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Uganda
News ZIWA TO GET 6 MORE
RHINOS It was learned earlier in
the week that the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, owned and
operated by the Rhino Fund Uganda, is due to
receive 6 more Southern White Rhinos later in the
year. Once the translocation from South Africa is
completed, the sanctuary will offer visitors a
total of 12 adults and 3 fast growing 'babies',
giving rise to hope that sooner rather than later
more young rhinos will roam the 17.000 acre
reserve. It is understood that over
60.000 US Dollars are already raised and committed
to the translocation cost from South Africa to
Uganda while the cost of the procurement will be
borne by the Ugandan government. The Ziwa sanctuary has in
recent times been established as a prime game
viewing location, where visitors can track rhinos
on foot, accompanied by trackers and armed rangers.
The sanctuary is located about half way between
Kampala and the much visited Murchisons Falls
National Park and now forms part of most safari
itineraries as it remains the only place where
rhinos can be seen in the wild, apart from the two
animals at the wildlife education centre in
Entebbe. More details can be found via
www.rhinofund.org or by writing to
angie@rhinofund.org Meanwhile has an 'old
hand' visited Ziwa as part of his trip across
Eastern Africa, when Wilhelm Moeller, honoured some
years ago by the German government through the
'Distinguished Service Cross' medal awarded to him
and his brother Peter for services to wildlife
conservation in Uganda, came to the sanctuary
earlier in the week. The Moeller brothers remain
held in high esteem and honoured regard amongst the
Ugandan conservation fraternity, a well deserved
place incidentally, considering the work they did
in the Queen Elizabeth National Park from the mid
1980's onwards, then the Kidepo National Park (by
Peter) and the launch of the Uganda Wildlife
Education Centre in Entebbe (by Wilhelm). The
Augsburg Zoo, where Wilhelm now works as a curator,
last year donated 25.000 Euros to the Rhino Fund
Uganda towards the work done on the Ziwa sanctuary
and he took the opportunity to see for himself what
impact that donation had in regard to wildlife
conservation and the breeding programme underway
there. He was also be able to see 'Augustu' in real
life, other than having previously received
pictures and video clips of the little fellow, who
was named after the city of Augsburg in recognition
of their support to Ziwa and the RFU. It was also learned from
Ziwa's Executive Director Angie Genade during a
meeting over the weekend, that one of the female
rhinos has apparently already gone back into heat,
as 'close encounters' with one of the males were
witnessed by the rangers and wardens, giving hope
that sooner rather than later another pregnancy can
be confirmed and another rhino birth expected soon
thereafter. Watch this space. 'AFRICAN INVESTOR' AWARDS
ANNOUNCED The tourism awards by
'African Investor' were announced just after the
last edition went into distribution, missing an
earlier broadcast opportunity. However, notably for
the Eastern African region, Kenya Airways has
scooped the prize for best business airline in
Africa, while the Zambian Minister for Tourism,
Environment and Natural Resources, the Hon.
Catherine Namugala, won the recognition as best
tourism minister on the continent, incidentally at
a time when the status of the Victoria Falls as a
global heritage site is under threat since the
joint submission of documents and data by Zambia
and Zimbabwe is nearing its extended deadline while
the work to be done by bureaucrats is far from
complete. Mombasa was termed the
'tourism investor city of the year' while Zimbabwe
got mention as 'up and coming tourism destination
of the year'. The Eco Tourism Society in Kenya was
honoured as 'best initiative in facilitating small
and medium enterprises tourism investments'
&endash; but sadly Uganda was absent from the
winners table once again, giving hopefully some
incentive to the local tourism trade and
bureaucracy to do better in 2010. The award
ceremony was held last week in Harare / Zimbabwe.
GOOGLE MAPS NOW AVAILABLE
FOR KAMPALA AND ENTEBBE Intending visitors to
Uganda can now access detailed maps of Kampala and
Entebbe via Google Maps through their web browser,
giving them detailed locations of hotels,
restaurants, airlines offices and other related
points of interest. Locally available is of course
the bi-monthly printed map inside 'The Eye',
Uganda's premier entertainment, location and travel
guide, which can be found for free through hotel
concierge desks and a number of other outlets. The
publication of the Google Maps however will be
another step into the e-age for Uganda permitting
the country to use added tools for global
promotional activities and giving prospective
visitors greater insight about what to expect when
coming to 'the Pearl of Africa'. Visit this
correspondent's neighbourhood in Kampala through
this new facility. AFRICAN UNION SUMMIT
COMING TO KAMPALA, OR IS IT? The scheduled summit of
the African Union is due to take place in June this
year in Kampala, but has now been cast in doubt
over allegations that the country is not paid up,
mainly due to sections of parliament withholding
approval for the release of funds, while still
investigating the CHOGM expenditures dating back to
that summit in November 2007. A source within the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs put it bluntly to this
correspondent that, 'those MP's want to embarrass
us. Holding back the membership dues for the AU is
childish. Holding government at ransom because of
their CHOGM investigation is also not fair. They
knew we were to host the AU this year. This can
well be an opposition plot to portray our
government in a bad light because elections are due
in a year, so is this just a cheap campaign trick?
But not to worry, the summit will go ahead if they
like it or not, and Kampala will be in the global
spotlight for the duration again, promoting the
country as a tourist destination beyond the summit.
Even CHOGM had a lot of benefits for tourism by
highlighting our natural wonders, so why spoil this
unless with an ulterior motive'. If true adds this
correspondent, shame on those responsible for
trying to use their political agendas to damage our
country's reputation, on the continent and further
abroad. POACHERS GIVE THEMSELVES
UP Almost 50 former poachers
have given up their illegal activities, probably
due to the increased anti poaching patrols and
resulting pressures on them by the Uganda Wildlife
Authority staff. In two 'ceremonies' they handed
over snares, slings and other tools of the blood
trade to the UWA enforcement personnel in locations
in Kabarole district (Ft. Portal) and Kasese. They
were assured of no prosecution in view of their
voluntary surrender. Local district administrators
however also called upon the Uganda Wildlife
Authority to better demarcate the Rwenzori national
park boundaries to avoid conflicts between
communities and UWA over land, which both sides may
claim to be 'theirs'. FLY 540 PUTS OUT LOW
SEASON OFFERS, PROMOTES IN UK A one way fare of US
Dollars 125, ALL inclusive (of taxes, regulatory
charges and fuel supplements) between Entebbe and
Nairobi has now been put on the market by Fly540,
with the return ticket costing 250 US Dollars. With
this offer the passengers then have the added
option to connect from Nairobi to any of the Fly540
destinations, i.e. the Masai Mara, Lamu, Malindi,
Mombasa, Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, Mwanza and
Bujumbura with tickets either purchased already in
Kampala or else paid for in Nairobi in local Kenyan
currency. If one does not travel now with such
fares, when else? Meanwhile, information was
received from Fly540's Uganda country manageress,
Ms. Jackie Arkle-Okutoyi, that the airline has
appointed 'Flight Directors' in the UK to run a
dedicated marketing campaign in Britain in order to
get more 'Brits' into their planes, which presently
fly all over Eastern Africa. The airline also
announced that operations are due to start shortly
in Angola, Zimbabwe and Ghana, all places where
major shareholder LonZim is also active with other
economic activities, as they are in Eastern Africa.
Fly 540 presently operates
a fleet of 3 ATR 42's, one Bombardier Dash 8, one
Beechcraft 1900D, 2 Fokker 27 Cargo and one CRJ
200. Additional CRJ's and ATR's are due to join the
fleet this year to facilitate the airline's
expansion drive. Happy landings to Fly 540 and
watch this space for breaking aviation news from
Eastern Africa, almost always first reported
here. WETLANDS AND FORESTS
&endash; THEIR SURVIVAL WILL SUSTAIN US OR BREAK
US A subject close to the
heart of this correspondent are all matters
surrounding Uganda's wetlands and forests, a key
component for nature and wildlife based tourism,
and a potential source of employment and cash flow
for communities living near such 'protected' areas
if given the right support and training to making a
sustainable income from tourist visitors coming to
see birds, the flora and fauna. Recent extensive and
severe flooding in low lying parts of the city are
attributed to the destruction of wetlands and
natural drainage areas leading towards Lake
Victoria, a situation blamed on hapless city
planners, ambitious politicians who in the past
promised land to their voters and poor monitoring
and enforcement by governmental bodies, agencies
and authorities tasked with protecting wetlands,
swamps and forested areas from encroachment and
destruction. Government did itself no
favours in this regard with their on again / off
again turnabouts when it became known that a
quarter of the Mabira Forest &endash; itself a
major national water tower and rain catchment area
&endash; was to be given to a sugar company 'for
free', while the very same company obstinately
rejected proposals to lease land at commercial
terms from landowners and farmers, as it did not
suit their strategy to 'own' their cane
plantations, even at the expense of destroying an
intact tropical rain forest. Magnificent Mabira was
saved in the end, at the cost of lives during a pro
Mabira demonstration in Kampala gone rowdy, saved
at least for now as government still has to
formally come out and announce that Mabira will be
left alone in perpetuity, for the maintenance of
bio diversity, its tourism values, as a 'green
lung' only a short distance from an ever more
industrialised and pollutive Kampala, as a water
tower and catchment area feeding permanent rivers
and releasing water into Lake Victoria and also as
a source of biodiversity and being home to a
multitude of birds, wildlife including primates,
medicinal plants and a fauna generally considered
as 'extraordinary'. A nature trail, visitor
information centre, cycling trail and most notably
the award winning 'Rain Forest Lodge' are now
drawing in growing numbers of visitors, belying
allegations by the proponents of the earlier 'give
away' that tourism could never make up for the
'gains' which could be generated by growing sugar
cane in this section of the forest. Of course, they
also never allowed for the environmental value of
an intact Mabira and its long term benefits for the
people living nearby and even further
away. Other forests in the
country however have lost huge areas to illegal
logging too, which then paves the way for further
illegal occupants trying their hand on farming, in
the process destroying more forest land when they
then cut more trees to grow their crops, after the
erstwhile 'farms' have become unproductive and
yielding little more after only two or three
harvests. Another increasing threat
to forests and areas with extensive tree prevalence
is the growing demand for charcoal and firewood.
