PEACOCK AND CHELI GRAB FOUR ECO TOURISM AWARDS.

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Cheli and Peacock which is among Kenya’s popular safari companies won four Eco Tourism awards that are given out every year to the companies that perform well with in the year and so this year, peacock and cheli provided the most amazing services to its clients and the country at large.  Aside from identifying it as the tour operator of the year, Elsas Kopje lodge also merged out as the best small lodge of the year and North Mara Conservancy was the best Private Conservancy of the year in the country. The fourth award was for the C&P for their sincere and at most cooperation with Kenya Wildlife Trust and this trophy was added to the so many trophies that they have got in their office display cabin.

It was established in 1985 that is in 26 years business. It was then a small company but has expanded into a powerful company with great influence in the Kenyan tourism sector due to its quality services provided to their visitors who use their strategically located camps while on their safaris and hence attract more visitors. They also have got well trained guides that they use to take the tourists around the different places that they may want to visit especially the foreign visitors. For more information about Cheli and Peacock especially about their accommodation facilities located in different parts of Kenya and about their trips to the most wonderful parks and reserves in the country.

Air Uganda to begin domestic flights

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Air Uganda plans to start domestic flight services as the carrier marks four years of existence this month. Airline activity is picking up with the arrival of the major global players like Turkish, Delta and Qatar airlines at the Entebbe International Airport.

Kyle Haywood, the Air Uganda boss said plans were underway to acquire a new fleet of planes to explore the regional and national destinations in the next two years. He also revealed that the Aga Khan-owned airline has recorded a 17% increase in passenger traffic since its inception.

“Over the past four years, passengers have begun to get the right perception that we are here to stay. In order to reduce on fuel costs, cut wastage and increase efficiencies we are looking to get the right size and model of aircraft to operate in the East African region and nationally by 2013,” he told reporters at the Airlines Kampala head office.  

The Airline is largely recognized as the national carrier after the collapse of Uganda Airlines in May 2001. Previous carriers, Alliance Air, Air Memphis, Africa one, and Victoria International Airlines went under due to financial woes.    

Haywood explained that the airline is looking to improve its service to fliers along the Entebbe- Nairobi route and increase flight frequencies to Juba in south Sudan to consolidate its presence in the region.

“Currency depreciation and increases in inflation have reduced the disposable income of leisure fliers and increases in the costs of fuel have directly hit us, however, we are applying the lessons learnt from previous Airlines to steer forward,” he explained.

Haywood pointed out that that the arrival of large international airplanes will feed into the Airliners sales to boost the local economy through increased passenger traffic at Entebbe.

Two Danish nationals drown in Lake Bunyonyi

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TWO Danish nationals have today drowned in Lake Bunyonyi (900m deep) at around midday as they tried to swim.

According to eyewitnesses, the two hired a canoe from Byoona Magara camp where they were staying and rowed to the middle the lake where they drowned as they tried to swim.

Elly Maate the south-south western Uganda regional police spokesman identified the two Danish nationals as Srith Thomas and Dustin Sebastian. 

By press time divers at the lake were still trying to trace the bodies of the Danes.

Locals however say that the chances of survival of the two are very slim because the lake is very deep (second deepest in Africa) and those who drown in it take long to appear.

Living with the lions of Mara

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Nobody knows the big cats of the Maasai Mara better than the internationally acclaimed wildlife photographers and writers Jonathan Scott, 62, and his wife Angela, 58. They introduced the world to the Marsh lions in BBC’s Big Cat Diary with Notch the black-manned lion who at 11 years “owns” half the Mara.

Then there’s the beautiful Shakira, the cheetah and Zawadi the leopard who at 16 is the oldest known-expectant mum and is still hanging around Leopard Gorge. These big cats are the new generation whose lives have been captured through the lens by the husband and wife team, including the trials and tribulations of their families since the 1970s. Scott jokes that he knows them better than most of his “human” friends and likes many of them better too.

Wildlife photographer
Growing up in England in the 1950s, Scott’s highlight as a child was the once-a-year visit to the London zoo where he recalls “standing in front of the leopard’s cage for hours waiting to catch a glimpse of the cat.” Needless to say, it’s a training that’s stood him good, for at 62 with his boyish looks, he still spends hours waiting for the cats for that perfect shot.

Studying zoology at university in Ireland, his professor asked the then young man what he was going to do in life. Scott’s answer was, “something to do with wildlife.” It did not impress the don who remarked that he better find a good job to fund his pastime.

He obviously never took the advice, but instead traveled overland 6,000 miles from London to Africa. “Leopards were my reason for coming to Africa,” he tells the audience at the National Museums of Kenya during a two-day photography workshop conducted by him and Angela, as the brand ambassadors for Canon the camera manufacturers who have relaunched business in Kenya.

Today, Jonathan and Angela Scott are household names having shot to fame with their first wildlife portrayal of the Marsh lions in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, living mostly out of a tent to shoot the best stills they can in what Jonathan explains is the best wildlife park for its light, landscapes and big cat shooting.

Scott started photographing the cats as an “academician” to “identify” them for lions have whisker spots, leopards have spots below the eyes and cheetahs have spots that are as unique as the human finger print. He credits Angela for bringing in the artistry in the photos, which sets their images apart from the rest.

Next year will mark the 30th anniversary since the Scotts began “shooting” the Marsh Pride. Tourists flock to the Mara to see the big cats whose stories they have followed on the celluloid screens for close to three decades.

Following the success of the Marsh lions in BBC’s Big Cat Diary, was the book on leopards about Half Tail in 1977, a book that took six years to write because the cats live such “invisible lives” captured by the Scotts with their powerful lenses that gave them an insight of their secretive lives without disturbing the cats.

Many more colour coffee table books followed on the big cats and birds. The pictures and the books that the Scott’s presented were so mesmerising that they sold out in no time followed by reprints. No decent bookshop can afford not to have their signature copies.
BBC’s television series Big Cat Diary and Big Cat Week became super-marketing tools for Kenya. Not to be left behind, Disney Nature followed with African Cats which will premiere on November 27 in Nairobi courtesy of African Wildlife Foundation. The films are narrated by Jonathan.

