A number of buffaloes invaded one IDP camp which is found in Gilgil and they destroyed a lot of property leaving so many families in fear for their lives. They have turned Kirathimo camp which is located near Marura sanctuary a no-gone zone.

According to the information got from Grace Ngugi, they also attacked people and there is one man who has been reported to be in Naivasha District Hospital fighting for his life after one of the buffaloes injured him. Other people say that they are now scared of leaving their houses at night because the buffaloes sometimes move around the camps in the night and also other wild animals move a round in the area which puts their lives in great danger.

Also the KWS admits that there are so many dangerous wild animals roaming around people’s villages mainly from the nearby Marura sanctuary and they are working on solving the situation. Meanwhile IDPs from different camps in Gilgil have also come out and challenged the Jubilee government to remember its promise of resettling them in 100 days so that they can have a normal life like any body else.

Wildlife safari news

Kenya Wildlife Service together with all the other responsible bodies in Kenya are working hard to see that they wipe out the problem of poaching which is so common in almost all the national parks in the country. Recently, the KWS warders in Ijara district, Garissa County arrested a poacher with 129 kg of illegal meat at Hajji Mohamed and according to Cleophas Mailu who is the Garissa county warden, this poachers identified as Ali had killed a dik dik and an impala.

While speaking to Mailu on phone, he said that Ali has killing animals illegally for some time now yet he knows that poaching is an offense that is punishable by law and anybody found guilty of a similar crime faces stiff penalties.

Meanwhile the KWS boss mentioned that the poachers are just taking advantage of the fact that there are wildlife animals in the area and yet it is also a transit route to and from Coast as well as Somalia. In a humble request therefore, he has asked all the local people that are living around all the national parks and game reserves to help out by reporting all those that they suspect to be poachers or any suspicious activity that they may see going on that may be dangerous to wildlife.   He said the country needs its wildlife for economic development.

Africa safari news

Owners of a ranch that is located just next to Tsavo and Shimba Hills national parks have denied having any connection with the recurring poaching activities in these parks. These people live pastoralists’ life and the government of Kenya has intentions of throwing them off this land because they suspect them to be conspiring with poachers to kill the wildlife in these parks.

According officials from KWS, there are some poachers that disguise themselves as herders and they kill wild animals in some places around the coastal regions. Hopefully, once these pastoralists are out of this area, no one will be allowed around the park which will make it very easy for the rangers to see people moving around the parks and those can be arrested for trespassing. Therefore be able to wipe out the vice.

Wildlife safari news

Port Victoria has once again merged as the best cruise port on the Seychelles’ main island of Mahe after tight competition among the different ports during the World Travel Award Indian Ocean Ceremony that was held in the Maldives.

There were about two other resorts from the Seychelles that received top honors and these were Fregate Island Private which won one for being the region’s leading private island resort and then the other was Hilton Northolme Resort and Spa identified as the Indian Ocean’s Leading Villa Resort. Other recognized resorts included the Hilton Labriz Resort and Spa in two categories and again the Hilton Northolme for ensuring that Hilton becomes the Indian Ocean’s Leading Hotel Brand.

According to sources, the top honors that Port Victoria has received will help boost Seychelles efforts to start off the cruise tourism after years of silence because of security issues. The Seychelles Tourism Board has got rid of all the hindrances so as to attract the world’s leading cruise lines back to the archipelago because just one day visit of a cruise ship adds a large sum of income to the Seychellois economy thus the reason this kind of tourism should be promoted.

Africa wildlife  news

Latest information from the Uganda Wildlife Authority states that there is a new Marine unit that has been deployed to help wipe out poaching in the Murchison falls national park.  The Semanya Marine Ranger Station has been recently officially opened on the banks of the River Nile a place where regular anti poaching patrols are now operating to monitor most especially that open access across Lake Albert into the Murchisons Falls National Park.

The establishment of this station and equipping it was financed by a number of conservation groups but more so, it was the effort of the Uganda Conservation Foundation as it has been working tirelessly together with UWA to fight this  poaching habit which is destroying the tourism industry slowly by slowly.  There are also other Ugandan corporations that supported the cause like Sheraton Kampala Hotel, Nile Breweries and Sadolin Paints, among others , these also contributed by giving some donations just like  the Murchisons Falls International Fishing Tournament, an annual event with proceeds going to conservation causes.