Many urban dwellers, unable to afford electricity
connections, have to use firewood or charcoal for
their daily cooking, but increased migration from
the rural to urban areas has propelled the demand
and prices for wood and charcoal over the past
years have easily doubled if not tripled &endash;
yet this is still the cheaper option compared to
the cost of metered electricity, which the majority
of Ugandans simply cannot afford. While NGO's and
related organisations have in the past propagated
the use of solar cookers and technologically
improved 'jikos' or charcoal burners, this had only
a limited impact on the demand by fast growing
populations. Uganda has now entered a
period in its history when the consumption of wood,
for fuel and / or timber, has substantially
outstripped the growing of new forests or
re-forestation of commercially exploited acreage,
and as mentioned in several previous related
articles, a gloom and doom scenario is now coming
across the horizon, whereby in another 30 or 40
years deforestation, if not halted now and reversed
by proactive policies, might leave Uganda bare of
major forests and prone to the advance of the
desert belt, advancing South from the Sahara
already in a vigorous fashion. Data published in the
local media speak of a massive loss of forest cover
in areas near to Kampala and along the Entebbe
&endash; Kampala &endash; Mukono &endash; Jinja
axis, where for instance the district of Wakiso,
located between Kampala and Entebbe, has lost
nearly 90 percent of the forests still seen some 20
years ago. Even Kibaale district, the home of the
Kibaale Forest National Park, globally renowned for
its primate populations, has lost half of its
forest cover over the last 20 or so years, causing
concern for conservationists and wildlife managers,
but also tourism stakeholders, how to halt the
trend and reverse it for the good of everyone. It
was in fact in Kibaale where the National Forest
Authority evicted hundreds of illegal squatters
from forests under their jurisdiction last year,
only to be told by politicians to tread softly,
prompting a re-occupation of sections of those
forests within hours after the statements were
repeated through radio stations broadcasting to the
area. Districts along the route
from Kampala to Kibaale, i.e. Mityana and Mubende,
too report a loss of forest cover of between 60 to
80 percent, alarming signals for government and its
relevant organs that the time to act is now, or
else all might be lost. Turning to wetlands and
the major drainage routes towards Lake Victoria.
The recent floods in the
capital, caused as much by blocked drainage
channels and poor maintenance from the city council
as by building into former wetlands, have driven
home a sharp message to those affected, the city
fathers and government at large, that unless
immediate counter measures are taken, this
situation is going to prevail and likely worsen, as
the changing weather patterns inflict more of the
same on us. Kampala, in the old days,
was built like Rome on 7 major hills, and the low
lying areas were avoided as they flooded easily
during the rainy season, were generally swampy and
drained the water away towards the lake. However,
it is understood that during the dictatorial regime
of the late Idi Amin caution and the wisdom of the
elders was thrown into the wind, when major plans
were unveiled to turn wetlands into industrial
zones and open up such areas for the building of
roads and houses. Once that precedent was set,
there was seemingly no stopping further
'developments' thereafter, in particular as law and
order, first during the anarchic rule and then the
eventual overthrow of Amin and thereafter during
the liberation war waged upon the subsequent
dictatorships left the council's enforcement arms
toothless &endash; unless clobbering defaulters of
graduated tax payments that is &endash; and the
planning department of the city was being ignored,
as most houses built then simply ignored the legal
requirements to obtain planning permission and have
their locations and architectural plans approved.
Until today in fact the
city council continues to give title deeds and
leases for areas recognized as wetlands, putting
the lessees and owners then on collision course
with such bodies as NEMA, itself often seen as a
toothless dog, considering how little they in fact
did over the past years to prevent the deep
encroachment of the Konge wetland between the
Kansanga and Bunga / Gaba area, inspite of many
past emails and calls by concerned residents and
passerby's. The authority rather took on a few
isolated and highly visible projects along the
Kawuku part of Bunga, leaving itself open to
criticism that they were selective and operating
along non transparent guidelines singling out some
while leaving others nearby untouched. The emergence of flower
farms too had an impact, along the shores of Lake
Victoria between Kampala and Entebbe, where
wetlands were encroached if not destroyed outright,
denying migratory birds their perennial resting
places and reducing sighted bird numbers &endash;
according to Nature Uganda and other similar
organisations, including competent bird guides
&endash; by as much as 80 percent. Resorts and
hotels were built into wetlands too along those
shores, created on landfills, but to turn that
clock back now is impossible, both in law and as a
political reality, as none of those multibillion
Uganda Shilling investments could now be ordered to
remove from their sites. Some areas of the lake are
now showing increased levels of industrial
pollutants and fertilizer run offs, large areas are
covered by slimy algae and traditional breeding
grounds of fish have become unsuitable for
reproduction, leaving a question mark over the fish
stocks in the lake, already considered at the brink
after years of almost uncontrolled
overfishing. The national water
company's main water plant in Gaba has seen
challenges arise from these developments too. The
fluctuations in lake water levels made it necessary
to put their water catchment points further and
further out into the lake, and the pollutants found
in the water have increased the required chemical
input and subsequent cost by a multiple, so as to
provide the city with safe drinking water, besides
being unable to produce enough in the first place
due to the explosion in population. Many residents hence
resort to wells and boreholes, safe until the mid
90's but now also showing signs of increased
pollution, putting the people using such water at
risk of waterborne diseases but also leaving them
with little choice as piped water is often not
available everywhere in the city and its
environs. The shock of the recent
floods have predictably left government in a flurry
of activities, but only time will tell now if, and
when, restoration of wetlands and the removal of
illegal squatters and occupants will take place to
let nature again take its original course.
A recent related report by
this correspondent, where villagers in the North of
the country got together to restore their nearby
wetlands to mitigate the problems caused by over
cultivation and growing of crops showed that it is
possible to reverse the trend, but it takes not
just the demands of the technocrats but political
will and determination on a country wide scale, to
save the future of the nation. Across the border, similar
debates are raging over the Mau forest, and other
forests too which were over exploited, and there as
here it is the lack of political will and
determination which has been the biggest hindrance
so far. The next generations will not thank us, the
present custodians of our natural endowments, if we
let our environment go to the proverbial dogs, so
it up to us and our present day political leaders
to look beyond the next election cycles and do what
is necessary to protect and restore our forests and
wetlands. The regional tourism
industry depends on it today and tomorrow, but the
country and our grand children and great grand
children depend on action today, tomorrow and the
days after, and if we fail them today we fail them
forever, as this might indeed by our last chance to
play our part in the global scheme of climate
change and 'wild weather' as we can see it unfold
across the globe. It is not enough to have made
very justified noise in Copenhagen and preparing
for more such noise in Mexico at the next round of
climate talks, if we are not able to put our own
houses here in East Africa in order first.