Today, the Scotts are involved in shooting (photographs) and filming around the world – leopards in Sri Lanka, Emperor penguins in the Antarctica, Buddhist monks in Bhutan which is one of the most remotest countries on earth in the Himalayas where the country’s wealth is measured as the Gross National Happiness versus the Gross National Product.

The latest feather in their cap is the pair being chosen as brand ambassadors for Canon. As fate would have it, Canon was the first camera that Jonathan bought as a novice with “no money left for a lens,” never dreaming that one day he would be an award winning photojournalist, winning the coveted title of the International Photographer of the Year, which was later won by Angie.

Photographers par excellence
Photography is something that Scott learnt on the ground, but his passion and dedication have propelled him to be considered one of the finest today. During the photography workshop at the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi, Scott remarked that he’s happy being a “fly on the wall” to get that engagingly powerful shot of the cats he’s so intrigued with. The duo have cars specially modified for wildlife shooting with the front doors replaced by an extension that allows them to shoot 360 degrees without the limitations of being stuck inside a car.

Wildlife photography has a special place for Jonathan. As the world hits the seventh billion human on the planet, “our wild places are evaporating fast,” he remarks. In a century, the figure will be double exponentially. Lion numbers in Africa have dwindled by more than 90 per cent in a mere two decades as have other wildlife populations. The Scotts’ pictures are powerfully arresting to want to save the last of the wild.

GIFTED BY NATURE: Saddle- billed stork

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The Saddle-billed Stork is a large wading bird in the stork family. It is a widespread species which is a resident breeder in sub-saharan Africa from Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya south to South Africa and in The Gambia, Senegal, Côte d’ivoire and Chad in west Africa. It is a close relative of the widespread Asian Black-necked Stork.

They are silent except for bill-clattering at the nest. Like most storks, these fly with the neck outstretched, not retracted like a heron; in flight, the large heavy bill is kept drooping somewhat below belly height, giving these birds a very unusual appearance to those who see them for the first time.

The Saddle-billed Stork, like most of its relatives, feeds mainly on fish, frogs and crabs, but also on small birds and reptiles. They move in a deliberate and stately manner as they hunt, in a similar way to the larger herons.

STAKEHOLDERS DEMAND FOR BETTER LAWS TO PROTECT TOURISTS.

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The government of Tanzania has been asked to implement stronger laws and regulations to protect tourists while out on their tours since the ones in place are almost useless to them. Reports from the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators show that there are almost 99% of crimes committed like steal tourists properties, conning them, inappropriate handling of tourists and many other crimes that have been reported to the authority between 2008-2011 but they have not been looked into due to poor existing laws.

Mr. Mustapha Akunaay who is the Executive Secretary of TATO mentioned last Tuesday that TATO has already identified 15 tour companies which are offering ghost services via internet and steal lots of money from tourists thus the agent need to form tough laws to be able to stop this kind of act otherwise the country’s image will go down the drain and bring about serious economical consequences in a short run he added. He also said yesterday during the workshop organized to discuss the legal framework on the safety of tourists in Tanzania that it is very important for the tourism sector to ensure the safety of all tourists if the tourism industry is to grow and develop.

Tanzania will still be one of the top countries with the best tourist attractions like the wild life and therefore one of the amazing places to go for a tour after Brazil though the present laws do not in particular cater for the security of the tourist as mentioned before during the workshop by Mr. Adam Mambi who is a law consultant and then a lawyer from the Law Reform Commission also added that neglecting the safety of tourists and their properties is a criminal offence under general laws and also gave an example that the Tourism Act does not specifically show the responsibilities of the police and other forces like the park rangers as regards ensuring the safety of tourists.

Mambi said that the police should form special units just like Kenya did that are responsible for all offences related to safety of tourists in the country. Therefore the present laws should be checked and put up to the standards required to be able to handle to present demands. According to the records of the organizers of the one day workshop, different ministries sent representatives including the Immigration Department from Zanzibar but unfortunately, there was no single delegate from the Tanzania Police and yet other people were from the US Embassy, the British High Commission, Law Reform Commission and other bodies. They came up with solutions to the problem at the end of the workshop and send these ideas to the government to implement.

RHINOS AND LIONS FOR AKAGERA NATIONAL PARK.

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There are rhinos and lions are expected to be bought by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) next year from South Africa for Akagera national park in an effort to increase on the number of wild animals in that park thus increase on the number of tourist attractions which will eventually lead to an increment in the number of tourists visiting the park. The decrease in the number of wild animal in Akagera is as a result of the high levels of poaching more so in the 1980s and the 1990s.

Rica Rwigamba who is the head of department responsible for tourism at the Rwanda Development Board while addressing the New Times yesterday, she said they have plans of having Akagera national park stocked with more animal but specifically with rhinos and lions so that they can improve on the Rwanda’s tourism potentials and so be able to compete variably with the rest of the countries in East Africa. She however could not reveal all the details of their programme to the press butt was very confident to say that for now they do not have  clear information as regards the terms of financial support that they may need especially given the fact that they will be starting the restocking before next year comes to an end.

There is just one rhino in Akagera national park at the moment which has is under great protection and care, with all its movements monitored with the help of a tracking device just to keep it safe from harm. Akagera is the most common animal sanctuary in Rwanda’s savanna regions and it has got animals like the hippos, the antelopes, the buffaloes, elephants and so many others that are common in the East African region.

MAURITIUS TO IMPROVE ITS SPIRITUAL VALUEABLE ASSETS.

News coming in from the Seychelles Island show that the construction of the Praslin heritage route is so far so good and at the same time a member from the Islands of Vanilla, mentioned that they will soon be working hard towards the promotion of their valuable things so as to increase on the number of tourists attractions and hence increase the number of tourists in the long run. The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) at the beginning of this week signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mauritius Council of Religions so that the two parties can start up a place where the visitors can have their prayers from while in the country for their safaris and also check out the ethical code of the tourism industry together. The code of ethics  aims at improving on the dress code of tourists before they enter the places of worship and other holly places and this means that they have to be dressed decently and in shoes as well but more issues will be handled  than what is mentioned above.

Mauritius has started receiving guest from various parts of the world who are interested in mainly attending its religious celebrations and this kind of tourism attraction will be promoted through the introduction of new attractions and strategies so that the Mauritius can get the best out of the spiritual heritages.

