year. This college was established by the French government as explained by the French Ambassador Escure. The college was set up to teach students at international standards just like in any other Europe country so that it can add on the progression of similar cooperation so that the sector would realize growth and development. The remarks by the ambassador were provoked by the proposal that was brought up by the local businessman Mr. Reginald Mengi who wanted to know possible cause for few numbers of tourists from France entering the country.
“Could language limitation be a major factor behind the shortfall,” Mengi asked if the main problem could be language barrier but then he added that according to reports, it clearly indicates that there are over 800,000 visitors every year who enter Tanzania and are planning to pave ways of increasing them to2 million by the end of 2015.
UGANDA SAFARI NEWS
Kenya’s tourism industry needs about 30 billion to help in the development of road and rail network to be able to improve on the tourism services in an effort to maintain and improve revenue. The government hopes to have its financial plan status improved so that they can get involved in the production of various tourism attractions and be able to compete favorably on the world market. The industry needs about Sh9 billion in this year since the expenditure last year was about e Sh1.2.
There are several development plans which include a three planned Resort cities as well as the refurbishment of other Kenya Tourist Development Corporation facilities. About Sh3.13 billion will be used for resorts expansion and as well as other facilities that is according to the reports from the Medium Term Expenditure Framework that was made available this week.
There have been Feasibility studies done in the three resort cities in Isiolo, Diani and Kilifi and at the moment, all the plans are being worked on. There is alsoSh2 billion allocated for the regularities and categorization procedure which has delayed for quiet some time and yet not so long ago, the Ministry of Tourism declared that it has already categorized 68 hotels but its aiming at is 90 more by the June.
With in the past two years, they have been concentrating a lot on finding market for their products and now Sh3billion is anticipated for international marketing with in the coming financial year. Construction of beach operator’s stalls and constructing markets at the coastline and expand resort cities are some of the other developments to be made.
UGANDA SAFARI NEWS