I congratulate the
Rwandans for their determined efforts to restore
forests across the 'land of a thousand hills' and I
encourage Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, the
Southern Sudan and Ethiopia to do likewise and set
an example for our brothers in Southern Africa and
elsewhere on the continent. Reforestation now
should be our demands to the political leaders
ahead of whenever our next elections are taking
place, restore wetlands, commit to best
environmental practises and safeguard our future
and the future of the coming generations. That
should be a legacy any political hopeful ought to
underwrite. 'EARTH HOUR' THIS YEAR ON
MARCH 27TH Saturday the 27th of March
will see the globally marked 'Earth Hour' once
again take hold, with cities, businesses and hotels
hopefully once more participating by switching off
all unnecessary lights, except those for security
purposes. The World Wide Fund for Nature, also
known in short as WWF, is the main promoter of this
initiative, aiming at creating added awareness of
the need to combat global warming and do something
about the rising tide of climate change. In Uganda, several hotels
are participating in the event, and notably Emily
Wissanji, General Manager of Geo Lodges Uganda was
the first to commit observing the event in all
their four lodges, namely Nile Safari Lodge, Jacana
Safari Lodge, Rain Forest Lodge and Silver Back
Lodge. Others who committed themselves promptly
were the Sheraton Kampala Hotel [who also
mentioned that Starwood Hotels would globally
participate in this event once again], the
Imperial Hotel Group and Speke Hotels {comprising
the Speke Hotel, the Commonwealth Resort and the
Speke Resort in Munyonyo], although it was also
pointed out to this correspondent, while discussing
the issue with leading hoteliers in Kampala, that
the unreliable power supply in the country is
already 'blacking out areas involuntarily every
day', and while it was fine for the developed world
to participate in the global earth hour events,
countries with insufficient electricity supply will
find it hard to make a point there. Said one
respondent: 'this is like asking a starving person
to go on a diet', while another added 'the
irregular supply by our electricity company already
does this for us, several times every week, at
times several times a day, whether we like it or
not'. Oooops.... AFRICA TRAVEL ASSOCIATION
GEARS UP FOR US &endash; AFRICA MEETING IN
DC The world's foremost body
to exclusively promote travel to Africa, the Africa
Travel Association, is set to hold their regular US
&endash; Africa Seminar, taking place later this
week on the 05th of March at the Washington
Convention Centre in 'DC'. Registration is still
possible, it was pointed out to this correspondent,
even on arrival at the meeting venue and well known
US diplomat, at least here in Eastern Africa,
Ambassador Johnnie Carson, now Assistant Secretary
of State for African Affairs, will be addressing
the participants on policy issues of the Obama
administration vis a vis travel and tourism to
Africa. Emirates and South African
Airways have been named as airline sponsors while
Sheratons' owners Starwood Hotels and Resorts are
also said to be on board as a major corporate
sponsor of the meeting. Obtaining the required Visa
of course permitting, go rush to the venue and help
build a solid axis between the US and Africa, adds
this correspondent. Kenya
News LAKE NAIVASHA POLLUTION
BLAMED ON FLOWER FARMS The Kenyan government has
issued a closure notice to eight flower farms
located around Lake Naivasha and directed that any
farmer still discharging untreated effluent into
the lake be arrested forthwith. Lake Naivasha, a major
tourism centre in the Rift Valley, has for years
now been shrinking in size, with some of the
shorelines now more than half a kilometre back from
its original location, and the lake's survival is
now in addition threatened by the run off waters
full of fertilizers and effluent from farms, which
have defied instructions to create their own tanks
and waste management facilities. The Naivasha
council is also under fire for constantly
permitting sewerage overflows to reach the lake in
an untreated state, adding to the woes of the lake
waters. The council too was served with a notice by
government to fix their sewerage plant or else face
stiff consequences. Fishermen who used to make
a living from the lake are now up in arms over
their failures to catch fish, or else catching fish
which has been contaminated, while growing numbers
of fish appear to be dying due to suspected toxic
contents in the water. However, in this case no
toxological reports are available yet as the
analysis from the lab is still awaited and has not
yet been released. According to media reports
in Kenya at least one internationally owned flower
farm has been taken to court and is being
prosecuted for their errant behaviour while others
now face closure if not in full compliance within a
week after being served with the government's
orders. NAIROBI'S KAREN SUBURB
AREA ADDS EXTRA PHONE PREFIX Information was received
from Nairobi, that all phone numbers available
through the Karen exchange will now receive an
added '3' before the previous, and commonly known
'88', making the new area prefix '388' with
immediate effect. Any readers in regular contact
with tourism businesses, or friends living in the
Karen area, please take notice. COAST HOTELS ASK FOR MORE
WATER Irregular water supplies
along the Mombasa coast have prompted calls by
hoteliers to 'spare them from rationing' and give
them regular water supply, to avoid closures and
operational problems vis a vis health and safety
issues. It is understood from a source in Mombasa,
that the water company presently only supplies
about a third of the demand for water, but no
single reason could be established for this
anomaly. While living at the Kenya
coast for many years in the past this correspondent
too witnessed the demand outstripping the supply,
even then, but aged infrastructure, breakages of
pipes and leakages often too contribute to the
water company's inability to guarantee a regular
supply. Much of Mombasa's water
comes from 'Mzima Springs' in Tsavo West National
Park, where the waters from Mt. Kilimanjaro, which
is of course across the border in Tanzania, emerge
from underground, and much of that water is being
pumped around the clock to the coast for domestic
and industrial use. While this is not the time
nor place to speculate over the long term impact of
the ice caps of Kilimanjaro melting away, thus
endangering the availability of water from that
unique source, it is not hard to speculate already
now, what the situation in a couple of years will
be like, if the water infrastructure is not
immediately rehabilitated, upgraded and enlarged,
and what action may be necessary to introduce
desalination plants along the coast to tap into the
waters of the Indian Ocean to make up for future
supply shortfalls. Such plants however
require regular electricity supply too, which is
another issue hoteliers in Mombasa had to struggle
with in the past, when they had to make up for
shortfalls there by using expensive, and
environmentally unfriendly generators to top up
their power requirements. Watch this space.
CEO SELECTION FOR TOP KAA
JOB ADVANCES With the shenanigans of
outgoing CEO of the Kenya Airports Authority over
the selection of his successors brought to an
abrupt halt by a newly assertive chairman and board
of the Kenya Airports Authority, the selection
process has advanced as it should have been in the
first place. Information received from Nairobi now
indicates that the board forwarded three names to
the minister for transport, the appointing
authority, after going through over 100
applications, before then short listing less than
10 of them for a final round of interviews. It is
understood that the three top candidates, it could
not be established who of them scored best, are the
CEO of the horticultural crops development
authority, the CEO of the Nairobi water company and
the KAA manager for projects and engineering. The
current deputy CEO of KAA was apparently nudged out
narrowly and did not manage to be amongst the top
three. However, predictably
sources opposed to the majority on the board were
swift to throw doubts over the exercise, calling it
'rushed' and members of the parliamentary standing
committee on transport have already vowed to
'investigate' the actions of the board, likely
incited by supporters of the outgoing CEO George
Muhoho, whose family connections in Kenyan politics
have a wide and influential reach. The newly appointed CEO
will be overseeing multibillion Kenya Shillings
contracts, either already signed or in the pipeline
to be signed, likely a strong reason to bring the
'right' person with the 'correct' political
affiliations into the job which ranks as one of the
'juiciest plums' amongst the public sector top jobs
in the country. Watch this space. AIRFARES TO RIVAL BUS
FARES &endash; REALLY? Information was recently
sent to this correspondent from Nairobi by two
individuals, normally keenly observing the local
aviation scene, about new low cost airlines being
under formation and intending to break into the
Kenyan market, which already is quite saturated for
flights on domestic and regional routes. The
intriguing aspect about the new ventures was that
reportedly they were aiming at competing with
presently charged bus fares, and financially
succeeding by then adding extra charges for each
and every other item, likely to be for fuel
supplements, airport taxes and regulatory fees but
also thought to cover checked bags, seat selection,
loo visits and of course food and drink, if at all
available on the airborne 'bus services'. Concludes
this column: Good Luck, you will need it, before
ending with the hope that all 'mandatory charges'
will be advertised accordingly, as will the
'extras' to avoid passengers having a rude
awakening upon check in or in flight when their
purse contents are suddenly encroached
upon... Tanzania
News FLY 540 SET TO COMMENCE
DOMESTIC FLIGHTS IN EARNEST The regional low cost
airline Fly540 has now confirmed to this
correspondent that they are about to launch their
Tanzanian domestic network with flights between
Arusha / Kilimanjaro International, Dar es Salaam
and Zanzibar, notwithstanding the fact that they
were already operating flights from Arusha to the
Northern circuit national parks. This will be good news for
travellers wanting to go by air, as the low fares
offered by Fly540 are bound to open up airtravel to
new market segments hitherto using busses, while
adding extra capacity and options on the new
routes. NGORONGORO SUCCESS RAISES
SUSTAINABILITY QUESTIONS Almost 454.000 visitors
were recorded in the financial year 2008/9, which
ended on 20th June 2009, entering the fabled
Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania, earning
TANAPA about 34 billion Tanzania Shillings through
park fees and permits. However in the first half
of this financial year, i.e. the period of 01st
July until 31st December 2009, over 260.000
tourists have already visited the crater area,
bringing the half year earnings to over 25 billion
Tanzania Shillings. With a new visitor record now
in the making however &endash; it is estimated that
about 550.000 visitors will come to Ngorongoro this
financial year &endash; other voices are gathering
momentum about the sustainability of ever greater
numbers of vehicles and visitors going into the
crater's caldera. This is clearly reviving talk of
yesteryear to eventually cap the number of visitors
permitted to enter, if other measures continue to
fail in restricting added arrivals. As demand grows again, and
likely keeps growing as the global economy
recovers, this is probably only achievable over
raised entrance and permit fees, similar to how the
permits for mountain gorilla trekking are managed
in Rwanda and Uganda. No number of 'maximum
visitors' has however emerged yet, and is likely to
remain a matter of intense discussions and
consultations between conservationists, TANAPA
management and tourism stakeholders, the latter in
particular concerned about ever rising cost of
their safaris already. It was also learned that
key staff of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Authority expressed doubts if raised prices alone
would help them to put a cap on numbers, as tariff
increases in the past were easily absorbed by the
safari operators through raising their package
costs. Hence, the discussion is indeed now on about
how best to proceed from here on, in order to avoid
ever more cars making their way into the crater,
estimated already to be high in the 400 count when
the lodges on the crater's rim are fully booked.
The debate about the
Ngorongoro Conservation Area was further spiced up
when last week calls emerged to amend the governing
law and permit all Tanzanians equal access as
demanded by the country's constitution, as
presently only Masai and their livestock are
permitted to reside inside the conservation area.