Just like Seychelles, when you check out Mauritius’ calendar of events for the year it is in state of balance and stillness in regards to the religious and other ethical public celebrations. There are websites and printed documents with all the information that the guests may need to know about these celebrations so that they can have a clue of what to see once they get to the Island so that they can enjoy their trip. There will be a competition next month between the citizens exhibiting their potentials in tourism which will all be according to the code of ethics and hence a way of attracting the attention and support of the local people so that in the due course the government does not cause pain and suffering to its citizens by inconveniencing them in the name of spiritual importance especially incase the number places chosen as places of increases to about 400 places on the Island.

KILIMANJARO LOST THE NEW WORLD WONDER COMPETITION.

Kilimanjaro’s failure to be among the top seven natural wonders of the world was mainly attributed to the poor internet service in most parts of Tanzania which made impossible for most people who would have voted for the feature to vote.  This was mentioned yesterday by Mr.Maige Ezekiel Tanzania minister of Tourism and the natural resources and he also added that right from the beginning of the campaign, the number of Tanzanians participating was very small due to the fact that the network coverage was very bad in most areas.

He is quoted to have said that the limited internet service provision in most rural parts of the country made it impossible for those in the villages to vote leaving only those living only the urban center to vote for Kilimanjaro and yet in other countries, almost all the people have got access to internet and therefore were able to vote in large numbers using the internet. He also added that although the government had come to an agreement with the mobile network companies so that the citizen could send short voting messages for free, it was already too late and therefore useless. There were only two features suggested from Africa to join the competition and  they included the Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Table Mountain of South Africa but it so unfortunate that none of these two got enough votes to be on the list of the 28 competitors in the whole world though the ministry of Tourism together with the Tanzanian Tourism Board (TTB) had carried out a campaign for Kilimanjaro within and outside Tanzania which in the short run led to its publicity in different countries in the world through the website that was designed, www.new7wonders.com. Maige said sadly.

The minister said all this while he was answering Ali Juma Haji (CCM) the Chaani law maker who was wondering why Mt. Kilimanjaro was not on the list of the new natural wonders in spite of the fact that the government had tried its level best to support the campaign. In Juma’s main question, he wanted Tanzania’s government to explain clearly whether Mt. Kilimanjaro is situated in Kenya and therefore Kenya’s or it’s in Tanzania because the Kenyan government was also casting adverts for it as its own and located in Kenya. He also demanded to know what the government intends to do about the current confusion so that foreign tourists who may wish to visit the mountain can go directly to Tanzania than going through Kenya like the case has been.

In response to the above questions, Maige mentioned that Tanzania is an independent country with Mt.Kilimanjaro on its boarder and Kenya’s. He also made it clear that Kenya has never claimed Mt. Kilimanjaro to be theirs but has always mentioned in its adverts that one can clearly see it while in Kenya than while in Tanzania. He also said that it was not possible for the tourists to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro from Kenya because all the routes leading to the peak of the mountain which include the Rongai, the Mweka, the Londrosi, the Umbwe, the Marangu and the Machame are all in Tanzania. He also mentioned that for any tourists to climb the Kilimanjaro mountain, they have got to go through Tanzania and the Kenyans know so too and that the Tanzanian government is doing its level best to advertise to different countries outside Tanzania as possible as well as in the public buses in the UK, in flights using posters and there are also plans of organizing trips for the news reporters/ journalists from various countries to visit the mountain.

WATER SHORTAGE MIGHT AFFECT THE TOURIST RESORTS AS WELL.

Reports coming in from Mauritius about it the current water shortage situation in the country show that it is most likely to spread across the entire country in the coming months of December and January 2012 which is the time for Christmas and New Year thus a holiday season for many traveler around the world therefore a good season for many hotels, beaches and other tourism centers. This will in the long run affect the tourist resort when they can not supply their visitors with sufficient water for use while staying in their hotels however; this might not only affect the tourist sector but rather all the people in the whole country. According to reporters from the Island, this shortage of water is as a result of the reduction in the amount of rain received in Mauritius in the past few years creating a situation which is similar to that in Seychelles therefore leaving most of the water reservoirs almost empty and this has forced the water supplying company to reduce on the amount of water it supplies to the different part of the country.

It has been noted that tourist resorts are offered first priority in the supply of water and also get trucks whenever it is necessary unfortunately this might not been possible any more with the on going water problem which is not expected to become better any time soon but rather become worse in the future years. This will therefore require more funds from the responsible bodies to be allocated to water harvesting/resources.

The Seychelles, unlike the Mauritius has built solid and strong desalination plants to pump water from the sea though at a stronger and much higher incurred costs for each unit than those incurred for the harvested water.

TANZANIA’S TRAVELSTART COMPANY IN KENYA.

Tanzania’s travel start which is an online travel agency has now opened up its new shop in Kenya in its effort to utilize the available East African community market. Mr. Mustafa Rajani who is the Managing Director of the Travel state according to reports from Dar Es Salaam, he was noted to have said that though the agency opened just last year, its operations have been a success and has therefore managed to expand to Nairobi and very soon will be in all the capital cities of all East African countries.

The flights on the website are not expensive at all, with so many other airlines and so the choice is yours to make. Payments can be made by cash, bank deposit, M-Pesa or use of credit cards after the booking has been made. He also added that for those potential customers who can not access internet services to buy the tickets on line, they can always find them (tickets) in any of their outlets which are responsible for the traditional travel department.

Aside from the fact that they have got very cheap flight offers, travel start website can be accessed throughout the day and the entire week which is advantageous to those who may wish to travel over the weekends while other travel agencies have closed their shops, says Mr. Mustafa. He also mentioned that the company will soon open a promotion offer where they will be offering free accommodation for one night as a complimentary to those who will book with the company the Dar-Mwanza or the Dar- Dubai flights.

However, it is very important to note that there is a significant development in the aviation industry with the opening up of a number of airlines with a short period of time and they include airlines like the Fly 540, Emirates airlines, the Turkish airlines, the Egyptian airline as well as the Qatar airlines.

LIONS AND RHIONS FOR RWANDA.

