Uganda Tours, Uganda Safaris, Gorilla Safari News , Uganda Travel & safari

Tourism state minister Serapio Rukundo has declined a demand by Kapchorwa district leaders to give part of the Mt. Elgon National Park land for human settlement.

He said neither the President nor the minister in charge of tourism had the power to grant gazetted national parks for any activity. In a statement, he said that it is only Parliament that has the power to give out any part of the national park. If you want part of the park, package your request in a manner that can be accepted by Parliament.

BY Namisi

Uganda Tourism News

Serena Kampala Hotel will open on July 31 after a 17-month closure to allow works for transformation into one of the most stunning hotels on the continent.

Established on 17 acres of glorious gardens, the hotel will offer munificent room choices, unprecedented luxury and unsurpassed dining options. This is a showcase of Ugandan art and culture that will offer the ultimate blend of personalised services, social style and business reliability.

Lillian Lugwe, the general manager, said the hotel draws its architectural inspiration from the abundance of Uganda’s lakes and rivers.

The writer revealed that the hotel draws its inspiration from the essence of Uganda typified by lakes, rivers, lush vegetation and abundant fertility. These themes appear in the exterior features of the hotel and in the room décor. By setting up a hotel of a global competence in Kampala, Uganda would take pleasure in a higher tourism profile and a more outstanding position in global commerce.

Formerly knows as Nile Hotel, a government-run 65-room hotel with an adjacent conference facility, it was chartered to the Serena group of companies two years ago. The group invested $30.5m (sh56.7b) in upgrading it. It now has 32 executive rooms, 108 deluxe rooms, eight executive suites, three business suites and one presidential suite. The conference facility has also been renovated.

By Namisi

Uganda Tourism News

The tourism industry has initiated a geo-tourism market-driven strategy to intensify revenues by magnetizing more tourists from new markets and developing new products.

Presenting the strategy to industry players recently, Lawrence Zikusoka, the founder and director of information and communication technology at Conservation through Public Health, said the five-year plan was a result of collaboration between the public and private sectors.

The strategy, which was developed with the support of USAID-funded SCOPE project, was unveiled at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel. Zikusoka said that the approach extends explicitly on the doctrines incorporated within the Uganda: Gifted by nature brand. He added that it revolves around methods to tourism industry growth designed to increase tourism arrivals and more than double tourism revenues over the next five years.

He urged that it will provides a design for a tourism future based on new and expanded product offerings, which harness Uganda’s unique identity as a tourism destination in terms of natural resources, bio-diversity, aesthetics and cultural heritage.

The core of Uganda’s geo-tourism strategy fabricated around western Uganda principally the bio-diversity of Uganda’s Albertine Rift Valley. Seven of Uganda’s ten national parks are in this area and once developed, a boom will be noticed in the tourism industry.

BY NAMISI

Uganda Safari News

The Senator National Cultural Music Extravaganza, which is expected to traverse through 80 counties and 40 districts of Uganda, tapping Uganda’s rich cultural potential is back again. The event, sponsored by Uganda Breweries brand Senator Lager is meant to tap the rich Ugandan culture, little wonder it is has the slogan ‘Our Land Our Culture’.

Owekitibwa Arthur Bagunywa the Minister of Culture in the Buganda Kingdom graced the initiation ceremony, at the National Theatre on Tuesday. Other dignitaries in attendance were Ambassadors, Cultural Attachés, and cultural and government officials.

Bagunywa called upon Uganda Breweries for seeking to distinguish and reward cultural talent in the country. He added that it is Uganda’s rich cultural qualities that have made it a beautiful destination for many tourists.

The Senator Cultural Extravaganza which was launched last year saw Muwewesi Xylophone Cultural group from Busoga materialized as the Victors, receiving a top prize of Shs6m and a trophy. This year’s extravaganza has also commenced and we are waiting for who will be the champions. Senator Lager Brand Manager Bryan Muwonge said that over Shs340m was spent on the galas last year. He added that this year, the judging panel this year will be a team of experienced Music Adjudicators and heads of Music departments from Kyambogo University, Kaliro NTC and Makerere University.

Addressing the guests at the launch, Uganda Breweries Managing Director Baker Magunda said the UBL values Uganda’s rich cultures which are brilliantly conveyed in its cultural music that is enticing.

Senator Lager, the true taste of our land would like to reward its consumers by taking an experiential activity to them in an exciting manner and we hope to draw full appreciation of the brand in the context that is relevant to them…. supporting their rich cultural that Uganda has!

By Namisi

Uganda Safari News

Hardman Resources has said examination triumph in north-western Uganda in an on coast area surrounding northern Lake Albert points to a new African oil province. Investigation outcomes from the Waraga-1 well survive highly-positive for profit-making of Ugandan unearthing, with a cumulative flow rate of more than 12,000 barrels a day achieved.

“In the company’s June quarter report, Hardman’s chief executive Simon Potter said that a plan for aggressive auxiliary exploration has been proposed to follow up these discoveries, which have opened up a new potential African oil province.

Hardman has moved the testing rig 18km from Waraga-1 to Mputa-1 where testing is expected to commence either later this month or early next month.

