Africa Safari Blog

The wildebeest migration, one of the most spectacular wildlife spectacles in the world has started with visitors from all over the world jamming Masai Mara game reserve.

The migration, determined mostly by climatic patterns, has coincided with the sprouting of long lush green and golden grass in the savannah, the result of rains that have recently fallen over the area.

An estimated 1.5 million wildebeests cross the Mara River in the months of June to August to graze and to mate, before returning to the Serengeti in the late October to November. As many as 500,000 zebra precede them.

Hotels in the park and the surrounding conservancies as well Narok town, which is the gate-way to the resort, have recorded full bookings.

By Jean

Africa Safari & Travel News

Kenya Wildlife Services has given Monarch Group of Investors sites in Meru and Kora national parks to set up lodges to boost tourism.

The lodges are to be constructed within six months according to Monarch Group’s Chairman Jared Kangwana. It being a tourism peak season, Kangwana said mobile tented camps will be put up in the meantime to operate in the two earmarked areas as lodge construction gets underway.

One of the proposed lodges, Golo tented site lodge, will have a bed capacity of 30 comprising of 15 tents covering 25 acres and will be fully equipped with modern facilities among them a swimming pool and Spa.

A cultural centre has also been proposed within the area, as the government seeks ways to expand tourism circuits in the country.

The Kenya Tourism Ministry is currently implementing a diversification program that aims to market other tourism attraction areas in Kenya. Among parks and game reserves, Masai Mara, Amboseli, Tsavo and Nairobi are the most popular with visitors yet Kenya has over 50 parks and conservation areas.

This has spurred KWS in action to market other parks and game reserves in the country by first making them habitable through boosting accommodation in partnership with private investors.

By Jean

Africa Safari & Travel News

Rwanda Development Board (RDB), together with Rwanda Birding Association (RBA) and Rwanda Tours and Travel Agencies (RTTA) recently launched three new developed birding routes in Bugesera District in the Eastern Province.

The new birding routes have been developed to promote the Avi-tourism industry through bird watching in the country.

“The objective of bird awareness in Rwanda is to promote the understanding, appreciation and conservation of birds in the country, through bringing together the bird lovers and the local communities in the country,” John Gara, the CEO of RDB said.

The three new developed bird routes are located outside the three national parks in Rwanda. These include; Volcanoes, Akagera and Nyungwe national parks. Other sites are Gishwati Forest, and the swamps of Rugezi, Akanyaru and Nyabarongo.

Rwanda has seven Important Bird Areas (IBAs) covering 274,535ha (10 percent of the size of the country), which are home to over 650 bird species, 475 residents while 117 are regular seasonal migrants.

By Jean

Africa Safari & Travel News

The Kabaka (King) of Buganda, Ronald Mutebi II, has urged the Uganda Government to promote culture to bring unity among Ugandans.

In his speech at the closure of the 3rd annual Buganda Tourism Expo at the palace in Mengo- Kampala, the Kabaka said understanding cultural diversity is the only key to unity since it is the basis for development.

Mutebi said Buganda being a central point and receiving area for many visitors to Uganda, it has high chances of promoting its culture and tourism potentials. He said the kingdom has many popular cultural and historical sites, which can attract visitors to Uganda safaris.

Mutebi urged people in the kingdom and other areas to identify cultural sites and recommend them to Buganda and national tourism ministry, so that they are rehabilitated to promote economic development.

“We need to use culture as means of promoting development in our societies,” Kabaka said. Uganda Wildlife Authority gave chance to tourists to see a lion, leopard, camel, African python, monkeys and other animals at the expo.

Besides touring cultural sites Uganda offers gorilla tracking safaris, chimp trekking safaris, wildlife safaris, mountaineering safaris, bird watching safaris, white water rafting safaris, forest walk safaris, camping safaris, to mention but a few.

By Jean,

Africa Safari & Travel News

Tanzania’s plan to build a highway through the Serengeti national park has been dropped, UNESCO said last week. The Serengeti is famous for its wildebeest migration which environmentalists have argued that the road once built would cause an environmental disaster.

The wildebeest migration is a spectacle which is a major tourist attraction described as one of the planet’s greatest natural spectacles.

The proposed highway was set to link remote under-developed communities to larger hubs, cutting a swathe through the park into which giant herds of wildebeest crowd every summer to seek Kenya‘s pastures.

Following criticism of the project, the Tanzanian government informed the United Nations’ Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) that the plan had been dropped.

An environment group had previously argued that the road was illegal under the terms of East African Community Treaty, signed by Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Besides the wildebeest migration, Tanzania has several other tourist attractions including; the Ngorongoro Crater, the snow­capped Mount Kilimanjaro, various national parks and Zanzibar, with its idyllic palm-fringed beaches etc.

By Jean Ankunda,

Africa Safari & Travel News