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Sources from Rwanda report that it (Rwanda) will be importing lions and Rhinos from South Africa in the coming year 2012 in an effort to improve on the country’s tourism sectors especially due to the fact that a lot of wildlife was illegally killed by poachers in the past years which led to a reduction in the number of tourism attractions that the country has got. This was said by Rica Rwigamba an official from the wildlife department while addressing the press.

As per now, there is only one rhino in the Rwanda which is found in Akagera national park and when the refugees came back home  after the genocide in 1994,they settled in some parts of the park and hence driving the lions out of the park since their hiding places had been destroyed.  says Rica who is the director of tourism and also added that they have started on the fencing of the whole national park hoping to be done by February 2012 and then bring in the animals however, she did not mention how many animals they are to import.

As of to date, the main tourism attraction that Rwanda has got are the mountain gorillas and yet most of them are in Virunga at the boarder of Rwanda, DR.Congo and Uganda.

EAST AFRICA’S SEARCH FOR THE NEW SEVEN WORLD WONDER.

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Bad news for East Africa, neither gorilla national parks in the Virunga Mountains nor the Mt. Kilimanjaro or the Masai mara has appeared among the top ten positions in the seven world wonder competition which has been running for days now and yet these are tourism attraction from East Africa that joined the competition. Those on top positions include the Dead Sea, the wonderful Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef plus so many other attractions from Asian countries that fill up the rest of the positions. However it is also very important to note that this time the campaign to vote for the domestic tourism attractions in countries that are in the top position have been greater than before and this was done through widening the internet coverage in countries and great encouragement from the regional, the local and the national tourism board members which motivated the citizens to they voted in large numbers than before.

Despite the fact that Cape Towns Table mountain had a nice follow up, it has not managed to get on the top ten positions yet it was expected to be among them. While the East African tourism attractions are not performing as expected, the tourism board and other private sectors members are in London attending the world’s second valuable trade fair in the tourism industry and perhaps they can cover up with a wonderful presentation and then can ask other visitors to vote for their tourists attraction to get at least one of them into the top ten positions. Though we wishing all participants the best of luck in this campaign, it would be so wonderful if at least one of East Africa’s attractions turns out to be among the world’s best attraction because East Africa really has a lot wonderful features only that the voters are not as many as they supposed to be for East Africa to get to such a position.

ZIWA SANCTAURY’S 2012 TARRIFS ALREADY OUT.

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The rhino fund Uganda has already set and published Ziwa rhino sanctuary’s 2012 rates and they include variety of different activities provided for the visitors who may visit the sanctuary come 2012. All visitors who will be interested in going for game drives or for guided walks, those who may want to go for birding or to watch the rhinos will have to pay a certain a mount of fee at the head office though entrance to the sanctuary is still free to every one.

There are various accommodation facilities at Ziwa in form of guest houses which are very suitable for tourists who travel as a family while those who want the budget facilities; they will get the best facilities as well together with very delicious meals served from the restaurant which serves people from around the community as well. There is also the new Amuka lodge at Ziwa which is a luxury accommodation and it has just been constructed for the luxury spenders offering the best serves and comfort worth the prices.

As of to day, Ziwa sanctuary has got 3 adolescent male rhinos and 1 female calf which is just a few weeks old, plus 2 more adults which will be giving birth to their young ones in a few weeks to come. Get more information about these new rates or any other information about Ziwa from the website on www.rhinofund.org.

UGANDA TO EARN 2.5B FROM THE TOURISM SECTOR.

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Uganda is expected to become the main tourist center of focus when the 7 wonder national project begins and this project is expected to increase the country’s revenue up to about $2.5 billion per year from just the tourism sector.

This project was speared by the president of Uganda tourism Association together with the Tourism investor Mr. Amos Wekesa Masaba and sponsored by the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU). During Ugandan club’s launch at Kampala Serena hotel, it was mentioned that the 7 wonder project will help Uganda improve its tourism sector both the within and outside the country through the use various trademarks. This is the first and leading campaign and it will involve asking all Ugandans within and outside to make their choice concerning the country’s 7 wonder beginning with the President and his entire cabinet, the parliament before involving the whole country and if this campaign turns out to be a success, Uganda will start earning $2.5billin per year from tourism as mentioned by Mr. Wekesa.

The PSFU has introduced a program  through the world bank to finance the process of looking the country’s tourists attraction from all the tourism stake holders from which they will chose the best 30 natural wonder and it will be from these 30 that the Ugandans will have to chose the best 7 natural wonders of Uganda. Voting for the 7 natural wonders will be done via the media like the radio, via internet or through text messages on your mobile phones.

There will be an examination done by Ernest and Young which is an international consultant firm to find out the excellent and uncommon features in Uganda preferably not existing in any other East African country. The features searched for include the flora, fauna. Animals in the national parks, water bodies, feature with in the historical and the cultural sites and the search will cover all parts of the country to be able to get the best and the most unique features that Uganda has got.  Campaign is sponsored b the Uganda wild life Authority, the Uganda tourism board, USAID and many others and it aims at improving competition in the tourism sector and publicize the those unknown tourism attraction, say Mr. Gideon Badaggawa the chief executive director of PSFU. We hope to achieve the best out of this campaign and get the best 7 unique.

ZANZIBAR ACQUIRES A NEW MAGNIFICIENT HOTEL.

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Here comes another Mellia international hotel. It is a newly opened hotel located in Zanzibar Kenya and it is a five star resort with all the necessary facilities to ensure that their guests stay comfort while with them. Mr. Marko Janssen who is the general manager of this new hotel told the news reporters later last week that he was glad they had finally opened the hotel something they had waited for, for quiet some time.

Mr. Marko also mentioned that it is a beautiful resort with wonderful luxurious beach facilities offering the best new experience of the African wilderness and so the guests will definitely have  memorable tours.

There is a group of trainers employed by the hotel management to specifically train the employees in their respective department but most especially those who prepare the meals and drinks for the guests so that they can become the best chefs and be able to provide the best  dishes to the clients around. At the same time, all employees from all departments like the room attendants, the cleaners, security guards, among others are expected to provide the best quality services to their guests so that they can enjoy staying with them. Tanzania has become the 3^rd country in Africa after Egypt and Cape Verde to acquire a Mellia international group of hotels but the very first East African country to get involved in this king of business and they  chose Zanzibar simply because it has got the spectacular views around and a beautiful environment which are key issues in this kind of field/ industry.