However, the number of people entitled by law to
live there has skyrocketed in recent decades and
livestock too has reached numbers which
conservationists think unsustainable for the
fragile environment, prompting added arguments and
discussions of how best to proceed, catering for
both the conservation aspects but also the Masai
who for time immemorial have been living on and
from the land of their forebears. To compound
matters further for the Masai living in the
conservation area, some members of parliament too
have now called to 'dial back' the residencies,
which were initially meant to cater for only up to
25.000 Masai while the current number appears to
have risen to over 60.000 already, 'unsustainable'
as one source in Arusha called it when discussing
the issue with this correspondent. Challenging
times ahead for the conservation fraternity,
tourism stakeholders and local communities, so
watch this space for regular updates on these
pressing issues. Rwanda
News KWITA IZINA SET FOR 05TH
JUNE This annual naming
ceremony of newly born mountain gorilla babies has
this year been set for the 05th of June, coinciding
with the World Environment Day, which is according
to previous announcements by UNEP also being
celebrated in Rwanda this year by the global
conservation fraternity. It will be the 8th edition
of the 'Festival of Gorillas' held in the country
since its inception. Kwita Izina 2010 will be
held under the theme: 'Raising Global Awareness of
Biodiversity Conservation, as we give Names to our
Gorilla Babies'. Presently some 11 newborn
are waiting to be named, maybe even more at the
time of the festival, and the activities and
celebrations are to be witnessed by about 500
local, regional, continental and global
conservation personalities expected to come to the
'land of the thousand hills'. Rwanda takes conservation
seriously and will across the entire year also hold
events to celebrate the UN's International Year of
Biodiversity, which follows the UN's Year of the
Gorilla in 2009. Watch this space for
future updates as and when the programme and
various locations and events become
available. NEW TRAIL OPENS ALONG LAKE
KIVU The Rwanda Development
Board &endash; Tourism & Conservation has
recently released news about yet another tourism
attraction, this latest one being a 200 KM trail
along the shores of Lake Kivu and named 'Congo
&endash; Nile Trail'. The distance can be covered
alternatively by foot, i.e. extended daily treks,
but also by car and boat where appropriate. It is
understood that the new tourist product was jointly
developed between RDB, the United National World
Tourism Organization UNWTO and SNV Rwanda. Besides
opening up new tourist routes the new trail is also
aimed at involving the local communities along the
way by giving them options to make a sustainable
income from providing a variety of services to
tourists, including locally based guides explaining
the significance of cultural sites and specific
customs in the area, but also showing visitors the
birds and plants at that location. The trail also traverses
one of the major continental water divides, where
the Congo basin separates from the Nile basin,
besides offering insights on coffee and tea estates
along the way, permitting the walkers to take in
the sights, sounds and scents of rural Africa.
The trail, if done
entirely by foot, should take fit walkers about 8
days while the same tour by car takes about 3 days,
still with plenty of walking of course. Boating, in
both cases, will be part of the experience, now
that RDB has acquired a motorized launch suitable
for safe operations with tourists on board. Here in
particular the landscapes can be appreciated from
the water, but the launch trips also offer
sightings of many bird species along the lake
shores otherwise difficult to spot. The SNV involvement also
focuses on poverty reduction and poverty
eradication through tourism activities as one of
their own major goals for their work in Rwanda, and
considering how proactive RDB was in recent years
to bring tourism benefits to their own communities
who live nearby national parks and tourism
attractions, this surely must be a recipe for
success. BIRDSTRIKE PLANE BACK IN
SERVICE The CRJ200 aircraft of
RwandAir, which recently suffered a bird strike
while on the take off run in Nairobi, has now
returned to flight service, following repairs which
have been carried out in Kenya. The aircraft's
absence from the fleet caused some serious
re-scheduling for RwandAir but all services were
eventually flown although at different timings from
the published schedule, to accommodate booked
passengers and serve demand. It was pointed out by
the airline that at no time during the incident
were passengers in any danger and they all
disembarked normally at the time when the plane had
taxied back to the terminal. NYUNGWE LODGE DUE TO OPEN
NEXT MONTH The remaining project of
Istithmar, Dubai World's investment arm, in Rwanda
is now nearing completion and the new lodge at the
Nyungwe National Park is due to open in mid March,
this correspondent was told by sources in Kigali.
Dubai World, when arriving in Rwanda some years
ago, announced grandiose plans to rebuild the lodge
at the Akagera National Park, and assist RDB
&endash; Tourism & Conservation to fence the
reserve, build a 5 star hotel in Kigali with an
adjoining golf course, besides other projects, but
only managed to take over the 'Gorilla Nest' in
Ruhengeri and commence construction of the Nyungwe
lodge, before the global financial crisis struck
and forced Dubai World to withdraw from their other
ambitious plans. Watch this space for the opening
report in a few weeks time. RADISSON SET FOR RWANDA
ENTRY Hospitality company
Rezidor has reportedly confirmed their entry into
the Rwandan market after signing an agreement with
the developers of the Kigali convention centre,
that they will provide management under the
Radisson brand name. The new property is due to
open with nearly 300 rooms and suites, will provide
multiple restaurant, shopping and leisure
facilities commensurate to what clients come to
expect of a newly built 5 star hotel and will offer
a fully fledged adjoining conference centre with
the main auditorium holding up to 2.600 people.
Smaller meeting rooms will also be available. This
will be good news for the Rwandan tourism sector,
which was disappointed when Dubai World shelved
their Kigali project, only to see other players
come on board willing to invest and be part of one
of the fastest growing tourism sectors on the
continent of Africa. MISTAKES WERE MADE, SAYS
FRENCH PRESIDENT President Sarkozy visits
Rwanda last week in a further effort to renew ties
and smoothen relations between the two countries.
While touring the country he also visited one of
the major genocide memorials to see firsthand the
documents and pictures of what unspeakable crimes
against humanity were committed during those
fateful months in early 1994, before then admitting
that 'mistakes were made' and errors of judgement
committed by the then French administration and the
troops sent to create a 'safe zone'. This military
adventure was in retrospect of course a complete
failure and in the end only served to leave crucial
materials and supplies to the killer militias when
the French troops were then hurriedly withdrawn.
The admission, though not
a full and unconditional apology, is certainly
setting the tone for future relations between the
two countries and it does appear that Rwanda too
has accepted this as a first step in the right
direction. Rwandan President Paul Kagame reiterated
that their 'new' relationship needed to be based on
the proper understanding of the truth, a clear
reference that irrefutable facts over the genocide
and the actions prior to it cannot be forgotten,
changed or nice-talked into what they are not.
Rwanda, once a Francophone
country, has since 1994 embraced English as their
key foreign language and has also become a member
of the Commonwealth while relations with France
were 'on ice' for several years, a sharp reminder
for the French that the misdeeds of old continue to
play an important role in the politics of today and
that African nations no longer are a simple natural
resources pool or voting allies in the UN and
elsewhere as was the case in the old days when the
former colonial powers played the first fiddle and
set the tunes. Somalia
News AFRICAN UNION DEMANDS NO
FLY ZONE OVER SOMALIA The African Union, which
maintains a peace keeping force in Somalia &endash;
incidentally with a verelarge contingent of Ugandan
troops, over which radical Islamic militias have
threatened reprisals against the country &endash;
has now made it known that it asked the United
Nations to impose a total no fly zone, and harbour
blockade, against Somalia, in order to finally halt
the illegal supply of arms and ammunition to the
militias. Much of the arms is alleged to be flown
in from Eritrea while shipments from further abroad
are also said to regularly reach the Somali ports
and harbours under control of the radicals.
In addition to stopping
these supplies it will then also serve as an added
deterrent against the Somali ocean terrorists, as
their leaving harbour or returning with bounty from
the open ocean will be made much more difficult
once a naval blockade is in place, while the
previously seen airdrops of ransom onto ships held
or an agreed point on land too will be made
impossible. An air embargo can be
enforced through regular patrols of fixed wing
aircraft operating from neighbouring Djibouti,
where naval coalition partners have established
bases, while the use of surveillance satellites and
UAV's too can provide crucial intelligence in
regard of unauthorized flight movements. One airline flying 'miraa'
into Somalia on a daily basis from Nairobi already
objected to the move however, while asking not to
be named when the intention to publish became
apparent during the call, claiming an air embargo
would 'ruin us' financially and 'many others too',
whose daily flights to Somalia would then be made
impossible. Miraa is a still legal drug, often
grown in the Meru area of Kenya, and shipped fresh
every day to Somalia where many men chew it, then
staying dazed and unproductive for much of the
day. The AU however is not
likely to listen to such selfish interests when it
comes to halting the supply of arms and ammunition
to the radical militias as it would boost their own
position, and that of the shaky central government,
quite substantially. A shipping source in Mombasa
too expressed delight over the news, saying on
condition of anonymity: 'if this is true and comes
off it could make shipping easier again. If these
pirates can be kept on land through a blockade, or
they cannot return because there is a naval
blockade, this menace could end soon'. Sources close to the naval
coalition forces, this correspondent is in touch
with, however declined to be drawn into a
discussion over how likely it is that the UN grant
such a sweeping mandate, and in particular how many
naval assets would be required from the coalition
members to effectively block the Somali coast
line. South Sudan
News STAY OUT OF OUR BUSINESS,
EGYPT TOLD Recent remarks made by
Egypt, a self-professed critic of Southern Sudanese
aspirations for independence, to postpone both the
elections in April this year and the referendum in
January 2011, met with outrage and acid comments by
large sections of the Southern Sudanese leadership
and population last week. Egypt was to host
'reconciliation' talks over a range of issues,
which continues to include the imposition of Sharia
law on the Southern population's Christians and
Animalists living in the North, something rejected
out of hand by the Southerners, but apparently
insisted upon strongly by the representatives of
the Khartoum regime. The (Khartoum) Sudanese
Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Mutrif Sideeg and
member of the NCP delegation reportedly said that
this position is not negotiable. "We will not abandon our
Sharia nor do we call on the others to accept what
they do not accept. We accepted the principle that
citizenship is the basis of rights and duties, and
we have accepted the principle of unity in
diversity, and therefore will not commit others to
what we are committed to. We do not accept that the
others void our personality, religion and identity
under any circumstances," he was quoted to have
said in Southern Sudanese media. What the talks did turn
out to be though appears to be a strong handed
leaning on the Southern SPLM delegation to accept
further delays, something the South has repeatedly
rejected, even in the face of thinly concealed
threats of elections and the referendum 'leading up
to more violence', a hint often spread by the
Khartoum regime and their supporters amongst other
North African governments, that would suggest
renewed warfare in the case of a vote for
independence. It is however also clear that the
allies the SPLM itself has made over the past years
in Eastern Africa would not likely stand by and see
that scenario unfold without bringing to bear the
strongest diplomatic pressures and interventions to
stop renewed fighting. Meanwhile, a reliable source
in Juba has alleged that Egypt would in any case be
biased as they would do almost anything to avoid
another country being formed along the upper Nile,
as they would then be under further pressure with
an added 'water producer state' while the North of
Sudan and Egypt are in fact 'water consumer states'
without any meaningful contribution of their own to
their water supplies &endash; not too farfetched in
fact considering the agonizing and delaying tactics
employed by the Egyptians over the negotiations of
a new Nile water treaty, which has been going on
for over a decade now. In an apparent effort to
rescue their dwindling reputation in the Southern
Sudan Egypt reportedly invited the Southern
leadership to meet with the Khartoum regime leaders
in Egypt and discuss pending issues, although it is
not clear if the South will want to vacate the
present ongoing political campaign ahead of the
April elections for what is generally perceived as
a biased and tilted attempt to save Egypt's own
reputation. Watch this space as the April elections
close in and the 2011 independence referendum clock
ticks down too. NEAR MISS REPORTED FROM
KHARTOUM A Sun Air flight from Juba
to the national capital city of Khartoum reportedly
avoided disaster by the proverbial 'inch' last
Friday, when apparently the pilots of the B 737
ignored instructions to delay landing, so as to
permit another plane to taxi out to the runway and
take off first. The two planes narrowly
missed each other and the pilots of the Sun Air
flight reportedly had added problems to then bring
their plane to a safe halt. It could not be
ascertained by the time of dispatching this report
if the aircraft had sustained damage as a result of
the hard landing. Aviation in Sudan, as for
instance also in Congo, but generally across the
African continent, has an appalling safety record
with a multiple average accident rate compared to
global averages and aviators known to this
correspondent in the Sudan have confirmed that
aviation oversight and the regulatory regime in the
Sudan needs a major overhaul to instill the
discipline and compliance needed for safe air
operations. Zimbabwe
News AND THE LUNACY
CONTINUES The former opposition, now
part of an uneasy government alliance in Zimbabwe,
could do little to stop another lunacy from taking
place in the country, when a new law came into
effect earlier in the week compelling foreign owned
companies to sell 51 percent of their shares to
'indigenous' people, in plain talk really meaning
to regime supporters aiming to grab yet more of
what they have not sown. Regional and international
economic observers termed the new law as 'bad' and
accused Mugabe's party of having 'no wish to make
the country attractive to foreign investors'.