There are now about two dozen of rangers that have been positioned at the station and at the moment, they are using one boat but very soon, there will be additional equipments that will be brought in for them to be able to efficiently and effectively do their job. The strategy is very promising because they were able to catch a number of poachers  on day one of operations thought they are claiming to be innocent fishermen despite the fact that they were found with hunting materials like the snares and other poachers tools thus the reason they were immediately arrested and are now awaiting trial.

At the Nile delta, that point where Victoria Nile joins Lake Albert, are a number of small islands as well as swamps therefore a home to very many animals which makes it a very tempting place for poachers who can access that side of the national park and also because there have been no rangers until now.

The rate at which people illegally kill animals has kept on increasing because it has moved from the subsistence level to commercial level and this has been fueled by the existing market for wildlife products in the Asian countries.  Poaching mainly affects the elephants and the rhinos’ populations as these are the main targets for their tusks and horns respectively however, also other animals are killed for other reasons like for bush meat, their skins, among others.    It is very important to address the issue otherwise the industry will be wiped out and yet it’s a great contributor to the Uganda’s economy therefore should not be neglected.

Gorilla tracking news

Latest news from Kenya reveal that Kenya is one of the is 15,000 exhibitors v that will display their  tourism products at fairs  that will be in Durban, South Africa and the Middle East next week. Kenya Tourism Board will have about 27 companies from both local travel and hotel industry go for this four-day Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai and then to South Africa’s Indaba exhibition, both taking place starting this week  until May 14 20013.

The tourism fairs has probably come at the right during which Kenya is doing everything to market their attraction especially since they are  enjoying international attention and endorsement as a peaceful nation after conducting a successful and very peaceful election a few months back.  Meanwhile, according to Muriithi Ndegwa who is the KTB Managing Director, these exhibitions are expected to provide a strong platform for the country to deliver a message of a new business environment to the rest of the world. The new government is putting a lot of attention to ensure development of the tourism industry because it’s an important aspect in Kenya’s economy, Ndegwa added.

He said the tourism industry is vibrant and international fairs provided an opportunity to check out the best practices world wide since KTB intends to improve on their tourism products to match with the recent preferences by visitors. Because while wildlife, safari and beach remain the major products that Kenya has, there are other  activities that have come up and with a lot of competition like the water sports, birding, adventure, golfing, MICE, culture among others.

Kenya has also positively responded to the eco-tourism and Meeting Incentives Conferencing and Exhibitions and they have been very productive so he said while confirming that Kenya would be host of the International Conference on Eco Tourism in September, 2013.

KTB  decided to be apart of these exhibitions because both UAE and South Africa markets have shown extraordinary increase in the number of tourist that visit Kenya that is why KTB is improving on their its marketing efforts in tapping into these markets for more tourists. For example, there were about 38,354 tourists from South Africa in 2011 and 40,707 in 2012 which was about 6% improvement.   And also UAE market has improved in the past three years and has become one of the fastest growing source markets for Kenya today with about 21,128 tourists visiting Kenya in 2011 to 40,485 in 2012 and that was 92% growth.  This kind of increase is attributed to the established routes from key airlines like the Kenya Airways, Emirates, and Etihad among others that flight directly to UAE making easy for tourists to travel to Kenya.  

Africa wildlife news

At the beginning of the year, things weren’t good for Kenya as far as Tourism business is concerned. There were very few arrivals as people were anticipating a period of instability during the election period. Basing on the data got from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the month of February indicated the largest decline with international visitors coming  as the numbers dropped drastically.

During this election period, so many tourists shun away from Kenya  fearing that the violence that was in Kenya  after the second last elections  might happen again therefore creating an unstable environment for tourism. 

According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reports,  the number of international arrivals through JKIA declined  by 39% from 80,405 as they were in February 2012  to 48 970 in February this year. The decline was so significant especially since the month before that was in January 2013, the total number of arrivals was 85 538 and just within a short time reduced to 48970.

The total number of arrivals in February that came through JKIA and those through  Mombasa’s Moi International Airport stood at 73 001 yet these are the major ports. When you compare the total to 105, 041 that arrived during the same month last year and 111 984 that came in January 2013, the decline is devastating.

Now that Kenya has proved to be a very peaceful country, more tourists are expected to visit Kenya in the near future and increase on the revenue collected by the government every year. 

Africa gorilla news

When the UK pop star Peter Andre together with his girlfriend, Emily MacDonagh visited Kenya for a safari, they got a fright of their life when they came face-to-face with a buffalo however they said it was nice getting close to the animals despite some few scary moments, the UK press reports indicated.