After the hotel was changed to fit the standards of the Mellia hotels and resorts, it opened officially on the 1^st October 2011 and it strives to become a place with the best luxury facilities and Spanish quality in one of the most tourist attraction places in Africa but precisely in East Africa. Apart from the Mellia hotels in Cape Verde and in Egypt which offer Spanish brands, Zanzibar is another place with the same brand thus an achievement worth the celebration.

UNWTO TO ASSIST TANZANIA DEVELOP ITS TOURISM SECTOR.

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The United Nations world tourism organization agreed to the help Tanzania to improve on its tourists attractions in the country so that every one including those operating small business within the tourism sector can profit from it hence leading to development. This was mentioned by Ezekiel Maige Tanzania’s minister of natural resources and tourism while on his trip in Seoul, South Korea as the leader of the all the Tanzanian UNWTO committee members in the 19^th general assembly that has just been concluded.  He had an opportunity to meet with the UNWTO executive director as well as the senior officials and they talked about a number of issues concerning his domestic tourism industry and discussed ways through which UNWTO can help it over come all the obstacles hindering its development so he said. He also mentioned that when they asked them which specific area does Tanzania need their help so that they can start to provided the necessary aid right away, the ministry begun organizing some project appraisals to hand them to UNWTO to go through.

He expressed his gratitude to the body for their help and their interest to develop the beaches and the cultural sites plus the leisure and hospitality industry. At this point in time, the government o Tanzania is trying to get funds to develop all the historical sites in the areas of Lindi at Kilwa like the hotels and beaches, and also see up to it that his ministry works hand in hand with the WTO to protect wildlife and the parks available. He also continued to say that now that Tanzania is a member of the executive council, there will be more opportunities to discuss with all the colleagues about tits experiences.

While explaining the tourism matters in the lay man’s language, he said that there has been lack of proper management of the countries natural resources like the wildlife which are very important aspects in the tourism but yet have been destroyed by illegal hunting and the bad weather, another challenge is with the resources allocated fro the development of the industry which is too little to finance the development of other tourists attractions like the historical and cultural sites so that the tourism industry does not depend on wild life alone. The above mentioned are the major challenges the industry is facing. In relation to this, the STEP foundation as well as ambassador Dho Young-Shim have joined Tanzania to see that they develop its historical and cultural sites so that the community can also benefit from the tourism sector which is not the case when it is based on the wild life since the community has no attachment to the national parks and are far away from them.

Tanzania and will always be a re very secure place for tourists who wish to visit it so many attractive place like the Kilimanjaro regions, the islands of Zanzibar and Serengeti  areas that have developed as a result of tourism and therefore contributing  high revenues to the industry and the nation at large.

POACHERS KILL OVER 70 WILD ANIMALS FROM RUAHA NATIONAL PARK

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75 wild animals that include elephants, zebras, buffaloes, gazelles in Ruaha National Park in Tanzania have been killed by suspected poachers from Kipera village for the last five years.

According to the park’s warden Paul Gwaha, 3 giraffes, 10 zebras, 30 gazelles, 15 buffaloes and 10 elephants get killed each year in the park.

The village leaders of Kipera and Runapa executives have discussed the measures to stop poaching in the park. The chief conservators Godwell Ole Meing’ataki have encouraged the Kipera villagers to work together with Runapa to stop destruction of natural resources.

42% has been spent on patrols in the park and the main reason of poaching has been due to the cost of living of the people in the village.

RWANDA’S UNTAPPED RESOURCES.

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Rwanda has got very many interesting cultural sites especially the museum which contains lots of cultural (traditional) materials which would be of much interest for many tourists but unfortunately it is kept out of the tourism industry. Mr.Alphonse Bartson Umuliisa who is the leader of the Institute of National Musuem of Rwanda during his speech before the members of parliament consultants on matters of the museums, the youths and sports in the country, he mentioned that for tourism to play an important role in the development of a country it has got to be based on the country’s culture and valuable things that have been passed on from one generation to another but this is not the case with Rwanda. This is the reason why people who work at the museum refer to Rwanda’s cultural heritage as the untapped oil.

There has been an increase in the number of people who have visited the museum this year to 82,152 people compared to 72,214 people of last years and that the contribution to national coffers by the INMR is twice as much as the previous in just one year and there fore making 105 million Rwf from the 55 million Rwf of last year. This improvement is attributed to the better techniques employed to improve the operation. He told the delegation. All that revenue was collected form visitors and not from the sale of any of the items within the museum which shows that it has also been given as much attention as the national parks like Akagera to be specific which is why all the five museum in the country together with all the other cultural sites have got to be refurbished to the best of the country’s capability and all the road maps to all places with valuable things have got to be drawn immediately as well as improving on the budget allocated to the tourism industry to be as good as that for any other government  body.

POACHING FOR IVORY HAS GRAVELLY DESTROYED WILD LIFE CONSERVATION.

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There is a high demand for Ivory and this has increased the rate of poaching the national parks, this is evident with the five Chinese have been arrested at Entebbe airport within a period of just a year and within the same period, about 10 elephants or more have been killed by suspected poachers around Queen Elizabeth National Park in western Uganda.

The fact that Uganda was previously losing only three elephants to poaching annually, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) is concerned about the new wave of elephant poaching, writes Gerald Tenywa
Some months ago, Henry Musisi from Kawempe is a 6 year old kid who paced away saying: “Go away,” before he disappeared into a group of school children, but his new friend, Charles Hamukungu, a baby elephant at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre kept on directing his trunk at him. It was a hide-and-seek game that evoked a lot of laughter from Musisi. But Musisi was saddened when he learnt that underneath this innocent, charming crowd puller at the wild side of Entebbe laid a tale of anguish.

A few months ago, a fisherman found this very young elephant with it umbilical cord still on the shores of the lake trying to fight for his life in Hamukungu village in Queen Elizabeth National Park. It was all alone very close to drowning something that the fisherman found a bit strange that its mother would abandon her sweet bundle of joy. But later it was found out that its mother had been shot dead after the carcass was found floating on Lake George with bullet wounds.