The move will easily
affect even tourism businesses, as long as they are
valued at least at half a million US Dollars,
threatening to destroy that sector too, now that
the coalition government has at last managed to
bring a revival of sorts to the tourism industry in
the country. Like with farming however
it is anticipated that new majority owners, knowing
nothing about how to run such businesses, are
likely to wreck them within no time, bringing back
memories of the bad old days in Uganda, when Idi
Amin's goons were given businesses and
manufacturing industries formerly owned by Asian
families, who after being thrown out of Uganda were
expropriated, only to see the goon and sycophant
run shops and industries then go down the drain at
record speed, wrecking the country long term.
Former opposition leader,
and now Prime Minister without real powers, Morgan
Tsvangirai, has rejected the new law, saying it was
proclaimed without due process, as his party holds
the majority of seats in parliament. The country's
unions too have warned of the dire consequences for
the entire economy if the law would be allowed to
stand, an indicative preview of upcoming alliances
for the next elections, as and when those will be
called. One regular informant from
Harare, by the way Zimbabwean African, told this
correspondent: '[Prime Minister] Morgan
Tsvangirai must act now, he has to leave the
coalition and force new elections as soon as
possible. Enough is enough, Mugabe and his lot are
no longer caring for the country, only to enrich
themselves by any means possible. First they
grabbed the farms and brought starvation to us and
now they want all other businesses too. SADC and
the AU must supervise new elections to avoid that
Mugabe's party does the same rigging and violence
they used before, and the polls then will be clear,
we need a new government now or the entire country
will go down the drain the same way our own
currency became useless'. Oooops… Seychelles
News WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM TO
INCLUDE SEYCHELLES DATA In a surprise move has the
World Economic Forum, best known for its annual
meeting of major global personalities in Davos /
Switzerland, invited the Seychelles to provide data
for its 2010/11 report. With the archipelago's main
economic activities focusing on tourism and
fishing, this will add an interesting perspective
to their annual report, coming from a relatively
small island country with high emphasis on two
mainstream sectors. It is generally thought that
tourism in particular has not received the ranking
and emphasis it should get in such reports and with
the ongoing success of 'marketing Seychelles out of
the economic downturn' the archipelago will
undoubtedly make a meaningful contribution and get
well deserved added global recognition out of this
participation. AIR SEYCHELLES BOOSTS UP
FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAMME Modifications to the Air
Seychelles frequent flyer bonus system came into
effect on March 01st, giving added benefits to
members. The airline has in a press release pointed
out, that for instance after every 10 trips between
Mahe and Mauritius, a traveller has earned enough
miles for a free ticket, while on the route between
London and Mahe eight return trips will be
sufficient to accumulate the miles needed for a
free ticket to that destination. The programme also
makes it 'easier' now to get upgrades, lounge
access and cater for extra baggage weight under the
revised terms and conditions. Presently three tiers
are available for membership, the 'ordinary' Blue,
the Silver and the Gold status for the most
frequent travellers on Air Seychelles. Visit
www.airseychelles.com for more information, also
about destinations and flight schedules.
NEW EXECUTIVE CHARTERS
AVAILABLE FOR SEYCHELLES HOLIDAYS The top end of the tourism
market from Europe to the Seychelles now has an
added way of reaching the islands, according to
information sent to this correspondent by a source
in Mahe, as Sunseeker / Jetflite have now availed a
Global Challenger 604/5, which can reach the
islands from any European destination, carrying up
to 18 passengers at a go. To add to the appeal, the
company then also provides yacht charters from the
Seychelles, either for rent or even for purchase to
those who wish to come more regularly to the
archipelago. A recently launched
upmarket residential development, Eden Island, is
in fact aimed at exactly these visitors, as they
can purchase a villa, condominium or residence on
the purpose built island, not far from the airport
of Mahe in fact, where a marina anchorage is then
also part of the deal, besides 'permanent
residency' being granted by the immigration
department in Victoria. A visit in style obviously
all the way for the rich and famous. STA HOSTS GERMAN
COUNTERPARTS As mentioned in a previous
article a few weeks ago, the Seychelles Tourism
Academy is now hosting the long awaited 'twinning'
visit by students and staff from Cuxhaven /
Germany, where an exchange programme for
Seychellois students has already taken place in
late 2009. A MoU was signed between the two
institutions for mutual support, assistance and
students / lecturer exchanges, although this is now
the first visit from German students of the
Cuxhaven hotel school to the Seychelles.
With them are lecturers
and the college principal Dr. Ulrich Getsch, who
had earlier on signed the Memorandum of
Understanding between the two institutions. He
will, besides touring hotels participating in the
exchange programme, also have meetings with his
counterpart Flavien Joubert, CEO of STA and the
tourist board's Peter Moncherry, who is responsible
for the tourism development and planning section at
STB. It was also learned during
a visit last month to the Seychelles, and a meeting
with the two gentlemen, that further cooperation
with other hotel schools and colleges is lined up
for 2010 and beyond, notably institutions from
Reunion, France, Mauritius, South Africa and other
friendly countries. The Seychelles Tourism
Academy is established under the umbrella of the
Seychelles Tourist Board and since 2007 oversees
industrial and vocational training for the
hospitality and tourism sector under a legal
mandate, overseen by a managing committee which
includes institutional and educational stakeholders
but also a wide selection of private sector
stakeholders from the archipelago's hotels and
resorts, who are participating regularly by
availing training opportunities for students and
then absorbing young and well trained Seychellois
into the sector under an affirmative action
programme of 'Seychelloisation' in the workplace.
And in closing today an
item taken from Gill Staden's The Livingstone
Weekly, which makes interesting reading and where
my own sentiments about the latest addition to the
law books in Zimbabwe are also reflected.
ZIMBABWE TOURIST TSUNAMI,
ARE YOU READY? When we started Maplanga
Africa in 1995 it was during the "pioneer" days of
outbound tourism into Africa, email was a not too
distant concept, apartheid was dead and buried,
South Africa had just been accepted into the
"African family". Our company, if one could call it
that at the time, was born sitting around a
campfire on the banks of the Zambezi in
Livingstone, Zambia. I had persuaded my wife
(Natalie) to come with me on an African road
trip/adventure which saw us travelling and enjoying
the many wonders that Zimbabwe had to offer at the
time. However, instead of staying at one of the
many good offerings that Victoria Falls had, we
opted to go across the bridge to a lodge outside
Livingstone. It was during our stay at a wonderful
rustic bush lodge that an idea was conceived to
market lodges in the Victoria Falls region to the
South African market and beyond, we literally fell
in love with the sights and smells of the area, to
us, the most special place on earth. Looking back at old
Getaway magazines during the late 90's, I see that
we "hid" the Livingstone properties that we were
marketing in the Zimbabwe section of the
Destinations pages, why? Well in those good old
days (prior to 2000) Zambia had little chance of
competing against the well oiled Zimbabwean tourism
machine. 90% of South Africans wanted, no demanded
Victoria Falls, Zimside, not the undiscovered
"Central African" Zambian side. During the
apartheid years many South Africans believed Zambia
was a no go area, in fact Zambia was an active base
for the ANC and many South Africans feared Zambia
because of this. So when the phones rang
and we put packages together we had to reveal to
our clients that this particular lodge or rafting
company that they were responding to was in fact
based in Zambia, not Zimbabwe! Nine times out of
ten we managed to convince the clients that
Livingstone was a good option mainly due to the
fact that most lodges were based on the river bank
of the Zambezi, a huge selling point. Still as we
speak the Zim side of Vic Falls can only boast of
one lodge situated actually on the Zambezi River
(close to the Falls), the all time favourite
A'Zambezi River Lodge. In 2000, a certain
president decided that he was going to muck around
with the Zimbabwe we all knew and loved, the rest
is history and I won't dwell on what has happened.