Peter while taking to the new magazine said that they were in the Meru National Park and with no windows on the accommodation facility making him realize that they were at the same level with nature especially since the only thing between the two and the lions as well as the elephants was a little mosquito net.

They had the chance to see lots of animals in the park like the hippos, lions and elephants which was so fun and so overwhelming. It is true that there some moments when the adventure became scary like when a buffalo stood about a metre away from the safari vehicle and Emily got  frightened because they can be really aggressive so said Peter.

The couple did enjoy their break; they got so much to themselves alone together and also had a few candlelit dinners and “on the last night as well as visit the amazing Carnivore restaurant in Nairobi.

With this kind of report from such people, its good news for Kenya’s tourism industry as it’s a great way of marketing its country’s tourist’s attractions within UK and across the whole world and will lead to an increase in the number of visitors that visit.

Wildlife safari news

There are 2 men that were arrested by the KWS officials and charged with illegal possession of elephant tusks. These were Jasper Maza and Joshua Mutua who were presented before the Voi Senior Principal Magistrate S.M Wahome who charged them with crime mentioned after they were caught with tusks at the beginning of the month at Kaloleni area within Voi. The elephant tusks they were caught with were about 10 kgs equivalent to Sh 200,000.

Unfortunately these two denied the charges and were released on a cash bail of Sh 50,000 each or sent on remand until May 6 this year when their case will be heard again. Meanwhile the prosecution led by KWS Prosecutor Edna Mwalenga lined three counts against Maza and Mutua. In the first count, they were charged with possession of government Trophy without a certificate of ownership which is an offense as it is contrary to section 42 (1) b of the Wildlife Act laws of Kenya.

The other charge was failure to make a report about possession of a government trophy which is contradicting with the Kenya wildlife laws. Besides that prosecution also charged for dealing in government trophy contrary to Wildlife Act of Kenyan laws thus making 3 crime charges.

There were also other 2 people in the same court who were charged in the same court for illegally possessing two elephant tusks that were about 12.5 kilos. Poaching still remains a big threat to the survival of tourism industry as there comes a time when poaching is on the rise within ranches bordering the Tsavo Park in Taita Taveta County thus creating a lot of tension.

Wildlife safari news

Most tourists travel to Uganda for the gorillas, but after paying for flights of over USD 1,000 one wouldn’t wish to stay in Uganda for just 3 days.  In addition to gorilla tracking, one may decide to visit other places/ national parks in Uganda. Some of the adventurous activities to include in your itinerary are ;

Rafting and Bungee jumping on The Nile;

Rafting is done on one of the longest rivers in the world and you can choose to do a 2 days or a day’s or even half day adventure.  While in Jinja you can also chose to add bungee jumping on your list and this gives you a chance to dive over the source of the Nile from one of the most spectacular bungee jumping sites in the world. Tandem jumps, water touches and full-moon jumps can be done at the site.

Quad Bike rides and Game drives,

Quad bike rides, do not segregate in age, and they also do not require experiences. They can be organized along the river Nile in Jinja and also Lake Mburo National park. Where by you get to search for wildlife on a quad bike.

Horse Back Safaris

These can be done in Lake Mburo National park and it gives  better views of the animals, to include zebras, elands, warthogs, Bush backs, Buffaloes, Impalas and many more. The longest ride, takes you around 4 hours and its takes you up to the hilltop viewpoints.

Mountain Cycling Uganda

This can be done in two National parks that is Bwindi and Mt Elgon National park. Cycling in Bwindi is done along the well maintained 13 km trail to Ivi river and the trail gives you an opportunity to see animals like the bush backs, colobus monkeys and the red tailed Monkeys.  The guided round trip will take you around 7 hours and all the returns from this activity are for the community neighboring the Park.   The Mt Elgon cycling trails starts from Sipi trading centre to Chema Hill in Kapchorwa town. It should take 1.5 hours and provides views of various waterfalls and the Karamoja plains.  You do not need to carry your bike from home! Bike for hire are available.

Forest Walk while Holding Hands with Young Chimpanzees

This can be done in Ngamba island – the chimpanzee sanctuary in Entebbe. It is a 3 hours walk that takes you through this forested island on Lake victoria while holding hands and carrying some of the young chimpnzees at the time on your back. This guided walk is interesting as you walk hand in hand with the chimps as they touch your hair, and also try to clean your Nails.  It starts at 8 am and requires you to have spent the night on the island. The activity requires you to be immunized against certain diseases. The checklist to be provided on request.

Include these activities in your Uganda tour program  and you will not regret your decision.

Adventure uganda