This comes hot on the heels of other elephants that had been gunned down along River Ishasha along the Uganda-DR Congo border in April. Earlier on, there were two more elephants that were poisoned using water melon and pineapples laced with acid in the Ishasha area of Queen Elizabeth National Park and report show that within the last few months, eight carcasses of elephants were discovered in the nearby Kasyoha-Kitomi forest reserve in Bushenyi. Their tusks had been removed and taken for sell.

There will be a tour to Karura forest at the end of the celebration led by well trained guides and that is the time you will get to know more about the late Prof.Wanngari Mathaai. This sort of picnic will last and end with the week. Go for entrance done every day of the week especially for those who live in and around Nairobi at 500 Kenya shilling for every lecture you attend.

KENYA’S MUSEUM WELL PREPARED FOR KENYA’S EXIHIBITION WEEK

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A Number of people from the tweet society in Kenya have happened to join the hashtag line Tembea kenya and according to the findings about their safari across Kenya from the Magical Kenya as well as the Kenya wild life services was the Kenya museum society getting ready for its exhibition celebration which will last for along period of time at the end of November.

There are lots of details provided for the readers though much of it can be got from the info. There will be classes well arranged in some interesting order, debates and presentations so that later can have a safari to Karura forest which was rescued by Prof.Wangari Mathaai after her civil campaign that landed her into serious problems with the official to an extent that she was beaten and sent to a prison cell for some time by an exceedingly enthusiastic police force. Fortunately enough, because of her heroic deed, she became a cabinet minister after being internationally recognized as a woman with a noble character.

Every one is very well come to participate in all the programs prepared however, you have got to pay a sum of 6000 Kenya shillings which is about 60 dollars. You will have the opportunity to meet the famous elephant lady Rhoda Mann, other powerful speakers like Cynthia Mass, Dr. Wanja Nyingi and Kuki Gallman. More to this will be the cultural performances, documentaries and much more to learn and enjoying.

EITHER BURN OR SELL THE WHITE GOLD AND IVORY.

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The white gold and ivory are the two commodities whose prices have surely shoot so high within a very short period of time. The two have come to be well known expressing a supposed truth in the past few years thus the reason for the increases demand for the white gold and the ivory from the potential buyers in the recent years. There is quick development operations resulting from the increased desire and supply of ivory from the possible sellers especially at the time when China’s economy is fairing very well while as the other powerful countries (Asian tigers) have led to the increased demand for the blood ivory so they can make some of their complicated carvings, other decorative materials and the mundane materials like the seals, chop sticks among. There are applications for one off sale which is at times grant and at times denied however accepting even a single sale can lead to increased poaching in the national parks something that the conservationist are up against as mentioned by a conservation source from Tanzania.

There are tons of ivory that is stored in some of the so called strong rooms in so many of these countries in the Eastern and in the Southern parts of African and so the more they get, the higher is the pressure to control the sales in the responsible forces. The only sale that is legal involves selling tusks got from elephants that have died of either of old age or from other diseases and in addition to this,  is the ivory seized from the poachers as they try to export it outside the country and end up getting caught from the air port however, the conservationists do not agree with the sale of the seized ivory saying that this will increase the rate at which poaching is  due to the fact that they will have satisfied the demands of the interested buyers after all.

There is a great need to improve on the security measures employed in all the national parks where poaching for ivory I very common in order to be able to preserve and conserve the African beauty in terms of wild life.

TABLE MOUNTAIN AMONGT THE TOP 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD.

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South Africa’s effort to solicit for vote for its Table Mountain so that it can be among the new 7 wonders of the word yielded the good results for the South Africans  when its feature turned out to be the 7^th feature in the world ranking. There were many other features which were expected to be among the top 7 position like the Mt.Kilimanjaro or the Masai Mara game reserve situated in Kenya which unfortunately did not get enough votes to get them to the top 7 positions and therefore leaving only Cape Town’s Table Mountain to bring the honor to African.

There are different tourism attractions from different parts of the world that are among the top 7 and they include the countries below in their respective positions.

1. The Amazon Rain forest from Brazil.
2. Halong Bay from Vietnam.
3. Iguassu falls in Brazil and Argentina.
4. Jeju island in South Korea
5. Komodo Island in Indonesia
6. Puerto Princesa which is an underground river in Philippines.
7. The Table Mountain from South Africa.

Unfortunately, there was no single tourist attraction from the big countries like North America, Europe and not even from Australia or the southern part of the Pacific that was among the top positions in this year. This time round, the top positions were all taken up by countries from the far South Eastern countries, some of them from South America and one from Africa which is South Africa.

Congratulation to all the South African tourism team in Cape Town as well as all the other well wishers from all over the world who sent as many votes as possible to see Table Mountain among the top 7 wonders of the world.

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TANZANIA INTERESTED IN THE SALE OF IVORY.

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Tanzania took the opportunity that all the experts were present in the meeting the wild life meeting which took place in Dar es Salaam and introduced a matter which was not expected and discussed it under the Lusaka wildlife protection Agreement. Tanzania asked committee members to be permitted in the coming world CITES meeting to sell the ivory stock. The tourism minister Mr. Maige was very quick and very clear about his country’s interest regarding the sell of ivory and therefore was looking at the details of the Agreement at the opening session of the 10^th council meeting. However, this is something that the other members did not agree with and felt that the matter had been raised at the wrong time since the meeting was called for to discuss matters concerning conservation, policies for peace and other stronger laws and regulations to follow to protect the wild life so that there will be a reduction in the rate at which poaching is done.

Tanzania together with Zambia wanted to get the permission to go on and sell Ivory legally but they were not successful since they were out voted by the rest of the members on the committee who did not support their idea and they swore to come with new application to their next meeting in 2013. Kenya unlike Tanzania and Zambia destroyed a number of tons of ivory was a way of challenging and opposing the habit of poaching and the sell blood ivory in Kenya though he was mocked by Tanzania’s Maige the Tourism minister who said that destroying the ivory is not the solution to its trade and so Kenya had better think of a better solution.

KENYA’S HUNT FOR MILITANTS HAS NO IMPACT ON RECENT BOOKINGS.