But needless to say tourism to Zimbabwe dived to
record low levels and this continued up until April
last year. In fact, we even comptemplated hiding
the Zimbabwean lodges we marketed in the Zambian
section of the Getaway mag! Today we see a different
scenario, tourism numbers are starting to climb,
South Africans want to experience magical Zimbabwe
once again. OK but what did they do during the big
Zim tourism boycott? As a Southern Africa tour
operator, we saw a swing to Botswana and Zambia but
never the numbers and demand we once enjoyed for
Zimbabwe. No, most of the SA tourist market stayed
right here at home, some upped and went to
Mozambique and this is evident by the number of
dive schools that opened and flourished during this
period. Every Tom, Dick and Fanie now has a dive
qualification and always seems to be embarking on
that next big dive adventure to the gentle
coastline that Mozambique offers. Sadly Zimbabwe's demise
was in fact Mozambique's gain. As we all know the wheel
turns and I think I can speak for most of my male
counterparts, there is nothing more boring than
sitting on a beach and doing bugger all, after you
have been on that great dive! The calls and emails
are flooding in, instead of trying to hard sell
Zimbabwe, we are seeing a demand from clients and
corporates wishing to show support and experience
all on offer again. Lying on the beach in
Mozambique is over, they want to come back and do
the circles and routes that are so easy to do,
especially now that food and petrol are once again
available and reasonably priced. This is great for Zim but
what about Zambia who has used the last 10 years
time to develop and put onto the market many lodges
and hotels in Livingstone, what will happen to this
part of the Falls in the months to come? Well, we
truly believe that the resurgence of Zimbabwe will
be good for the region of Victoria Falls, in other
words the region as a whole should grow now that
"diver Fanie" is becoming "safari Stephan" again.
The time is right for the
Vic Falls Region, not just one nation. Huge amounts of "come back
to Victoria Falls" marketing has been done, many
positive and enticing articles have been written,
the traveller is not stupid, they know about the
current developments and have waited until the time
was right to return. Zambia now faces the some
serious competition, in the Vic Falls Region. There
is probably the highest concentration of hotels,
lodges and activities anywhere in the Southern
Hemisphere in the VFR and it's all right on our
doorstep. In fact the two sides of Vic Falls will
now have to compete in a different marketing
environment compared to what there was 10 years
ago. It's almost a Coke and Pepsi scenario and we
all know the marketing battles that have been
fought by these two massive global
brands. But we must look at the
threats and find solutions, many travellers and
agents believe that Zambia has become user
unfriendly, bureaucracy reigns supreme at the
borders and high visa's fees are off-putting to say
the least. Zimbabwe presents other problems, the
main one being the big entrance point from South
Africa, the notorious Beit Bridge. There is an
estimated 3 million Zimbabweans living in South
Africa, most of them try to go home (to Bulawayo)
during Easter and Christmas. This spells hell for
the self drive tourist, delays up up to 12hrs are
reported at this border and Plumtree, who would
want to start off a holiday this way? The solution
should be easy, create a freeflow border post
similar to Mexico/USA, simplify the red tape and
have one price and many pay points to keep it all
flowing smoothly, a ten lane drive through border
post should work well. It is naïve for us
living in South Africa to think now that the
problems are nearly over in Zimbabwe the 3 million
will return for good, the border chaos will
continue and could in fact become worse. Think
about it, if all the Zimbo's did go home, The Spur
group and a probably the South African economy
might well collapse! We are just at the
starting block, stand by for a massive demand for
the region kicking off 11th June, not all South
Africans love the "beautiful game", they will
come…and we need to be competitive, offer
value for money and be easy to do business
with. Chris Wood &endash;
Maplanga Africa &
VicFallsConnection.Com News from 'Uganda &endash;
Gifted by Nature', Uganda News LUFTHANSA CODESHARE TO
ENTEBBE NOT AFFECTED Brussels Airlines has
confirmed that their code shared flights from
Germany via Brussels to Entebbe are NOT AFFECTED by
the current strike of Lufthansa pilots &endash;
them incidentally being amongst the best paid and
best looked after pilots in the world and seemingly
ignorant of the economic realities of recent years.
Brussels Airlines will fly
passengers under the codeshare arrangements from
the German gateways to Brussels on their own
aircraft and then connect them to Entebbe, and vice
versa of course. The same applies for other African
destinations Brussels Airlines operates under a
codeshare with Lufthansa. SN was not to be drawn
into a discussion over the strike, understandably,
but it is understood that Brussels Airlines, Swiss
and Austrian are all stepping up their own flights
and using where and when possible bigger aircraft
to support traffic otherwise carried by Lufthansa
between their own home airports and Germany during
this week. RHINO NAMING AT ZIWA
'UP FOR AUCTION' The Rhino Fund Uganda has
just announced that they intend to invite 'bids' in
an effort to auction off the 'naming rights' for
the young rhino boy, who was born on 02nd January
2010. Bids are invited to start
at US Dollars 10.000 and details of the 'parents'
of the young rhino are of course available via
angie@rhinofund.org &endash; it is understood that
a range of marketing opportunities and use rights
of the name and pictures of the young rhino will be
part of the 'deal'. It was also learned that
more southern white rhinos are due to join the
present 6 adults and 3 'babies' on Ziwa later in
the year, when a relocation of several such animals
from South Africa is due to take place. No timeline however is
presently available in regard of the planned
introduction of the eastern black species, which
would add the ultimate credentials to the Ugandan
rhino re-introduction. AIR UGANDA SCHEDULE
UPDATE It has been confirmed by
U7 that they will in fact fly daily, starting 22nd
February, to Kigali / Rwanda while Dar es Salaam
will be served six times a week except Saturdays.
Here an expansion to daily flights is also planned
sometime in the future. New will be the three time
a week combination of Mombasa and Zanzibar, from
Entebbe direct, turning the Dar flights into a
purely business connection and leaving the MBA and
ZNZ flights for the Ugandan leisure
market. More destinations and
frequency changes are on the cards once the airline
receives additional CRJ aircraft. The opening offer
for a return ticket will be US Dollars 246
according to an email received from U7, inclusive
of taxes, for a return flight between Entebbe and
Kigali. Watch this space for the latest aviation
updates from the Eastern African region. MASTERS IN CHANGING
GOAL POSTS The notorious Aya
brothers, known for their full mouthed statements
which have yet to come through in regard of their
so called 'Hilton' hotel in Kampala, have gone
public once again, this time shifting the opening
dates of their hotel project to September this
year, the umpteenth time of course this has
happened. In a belated recognition of reality the
owners are reported to have said: 'This is not a
simple project. Transportation of constructions
materials from Mombasa is also a problem because
Uganda is a land locked country' &endash; as if
that had happened suddenly or not been known
before? They then added as reported in one of
Uganda's dailies: 'Besides, the standard of this
type of hotel requires one to take time' &endash;
ahhhhh, so one of their previous statements that
they would finish 'a floor a week' then was
what? The brothers had schmoozed
their way into the minds of decision makers ahead
of the Commonwealth Summit, then pretending the
hotel would be open for the summit in November
2007, but after rapidly displacing the Uganda
Broadcasting Corporation from its headquarters, not
much happened bringing about a series of negative
reports about them and the project in the process.
In a side show, they also had the country's
president tell the media to lay off the brothers
and stop interfering in their business, ditto to
the legal fraternity, inspite of the brothers
obvious failure so far to deliver a 5 star hotel in
nearly 5 years. The local media speak of
the hotel which exterior structure is now finally
complete, being 'dogged by controversies', putting
it nicely in the view of this correspondent, as a
site accident with a cargo lift killed workers last
year and the group being in court with their
erstwhile lawyer over his fee demands for securing
them a major loan agreement. Watch this space to
see what comes true of these latest utterings.
FLOODS HIT KAMPALA
AGAIN Torrential rains mid last
week, and early this week caused extensive flooding
again in parts of Kampala, namely in Bwaise and
Kalerwe, where the construction of buildings into
former wetlands and major drainage areas towards
Lake Victoria was once more punished by swiftly
rising waters, which submerged the low lying areas
and inundated houses and businesses in several feet
of muddy and &endash; it is suspected &endash;
contaminated water, also raising fears of
subsequent disease outbreaks. It was reported in
the dailies that the area residents fled, leaving
their belongings behind, while schools and
businesses located in the affected areas were also
kept closed. Meanwhile traffic was also disrupted
as several roads and roundabouts were flooded too,
causing motorists to abandon their stalled cars,
while traffic was backed up for miles in some
cases, not moving even an inch. Kampala was traditionally
built on 7 hills, but has since the early 1990's,
when economic growth took roots in the country,
expanded in leaps and bounds, often not only
throwing conventional wisdom into the wind by
encroaching into the drainage parts and wetlands
located between the hills, but also the city
council not being too bothered for too many years
about stopping construction in such areas which
during and after heavy rains were bound to flood
extensively. Major drainage too is kept
in a poor state of repairs by the city fathers and
their works department and is often clogged up by
rubbish thrown there by residents, while the city
in general has a very limited bin collection
capacity and offers far too few larger containers
to allow dwellers safe disposal of their refuse.
MARASA IN RECRUITMENT
DRIVE FOR SOON TO OPEN CHOBE SAFARI
LODGE Marasa Holdings, the
owning and managing company for Paraa and Mweya
safari lodges, has now put adverts into the local
dailies aiming to recruit a full complement of
staff for their soon to open Chobe Safari Lodge.
