October 16: Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary is celebrating the birth of Bella and this give Obama who was also recently born a playmate.  We look forward to Rhino's being reintroduced into Parks such as Murchison Falls, that however will take time and many more Bella's and Obama's.

October 12 2009:  Big game hunting for Elephants and other big game such as Buffalos has been reintroduced after decades of absence due to the large scale poaching during the restless years in Uganda.

October 10 2009:  Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, now has its gorilla group back in the park and permits can be obtained for that group.  This is great news for those wanting a different tracking experience from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

September 16:  Large deposits of oil have been discovered in Uganda in recent years.  This week another large oil find was announced. Wonderful for Uganda?  It depends on how it is handled here.  Much of the oil is near Wildlife areas, the balance between nature, people and oil will have to be found.

September 14:  Poaching of Uganda's wildlife remains a major problem.  Each week Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers find Lions, Elephants ensnared in wire traps in places such as Queen Elizabeth Park and Murchison Falls Park.  The reality is that a Ugandan in such areas looks at his own survival. He sees wildlife as having a status above his own. The only way that poaching can be reduced and eliminated is making the wildlife pay for their survival through revenue sharing with the population near National Parks as is being done at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in relationship with the Mountain Gorillas.  There, local activist are attempting to stir up the people in demanding 50% of revenue earned instead of the present 20%.  20% of a Mountain Gorilla Permit is 100USD going to the people near Bwindi, which has been sufficient.  If you did something similar in other areas poaching would be reduced.

September 14:  Virtual Gorilla Tracking via Facebook and Twitter will be launched this month by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and promises updates on individual gorillas plus live camera feeds from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda.

September 13:  The US Embassy encourages Visitors to Uganda to avoid large crowds and any gatherings that are political in nature.  No tourists were were injured during the riots but some were inconvenienced by having to take detours of one kind or another.  The Ugandan government is doing everything it can to maintain security for tourists and Ugandan citizens alike.

September 13:  After three days of riots in the streets o Kampala, things have returned to calm.  No tourist were affected by the rioters and no tourists were hurt.  See a blog on the 3 days of riots.

August 21:  Chobe Lodge at Murchison Falls is nearing completion.  This four star lodge in the wilderness is operated by the same people who have given consistent and quality service for year with Paraa Lodge at Murchison Falls and also Mweya Lodge at Queen Elizabeth Park.  It will have 30 rooms, 3 suites, 21 luxury tent and even a family house and six luxury rooms.  There is also a cascading pool to enjoy.  The lodge was originally built in the 1950's but when Uganda no longer was a tourist destination from the time of Idi Amin it fell was abandoned but now has been gloriously resurrected into a splendid establishment.

August 20th 2009:   You can now book a flight to Uganda via Lufthansa Airlines which has entered into a code sharing collaboration with Brussels Airlines.  This is another plus for those who are coming here from Germany and worldwide destinations that Lufthansa services.

August 20th 2009:  The Baby Rhino whose father is Kenyan and whose mother is from America has been named Obama.  So Baby Obama is a Rhino in Northern Uganda residing at Ziwa Rhino Reserve near Masindi on the way to Murchison Falls National Park and once can include a visit Ziwa to any safari that takes in Murchison Falls National Park.

July 2nd 2009:  Nandi has given birth to the first new Rhino baby in 30 years in Uganda.  The gender of the baby Rhino has not been established but the names of Obama and Michelle are being tossed about.  The Rhinos are located in the Ziwa Rhino Reserves near Masindi which is on the way to Murchison Falls Park.  No tracking will be allowed Nandi and her baby for the time being.  You

June 30th 2009:  Fuel prices are on the increase in Uganda.  A liter of diesel is now near 1USD per liter again and gasoline at 1.20 USD a liter.  Tour operators figure out the cost of a safari based on present fuel prices and like airlines may have to put fuel surcharges into place.  The reason for the increase in fuel prices is the fluctuation of the USD that has fallen a bit against the Uganda Shilling.  Presently about 1 dollar against 2000 Uganda Shillings.

June 15th 2009:  Delta Airlines cancels its plans to fly directly to Nairobi from the USA.  This would have been a 12 hour flight.  A short one hour flight to Entebbe would have landed you in Uganda.  13 hours to Uganda compared to presently over 20 hours with waiting time in places such as London or Amsterdam.  It is said that the Department of Homeland Security forced Delta to cancel.