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The Reports from Mombasa and that which is given most global media organizations are contradicting each other.  The GMOs  would want their readers to believe that the number of guests has stayed high and that the already made hotel bookings have remained steady and yet  Kenya has reported that with permission from the Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu which entered Somalia to hunt down and capture the Al Shabab militants. The mood among the elected hoteliers showed caution and belief that something good will happen soon thus the present booking situation is as a result of continuous marketing and telling the truth about Kenya in countries out it. They also admit that security measures are no longer as poor as before in area within and around tourist resorts to ensure the safety and security of visitors and hence attract more of the tourists to come and enjoy the resort or take a stroll along the beaches.

There are Patrols all over the place while others are in plain clothes working together with the police officers to keep the place safe and secure including the areas of capital Nairobi to all important urban centers and beaches between Malindi and Mombasa.

This military operation is now aiming at haunting down pirates on all water bodies and militant stronghold of Kismayu considering the earlier reports that Ras Kamboni, another pirate safe haven so far, has fallen to the fierce attack of Kenyan land forces and air attacks while TFG troops are on   other side trying to capture the Al Shabab militants who are on the run after being driven out of the capital. Kenya’s next step has already been sanctioned by the African Union and it is willing to provide the necessary support to Kenya to defend itself from the enemy. The United Nations Security Council hopes that there will be additional measures as agreed upon to block sea- and airborne supplies from reaching the militant castles.

EACH GORILLA KILLED IS WORTH LESS THAN 20 DOLLARS

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Three gorilla killers were fined 50,000 Ugandan shilling which is of course less than 20 US dollars though were caught red-handed by the ranger and brought before the Kanungu magistrate’s court. This is caused some sort of mischief to the magistrate from conservationist within Uganda and beyond boarders.

Among the so many attractions within the tourism industry in Uganda, gorilla tracking is one of the most important elements attracting so many tourists from all over the world to visit Bwindi and Mgahinga the 2 gorilla parks with in Uganda. Gorilla tracking permits cost USD500 excluding all other facilities like the meals, accommodations, transport any other while on the tour. When the three poachers were caught a number of weeks ago by the ranger after killing a silverback gorilla, this was shocking news to the conservationist crew. Fortunately however, they appeared before the judge to be charged for the crime they had committed and the media was well represented when the case came up for hearing though the magistrate’s decision to only fine them just shs50,000 and not send them to jail is an action that might send a wrong message to the rest of the poachers in other parks out there. Because of this decision, the magistrate has been named incompetent and an accomplice to poaching criminal punishment are often in outdated laws especially in Kenya and Tanzania.

The conservationist in East African demanded for at least 10 years in prison as the minimum sentence to together with sever hard labor incases of commercial poaching and fines heavy enough to have both the poachers and those funding their work run bankrupt. Unfortunately up to now none of the parliaments has come up with an appropriate amendment to those laws in existence so as to deter those inappropriate ones.

Conservationists’ leaders have in messages to this correspondent overnight repeatedly mentioned the ‘poor judgment’ by the magistrate and called for a judicial  report on the case by higher courts, saying ‘this decision will encourage poaching in Uganda. They say they a provision in law equating killing a prized gorilla to committing manslaughter so that the sentence can become stronger since the fines no longer yield any impacts on the public. Because of this verdict was disgrace upon the entire judiciary, conservationists think the magistrate should regime from office since while tourists pay 500 US Dollars to see gorillas and the poachers were fined 55 US Dollars all together which equating it to their despicable offence committed.

DAWALI FIREWORKS TO LIGHT UP MAURITIUS.

Mauritius prepares to treat its tourists who will be coming into the country this month in a special way. The tourists who will be visiting Mauritius will be received with the huge Dawali fireworks as they celebrate their popular Indian Holiday on the Island.

There will be lots of entertainment which will include performances from different groups of people and shows which will all be done by the local people on that day. All tourists are free to joint the celebration since  there are also a number of hotels and resorts which have organized some thing special for their guests during the event. This is intended to publicize Mauritius’ cultural back ground through performance so that the tourists can get the opportunity to learn more about the country.

There are persons behind the preparation of this event who include the minister of tourism and leisure as well as the minister of Arts and culture in the country who have seen this as the perfect opportunity to market the country’s rich culture and its history.  It is therefore advisable that who ever is on holiday on the Island, should keep his or her eyes to the sky on the 23rd watching out for the fabulous fireworks. Wish all of you the best evening.

NAMIBIA WORKS UPON ITS TOURISM INDUSTRY

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To date, a number of countries seem to be working so hard towards the growth and development of their tourism industry and Namibia has followed the same route like the wrest of the countries given the fact that it has got the resource to maintain very powerful tourism industry which includes the various physical features, the wild life which need just little more attention to attract tourists.

There is a birding project located at a renown Bird Paradise which is situated at the North of Walvis Bay with over 20,000 birds and it has become a base for most recent tourism activities and here are the sewage ponds and when the sewage has passed through the first pond, it becomes an attraction for birds since the water will appear some how clean and so, so many birds will come to the ponds and hopefully, this project will be beneficial to people especially the youths who wish to known more about these birds and also offer them an opportunity to acknowledge the importance of environmental conservation as mentioned by Karel Naibab who is the managing Guide Paradise Birds and a youth as well. He also mentions clearly that these youths will have a chance to check out the bird sanctuary with so many bird species and also learn a lot that they may not be aware of.

The Dolomite camp is a fabulous accommodation facility situated in the western side o the Etosha national park in a place which has been out of bounds for people for about 100 years.  It is anew lodge built on the top of the dolomite ranges with a water hole in front of it which attract animal like the black rhinos, the Impala and the Hartman Mountain Zebra.

There are so many geographical attractions around this lodge which would keep a tourist busy while there and they include the gently rolling hills, the plains and the saline pans. There also so many other water holes around the lodge plus the old rock art. There have been over 1000 guests at this camp since it opened up in June however; it was opened officially over the weekend by President Hifikepunye Pohamba.

The reports from travel and tourism ministry as reported by the tourism minister Nandi Ndaitwah show that he expects the travel and tourism to come up with 32,000 both direct and the indirect jobs during the period of MTEF which will mean a total of 7.4% employment creation and then N$16.3 billion to GDP at the same bringing it to 19.9 % in the year 2010.