This indicates that the opening of the
reconstructed lodge is now only months away, and in
fact much awaited by the country's tourism sector
to allow the more regular use of the upper part of
Murchisons Falls National Park above the water
falls, where mostly a forest environment awaits
visitors keen to see birds and forest animals,
including elephant. Chobe, as previously
reported, was in the 'old' days a favourite fishing
lodge for visitors from all over Eastern Africa and
further abroad, and when re-opened is also thought
to offer regular fishing competitions for those
keen to measure up against the fish in the river.
Watch this space for announcements on opening dates
in the near future. GET OUT, IT IS HIS,
SAYS COURT RULING The Honourary Consul of
Pakistan to Uganda, Mr. B. Katatumba, was told by
the Commercial Court late last week to finally quit
his 'Hotel Diplomate' and hand over possession to
Mssrs. Shumuk, following a protracted court case
which in the end was little else but 'he said, I
did'. It will be a victory of sorts for Shumuk, who
also now possess Katatumba's former 'Blacklines
House' in the city centre, leaving the Consul
pondering his next move after losing his little
perch above the city and if to continue the case in
the Court of Appeal. Meanwhile, the saga has come
to an end, unless the lawyers are kept busy for
another round of arguments over who did what and
when. BULAGO ISLAND WORKS ON
COURSE After the contractors have
moved their staff and materials on to the island,
work is now on course to turn the Bulago Island
Lodge into a fine island resort and match the
quality of the other four properties managed by
Wildplaces Africa and The Uganda Safari Company,
like the Apoka Lodge, Semliki Safari Lodge, Clouds
and of course the Emin Pasha Hotel in Kampala's
fashionable Nakasero area. The plans of the proposed
rebuilding, including the new main building with
lounge and restaurant, but also of the new
cottages, have been shown to this correspondent and
look very appealing indeed, compared to the
previous state of affairs. It is expected that a site
visit will be made possible in due course, when
building is more advanced, to report back on the
transformation of the island resort and give an
anticipated re-opening date. According to several
Kampala residents this correspondent spoke with
since the announcement there is keen anticipation
towards the re-opening and clear signs the Bulago
will re-establish itself as a major weekend
hideaway within easy reach from the main starting
points in Munyonyo and Garuga / Entebbe. Kenya News LAMU'S HERITAGE STATUS
UNDER THREAT Shrinking fresh water
levels in the wells and boreholes, that serve the
wider community in Lamu, and which are also used to
provide fresh water to the hotels and resorts, are
causing concern for residents and conservationists,
fearing a fall out vis a vis the towns global
heritage status. A number of the boreholes
reportedly already only produce partly salty water,
almost unusable for human consumption, and the
proposed economic changes for the Lamu district are
adding to the concerns. The Kenya government has
plans to turn Lamu into a second, and even larger
international seaport, compared to Mombasa, and
also intends to link the shores by railroad to the
hinterland, with branches reaching Addis Ababa and
even Juba in Southern Sudan. However, for the plans to
materialise in the longer term massive finance is
needed, presently not an easy task for any major
infrastructure project, and the lack of potable
water will be a major restraint, because without
this resource there would hardly be away for
development on such scale. This will in a way be a
relief for the resort and tourism operators in the
area, many of whom had joined up with protest
websites and blogs to express their concern, and
growing anger, that they, as immediate
stakeholders, were not given a fair hearing and
being 'railroaded' into a course they considered as
failed from the start. SERENA WILLIAMS VISITS
KENYA Charity for Serena
Williams does only begin but apparently not end at
home, and her concern for the poor and
disadvantaged has now come to Kenya too, as she
arrived recently in Nairobi. This second visit
within two years was aimed at promoting her
charitable work, when she opened another Serena
Williams Secondary School in Matiliku, Eastern
Province. The tennis star had two years ago done
the same about 50 kilometres from the present
location in Matooni and is recognised in these
parts for as much her tennis achievements as her
philanthropic side in supporting the poor by giving
them educational facilities. Well done says this
correspondent and 'keep coming back' to our part of
the world with more help and assistance, much
needed everywhere. Meanwhile, some scribes
waiting to get pictures and interviews from Serena
on arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International
Airport were disappointed to be told that this was
not on the cards and reacted angrily in subsequent
articles, accusing the star of being in a 'foul
mood' on arrival &endash; how about the scribes
being in a foul mood too when their well laid out
plans were thwarted? Paparazzies being told NO is
apparently hard to stomach for them... Oooops...
THIRD FIBRE OPTIC CABLE
TO LAND IN MOMBASA Internet and other
communications will benefit from a third major
cable landing in Mombasa soon, when the EASSy'
consortium will also connect Eastern Africa with
the rest of the world. Although tariffs for
internet connections have not come down as fast and
as hard as was initially projected, most ISP's have
at least reduced their monthly charges by some
factors, while many have doubled the bandwidth
provided to their clientele. The arrival of a third
major provider however is thought to add further
pressure on the prices charged in Eastern Africa,
as more capacity will have to be offered on a
narrow market, more likely than not sparking a new
round of rebating and discounting for
customers. The cost of the project
however was also affected by the Somali piracy
situation as the cable had to take a 'detour' of
several hundred kilometres to avoid the waters most
infested by the ocean terrorists from Somalia, with
an estimated added cost tag of about 6 million US
Dollars. The cable laying vessels reportedly also
carried a full contingent of French security
personnel on board to avoid being hijacked while
rolling out the cables on the seabed. Meanwhile have acts of
hooliganism, likely also inspired by the highly
competitive nature of the fibre optic networks
connecting the major urban centres in Kenya and
beyond to the hinterland countries, been reported,
compelling the operators to ask government for
added security along their infrastructural paths.
Tanzania News TANZANIA SIGNS AVIATION
AGREEMENT WITH TURKEY There has been speculation
in the past by this correspondent about Turkish
Airlines' intentions to fly from Istanbul to Dar es
Salaam, also fuelled by the persistent refusal of
their Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kotil to respond
to questions in this regard. However, during the
recent state visit by President Kikwete to Turkey a
new aviation agreement was signed by the two
countries, following the establishment of an
embassy by Turkey in Tanzania a few months ago. It
was during this ceremony that the Turkish
government announced the commencement of flights by
Turkish Airlines to Tanzania in the very near
future. Owing to the constant
silence by THY, an own goal in PR terms of course
and certainly a reaction not fit for a member of
the global Star Alliance, it could not be
ascertained if the new destination would be an
extension of their flights to Nairobi or if other
waypoints would be served, once the new service
takes off. WORK ON DAR AIRPORT
PROGRESSING Information was received
last week that the current work programme for the
Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es
Salaam is on course, now that the demolition of
houses and buildings within the area set aside for
the expansion has been completed. While some
residents claim their compensation leaves them a
lot poorer as their properties and land were
undervalued, this was predictably rejected by
sources from within government. The airport will
get a new terminal and a new enlarged taxiway,
which in cases of emergency can also serve as a
'spare' runway, and when the work is completed the
capacity to handle planes will nearly triple from
the present 11 planes an hour to almost 30 planes
an hour. Also under construction is
a new VIP lounge. Funding for the work is coming
from the Netherlands through grants and loans and
by the Tanzanian government, which in recent years
has committed more resources to the maintenance and
upgrade of aviation infrastructure across the
entire country. RESORT SUED FOR FIRE
DAMAGES It was learned that last
week a suit was filed by a beach resort company in
the High Court of Dar es Salaam over the fire
damage sustained a year ago, when a neighbouring
resort failed to bring a kitchen fire under
control, which then subsequently destroyed the
Paradise Holiday Resort before also engulfing the
neighbouring Oceanic Bay. The company is claiming
some 3.5 US Dollars, over 1.6 million Euros and
nearly 700 million Tanzania Shillings in
compensation for the destruction of their property,
i.e. buildings and equipment and the loss of
business and income since then. Further news will
be reported when updates of the case's hearing will
become available. BURN IVORY,
BURN Disagreements continue to
cloud relations between Dar es Salaam and Nairobi,
over Tanzania's application to the forthcoming
CITES convention to be permitted to sell ivory
stocks. Sources in Tanzania claim
that keeping the stock of elephant tusks secure,
costs the country nearly 100.000 US Dollars per
annum, while a sale to the main consumer countries
in the Far East, notably China, could raise as much
as 12 million US Dollars. Kenya, and a sizeable
number of other countries are firmly opposed to the
sale of ivory, even as a one off, as such
exemptions have in the past led to swift increases
in poaching, already up fourfold in 2009 over 2008
in Kenya as a result, or so alleged, of lifting the
ban for Southern African countries. While other sources in
Tanzania claim, not to know what to do with the
ivory if not allowed to sell their stock, it has
been suggested by interested informers to this
correspondent that some of the bigger tusks could
be mounted and displayed in Museums across the
country, or in other official governmental
buildings with notices that poaching must be
stopped at all cost, while the rest should be
burned, as Kenya did with their stockpiles in 1989
in an act of defiance of voices urging the Kenya
government to sell the blood ivory to make some
money out of it. No one ever said that
conservation is cheap, or free of challenges making
up one's mind over how to proceed. Rwanda News NO JETS FOR
RWANDA Press reports in South
Africa, reportedly written with malicious intent to
portray the government of Rwanda as 'spending
crazy' have been utterly rejected by Kigali last
week. The authors had suggested that the government
in Kigali had purchased two executive jets, while
in actual fact the two aircraft in question are
owned by a privately registered aviation firm, with
several shareholders BUT not the government of
Rwanda. It was also confirmed at the time that a
charter agreement does exist, for the Rwandan
government to use these aircraft when a private jet
is required and no commercial flights are suitable
for the purpose, and that such expenditure was duly
budgeted by the respective governmental
departments, including the office of the president,
and there was nothing sinister or unusual about
it. A well known source in
Kigali suggested to this correspondent that the
original article which appeared in the South
African 'Times' was therefore not just ill
researched but outright defamatory and aimed to
undermine the relations between the two countries
and play into the hands of government
opponents. RWANDA TO HOST 'WORLD
ENVIRONMENT DAY' MEETING The United Nations
Environment Programme, or UNEP, has confirmed the
selection of Kigali as their venue to celebrate the
2010 World Environment Day on the 05th of June,
which will bring a number of experts from around
the globe to Rwanda to discuss the pressing issues
connected to environmental degradation, measures of
mitigation and protection and to safeguard
biodiversity. It is thought that the
selection of Rwanda is also in recognition of the
major efforts undertaken there by government
towards reforestation, the protection of bird and
wildlife and the embracing &endash; across all
walks of business and life in general &endash; of
green policies. Well done Rwanda. RDB CHANGES MAY GO
FURTHER THAN INITIALLY EXPECTED 'We will concentrate on
policy and advocacy' is the tenor of insider news
now slowly emerging from the Rwanda Development
Board, following intense efforts to get details
about their planned restructuring and
redistribution of duties along new reporting lines.