May 27th 2009: Those free Gorilla Permits, those offers make one smile.  All of us are for them, the question is "Are they really free permits?"  Compare the bottom line and read the fine print and again compare the bottom line of a free offer total package with someone that is including the 500 USD Gorilla Permit in the package...you might just be surprised that your cost just might not be different.

May 13th:  The Wattled Crane was discovered in Eastern Uganda, the largest of the Crane species that is normally a resident of Ethiopia and Southern Africa was discovered in Eastern Uganda.  There are only 8000 of these birds left in Africa.  The bird about 16 pounds was discovered in the Kibima Rice Scheme.  Experts verified the existence of the bird in the area.  Meaning that if the Wattled Crane remains here and others follow, you will have 1040 species of birds found in Uganda according to experts inside of Uganda.

March 31 2009:  One of the frustrations for visitors to East Africa is getting visas for the different countries they are visiting, each country having their own regulation and rules.  Now the East African Union is getting their heads together coming up with a standard visa that is good in all member countries.  Hurrah...

March 14 2009:  Another group of the endangered Mountain Gorillas have been habituated which means that they are used to human to be around them and will be available for visitors beginning of April 2009 in time for the summer visitors that come to Uganda for Mountain Gorilla Tracking (Trekking).

February 28th 2009:  Fuel Prices are coming down.  Uganda was one of the few countries that did not institute price controls on fuels when Petrol and Diesel was going up locally while the price per barrel was falling.  Uganda is a landlocked nation and most fuel has to be transported in by trucks.  The axle requirement in Kenya was changed and it meant that smaller tanker trucks were bringing in less fuel. 

Safari prices were affected by the fuel price increases and fortunately we are approaching sanity, even though prices here are still a hot higher than in the West.  The most important things are that fuel is there and that prices have come down making it more advantageous for people going on Safaris.

February 24th 2009:  Of good news to the Tourists and Travelers coming to Uganda from the USA is the fact that the US Dollar is rising against the Uganda Shilling which makes the US dollar stretch further.  This is real advantage when frequented places such as restaurants that charge in Ugandan Shillings.  Also it is helpful in Hotels that do not charge guests in US Dollars.

January 22nd 2009:  The Mountain Gorilla Population may be less than had been thought.  The population may actually have declined somewhat as researchers pointing out by studying the DNA of feces found in the Gorilla nests they conclude that there actually 302 Mountain Gorillas left at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda.  It had been thought that there were 336 mountain gorillas at Bwindi by counting the nests (some gorillas build more than one nest), but in studying the DNA codes of feces found in nests they came up with 302.  If this is true, that would be quite a decline in the numbers of Mountain Gorillas. Only further research can determine the actual numbers of Mountain Gorillas at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in Uganda.  Hopefully this new research method proves to be wrong. 

January 12th 2009:  Lions have returned to Lake Mburo National Park. One male lion and two females have been spotted by in Lake Mburo National Park in Uganda.  No lions have been sighted there since 1997.  Pastoralist herdsmen had poisoned them to allow their animals to graze in the park.  This is very good news and those in the tourism sector are excited and efforts to track these animals are being made.  After 12 years of absence, Lake Mburo known in the past as a place to see lions may slowly return to its former glory days when lions abounded in the park.

Tourists have spotted them as they traversed the park on game drives.  Let us hope that they remain there.

There is a mystery as to where they came from, one is that they came from Tanzania and the other from the Rakai region of Uganda, also Rwanda, nevertheless they have now been spotted on several occasion including wildlife workers and researchers.

November 30th 2008:   Mountain Gorilla Twins were born in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in the Nkuringo area of the park. This is second time twins have been born in the area in recent years.  It is certainly exciting news and the numbers of Mountain Gorillas keeps slowly increasing. 

It is also another reason for tourists to flock to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and spot the twins.  The mother was spotted standing almost upright holding her twins in her arms almost like  a human mother.

It seems that they twins were born in late October of 2008.

This Year Experience Africa-Discover its Pearl-Uganda

Wir sprechen auch Deutsch

Kabiza Wilderness Safaris