Tourists invited to see erupting Congo volcano

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Expand Lava shoots from Mount Nyamulagira in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. The park is offering tourists overnight treks to view the spectacular eruption. Photo / APA national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, best known for its endangered mountain gorillas, is now inviting tourists to go on overnight treks to see a volcano spurting fountains of lava some 300 metres into the air. Mount Nyamulagira began erupting on November 6 and could continue to do so for days, or even months. "Last night's was the most spectacular yet," spokeswoman LuAnne Chad said from Virunga National Park on Monday.

Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano attracted tourists earlier this year when a fissure had lava spurting 20 metres high. In comparison, volcanologist Dario Tedesco estimated that the lava on Mount Nyamulagira in Congo is spewing up to 300 metres high. Park wardens have named the latest Nyamulagira eruption "Kimanura," after the name of the area along the volcano's flank, spokeswoman Chad said. Rivers of incandescent lava are flowing slowly north into an uninhabited part of the park, but that the lava flows pose no danger to the park's critically endangered mountain gorillas, a statement from the park said. Virunga Park is home to 200 of the world's 790 mountain gorillas, as well as lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, okapi, forest elephants and buffalo. The park has set up a tented camp nearly 1.5 kilometres south of the eruption where tourists can spend the night.

For US$300 (NZ$389), the park provides transportation for the hour-long drive from the eastern capital of Goma and wardens to guide visitors on the three- to four-hour hike to the camp.

Virunga is located in eastern Congo, where numerous militia and rebel groups continue to terrorise the population nearly a decade after the country's civil war ended. Some 360 park rangers protect the park and its wildlife from poachers, rebel groups, illegal miners and land invasions. Rangers worked through the civil war in eastern Congo's five parks, with more than 150 killed in the last 10 years, according to the statement.

The 7800 square-kilometre Virunga National Park is a World Heritage site containing seven of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga mountain range that sprawls across the borders of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Only two are active - Nyamulagira and, closer to Goma, Mount Nyiragongo. Nyiragongo erupted destructively in 2002, destroying most of Goma city including 14,000 homes and forcing 350,000 residents to flee.

SYCHELLES NOW A MEMBER OF UNWTO’S SUSTAINABLE TOURISM COMMITTEE.

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Seychelles was recognized as an asset to the sustainable tourism committee during the last meeting of all the member countries of UNWTO which took place in South Korea. This has come as a result of Seychelles’ continuous effort to promote sustainable tourism as well as protecting the environment come as its first priority. The board members where led by Alain St.Ange who was there on behalf of Seychelles and as the CEO of his country’s tourism board.

Seychelles has 50% of its land and ocean taken up as reserved/ protected area and this has got the country to the top of the global list of the environment protecting countries and it has launched it master plan to environmental conservation to be able to achieve sustainable development and this is sign of serious commitment to ensure that there is constant development in Seychelles whose economy greatly depends greatly on tourism a side from fishing.

Seychelles had to sign a memorandum of understanding with Abu Dhabi after coming up with their recent master plan for the country’s future development  which is apart of a group of islands, this operation will be in conjunction with the Seychelles Planning Authority as mentioned by Victoria. In the new master plan, transport infrastructure is the major issue where by improvement in the transport system should not have any negative effect on the environment or affect the traditional architectural style in the cities in these islands in any way. There is a group of professional people from both Seychelles and Abu Dhabi who are more concerned with the development/ expansion of  the city and these experts are expected to provide a report  about their work as far as the plan is concerned after 6 months.

TOURIST STILL MISSING.

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There are sad news coming from Botswana about a missing tourist. The Botswana bulletin show that this tourist from South Africa is still nowhere to be found even after along period of search for his where about. He was reported missing last week after he jumped out of his vehicle so that he could get assistance to locate their way out the Chobe national park. This was after he and his wife got lost from this park and at the same time their vehicle got stuck in the sand that it could not move, he opted to move on foot to find help but unfortunately he never returned since then.

The responsible parties in Botswana have been on search for this South African for the whole week but still have not yet found him, they are however still search through the entire park until when they found a clue of where he might have headed to however, the officer heading the search says it is better if his people did not keep their hope high because it most likely that he is already dead given the fact that its not 3 weeks since his disappearance, he could not have probably survived the jungle and the wild animals in it.

There tourism minister in Botswana therefore advises all tourists to always be conscious about incidences like this and always learn from them so that such cases do not have to repeat themselves however, he promised to improve on the security of the part, all the parts of park with out tight security will get security guards in order to keep the tourists safe.

TANZANIA SHOOTING FOR BETTER TOURISM.

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In the entire east African community, Tanzania has been almost out of the tourist destination map. But since this year begun, it has tried to fight so hard to be a better tourist destination.  It started by capturing the ships that were transporting ivory and now it has opened a national college for tourism. The Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism the previous week launched the country’s first National College for Tourism, which is to compete with other institutions to train relevant hospitality and tourism courses to equip skills to young Tanzanians wishing to join the sector. The new development is to compete with the existing private vocational training institutions and courses at university level.

Since agriculture has always been the best bread earner for the entire east African community, the trend is now changing because the soil has become quite infertile.  Other means like tourism are almost taking the lead and there for there is need to get people with the skills. Many think that handling wildlife safaris, gorilla safaris, mountaineering and so many others is just a walk over but serious training is needed to satisfy those interested.  However several existing privately owned colleges and schools offer more of theoretical studies; usually allegedly of inferior quality producing graduates subsequently rejected by employers for lack of practical skills, those in demand regional institutes like the Kenya Utalii College, renowned for its quality education, do not have the capacity to admit more students.

The upcoming categorizing exercise across the region is also thought to steer up investment in better trained staff and in house in addition to external training, as the quality and experience of staff are a important part of the catalogue of criteria for awarding star ratings to hotels, resorts, safari lodges and camps and restaurants. This new venture is reported to seek admission shortly to the Association of Hotels Schools in Sub Saharan Africa, in short AHSSA, under which most leading public and private institutions are get together to cooperate in matching their curriculum and their course contents in addition to examination standards, thus providing internationally recognizable Certificates and Diplomas attained under the same strict guidelines. The institute will provide for as many as 600 students to be enrolled and study at the same time.

The class of tourism is to be improved from soon. Watch the space East Africa