Potter said, Hardman, which is currently producing in Mauritania, is disappointed by the unexpectedly poor production performance of the Chinguetti field off the coast of Mauritania since April although production appears to have stabilized in recent weeks.
Hardman has a 19.01% stake in Chinguetti.

Lake Albert is one of rift valley lakes in Uganda and its Oil productive potential will be vital for the transport industry hence a benefit to the tourism industry.

By NAMISI

Uganda Tourism News

Five lions have died in the Queen Elizabeth National Park after unknown people poisoned them.Chief Park Warden Tom Okello Obong said over the weekend that suspected Basongora cattle keepers were behind the act.

Obong had earlier confirmed to tourism state minister Sarapio Rukundo that herdsmen who, more than three months ago, were evicted from Virunga National Park in the DR Congo, were illegally grazing in the reservation area.

This was at a July 7 meeting at Mweya Safari Lodge, where the minister met Kasese district leaders and officials of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) over the stay of cattle keepers in the game reserve.

Obong said UWA had offered a temporary stay in Nyakatonzi to the evicted Basongora as the Government finds a settlement area for them.

He said the herdsmen had moved deeper into the park, where they interfered with the animals. However, Kasese district disaster preparedness committee chairman Pascal Mubi said part of Ibuga Prison land had been given to the cattle keepers.

He said they were waiting for the farmers to harvest their crops to allow the cattle keepers to move to the area.

This is so unfair especially when there are very few Lions left for the Park, there is need sensitize the local communities about the importance of wild life. A week ago, Hyenas died of the same case.

By Namisi

Uganda Safari News

Tourism Uganda (TU) and regional carrier Eagle Air are set to start air services to principal tourist attractions in Uganda, officials have said.

Eagle Air Managing Director Tony Rubombora said in a statement recently that the development would ease access to areas such as Kidepo National Park, which are difficult to access by road. Rubombora claimed that he has received numerous requests from the tourism fraternity to help out in building sustainable air safaris in Uganda.

He said his company has sent a proposal to TU management that will require input from the industry to make the schedules viable. According to the plan, Eagle Air will use Pakuba in Murchison Falls National Park as a core from which circuits to Kidepo and Mweya in the Southwest can be inflated.

Rubombora said lack of scheduled flights to tourist sites has made Uganda an expensive destination, primarily because tourists have had to use chartered flights to these places.
However, a rolling plan to upgrade the other airfields from grass and gravel surfaces could also reduce maintenance costs for operators, Rubombora said. Launched 12 years ago, Eagle Air is one of the leading domestic airlines in Uganda with scheduled services to Arua, Moyo, Gulu, and Kitgum and an occasional diversion to Kidepo. It also flies to Juba and Yei in Southern Sudan as well as Bunia in DR Congo.

Rubombora also urged the Civil Aviation Authority to waiver user and navigation fees for domestic operators. Besides Entebbe Airport, only Kasese, Kisoro and Gulu airfields have tarmac surfaces.

BY Namisi

Uganda Safari News

The population of wild animals at Queen Elizabeth National Park has abridged by eight after the death of five hyenas, two jennets and a buffalo near Kasenyi fishing village within the park.

Park officials surmise that the animals were poisoned for witchcraft since one of the carcasses of the hyenas was beheaded and the rest had their noses cut off.
This is because the body parts of wild animals are extensively used in traditional rituals.

Uganda Wildlife authority’s spokesperson Lillian Nsubuga said pellets of poison were found on the moldy offal that were used to bait the hyenas and that some of the granules could have spread into the grass, revealing the herbivores to danger.

She said tests on the carcasses had indicated that intestinal poisoning killed the animals.
She said hyenas have a stiff competition among the young and that because of this a few of them survive.

In her research, Lillian found out that no domestic animals were killed in the park neighboring communities so the cause for the animal poisoning was still mysterious.

BY NAMISI

Uganda Safari News

Italian scientists are to study the suspected drop of glacial cover on the Rwenzori Mountains, an Italian professor of topography said yesterday.

Giorgio Vassena, who has just accomplished one week of trekking the Rwenzoris, said that a test to investigate what mass of ice was lost in about 30 years is going to be enforced. He also added that they only have the 1906 data and cartography made in 1955 and are now organizing cartography study of the peaks because there is need for more records.

Vassena said global warming may be one of the causes of the decrease of the glaciers on mountain peaks the world over. He, however, warned that the causes of global warming needed to be established before seeking to address the problem.

The Rwenzori Mountains are found at the border of Uganda and the DR Congo. They are home to one of four remaining tropical ice fields outside of the Andes and are renowned for their spectacular and rare flora and fauna.

By Namisi

Uganda Safari News

The scenic landscapes around Fort Portal, located in the foothills of the fabled Mountains of the Moon (Rwenzori Mountains), is dotted with many crater lakes, many of which are beautiful to look at but otherwise bare of much economic value other than providing a source of water to the area.

Plans are now underway to stock many of those lakes with fish in order to provide ’sport fishing’ for visitors but also a source of nutrients to the nearby communities, who can supplement their incomes by selling mature fish on the local markets.

By NAMISI

Uganda safari News