This comes hot on the
heels of RDB &endash; Tourism & Conservation
handing over the running of the Akagera National
Park to the 'African Parks Network', a private
sector conservation group with roots in southern
Africa. The 'new' reality seems to
be that all income generating assets and
activities, presently under the various departments
of the RDB, will in months to come be put on the
table for evaluation and their state of readiness
to 'divest' such assets to the private sector under
concession, licence or franchise agreements.
Important for the tourism
sector, there are the money spinning Parc de
Volcanoes and the Nyungwe National Park which could
be up for similar agreements like Akagera and it is
understood that the tourism and conservation
fraternity in Rwanda are holding their combined
breath, awaiting more news to break to better
understand what change is coming their way and how
best they can make do in an emerging new business
environment, where they may have to deal with
bottom line oriented private sector entities rather
than a public sector body. Watch this space.
Congo News UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
BAN CONGO REGISTERED AIRCRAFT It was learned that the
UAE have issued prohibition orders for their
airspace on aircraft registered in the Congo DR,
besides also affecting the same measure on
Swaziland, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone and Sao
Tome and Principe. The information came to light
when the UAE banned the use of Antonov A-12
aircraft on their territory, compelling the few
remaining operators using this type of aircraft to
remove them from the country by March this
year. Former Soviet Union built
aircraft have a notorious safety record, in Africa
in particular but also elsewhere and banning them
completely has for long been the objective of
modern day aviators fed up with the many accidents
in which these aircraft are involved. Libya News LIBYA SCORES OWN
GOAL In yet another 'dramatic'
act has Libya last week decreed not to admit or
issue Visas to any of the Schengen member states in
Europe, following a long festering dispute with
Switzerland, which is part of the Schengen group,
although not a member of the European Union.
However, some airline sources in Europe known to
this correspondent have told a different story,
that refusal of entry was within the 'normal' range
and not covering all and sundry arriving in
Tripoli, but that the situation was being monitored
and the announcement had caused considerable
concerns amongst airlines flying to
Libya. Switzerland has issued
travel restrictions against the Gadaffi family and
some of their key supporters over a row about the
&endash; Switzerland says illegal &endash;
detention of two Swiss citizens, who were according
to conventional wisdom arrested in a knee jerk
reaction to a well publicised criminal
investigation against one of the Gadaffi sons in
Switzerland dating back to a visit of the couple in
2008, where they were said to have assaulted two
hotel staff. It is understood that one
of the accused Swiss was earlier in the week
permitted to leave the country, while a second
Swiss man, convicted in absentia and who has since
sheltered in the Swiss Embassy building in Tripoli,
has turned himself in for a 4 months sentence,
although it is understood that he is seeking a
pardon and early release. For a country, which had
some time ago declared itself open to tourism, and
invited investors to build resorts along its
Mediterranean coast, this announcement, whether
ultimately implemented or just a 'mouthing off' is
like shooting itself in the foot if not both feet,
as many of the potential tourists would of course
come from EU member countries as would many
potential investors?!? Libya has a chequered and
often clouded history and following this irrational
decision the 'old' casefiles of the UTA and Pan Am
bombings, the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin
and other similar cases will undoubtedly be raised
again to advance the inevitable backlash in the
European media. Notably, the UK was
excluded from the Visa restrictions, having only
recently done a much criticised deal with Libya
when the Scottish authorities controversially freed
the convicted Lockerbie bomber on 'compassionate
grounds' causing an outcry from the victims'
families. In that case, with all pending appeals
withdrawn prior to the release, the conviction
stands while nevertheless pictures of a jubilant
homecoming and hero's reception at the airport in
Tripoli went around the world to the absolute
horror of the victims' relatives, friends and law
enforcement officials from many parts of the
world. South Africa
News A 380 MAKES MAIDEN
COMMERCIAL FLIGHT TO AFRICA Air France last week
commenced the use of the A 380 between Paris and
Johannesburg, the first airline to fly the giant
aircraft commercially to Africa on scheduled
services. AF presently operates 10 flights a week
between France and South Africa and the A 380 will
initially make three return trips, before at the
beginning of April the aircraft will go on daily
flights. At that stage, the airline will move to 7
flights a week, from presently 10 a week, owing to
the substantial increase in seat capacity by the
use of the 538 seater aircraft. Said the source of
the information in Johannesburg: 'we are proud to
make aviation history for Africa by becoming the
first commercial A380 destination on the continent.
Ahead of the FIFA World Cup this is a big boost for
seat capacity on the route, which will help carry
more visitors to South Africa for the tournament.
This is great news for us'. Indeed it is, adds this
correspondent. Mauritius News VELING ADDS TWO
B777-200 TO THEIR PORTFOLIO The Mauritius based
aircraft leasing company, Veling, has last week
confirmed a sale and lease back agreement for two
B777-200 with Emirates, financed entirely through
an African banking syndicate comprising Bank One
and State Bank from Mauritius and by Nedbank
Capital of South Africa. Veling reportedly now
holds a portfolio of 13 aircraft, which include
four A340-300 on lease to Sri Lankan, two ATR
72-500 on lease to India's Kingfisher Airlines, two
A310-300 on lease to Air India and three A310-300F
on lease to a cargo airline. Veling has broken new
ground with the lease arrangements for Emirates,
making it an all African financial deal, which was
thought next to impossible a few months ago due to
the prevailing financial market conditions at the
time, but it also speaks volumes about the growing
capacity within the African financial system to put
together syndicated deals worth hundreds of
millions of dollars which previously were the
domain of American or European firms specialised in
aircraft leasing. Proudly African, well
done! Seychelles News The country's national
theme for 2010 has been confirmed as 'Together
&endash; Ready for the Future'. AIR SEYCHELLES BECOMES
LAUNCH CUSTOMER FOR REVAMPED TWIN OTTER DHC6 -
400 The De Havilland Twin
Otter used to be a workhorse aircraft in the
African skies for a long time, as it was and still
is in the Seychelles for inter island flights,
before the manufacture of the DHC6-300 series was
halted with production number SN844 nearly 22 years
ago. Since then newer types of turboprop 'STOL'
aircraft came on the market, including the Cessna
Caravan, but aviators never failed to appreciate
the performances of their 'old darling'. News were
therefore received with some degree of
anticipation, when it was learned that a revamped
version, the Canadian built Viking (successor to De
Havilland) DHC6-400 aircraft with production number
SN845 has completed her maiden flight, paving the
way too for SN 846 going into the final production
line. Delivery of that particular aircraft to Air
Seychelles is expected in a couple of months,
adding to their fleet of presently 3 similar
turboprop Twin Otter 'STOL' aircraft. Besides the DHC's Air
Seychelles also operates two Short 360 aircraft for
their domestic services and the added capacity will
come in handy, considering that the Seychelles
Tourist Board is looking at a 5 percent increase in
passenger arrivals for 2010, and the resulting need
to have more air services from Mahe to the outlying
islands, where tourists may wish to spend their
holidays. The 'new line Dash 400'
Twin Otter is equipped with a state of the art
avionics suite on the flight deck and the new Pratt
& Whitney PT 6A-34 turbine engines will add
power, fuel savings and reliability for operators,
especially in the operating environment of Air
Seychelles, which flies from Mahe into remote small
airfields across the archipelago. Dozens of other
improvements will also benefit flight performance
and economics for the aircraft and making it surely
again a favourite for 'island hoppers' flying from
one island of the archipelago to the next.
(The above picture shows
one of the current Twin Otters of Air Seychelles at
the Praslin aerodrome, as seen recently by this
correspondent during a visit to the
islands.) The airline also confirmed
that orders for 2 B787-900 are pending and due for
delivery in 2013 while continuing to operate a
fleet of 5 B767 aircraft, both the -200 (2) and the
-300 (3), all aircraft offering business and
economy class cabins. Air Seychelles does not
operate single aisle jet aircraft due to the need
to carry substantial amounts of palletised cargo on
every flight to the islands, hence their decision
to operate only wide bodied aircraft which are
capable of delivering these objectives. PLANTATION CLUB STILL
CLOSED This correspondent
reported two years ago about the much under fire
government decision to literally expropriate the
owners of the Plantation Club and then sell it off
to Arab investors. Full mouthed promises then
however translated in little action to modernize,
rehabilitate and refurbish the resort and while in
country recently individuals spoken to were
surprisingly 'shtumm' about questions asked, both
about what happened then and the status now.
However, one source from the island this week did
confirm that this is sort of embarrassing for
government, which today would very likely not take
the same decision again, and that while most of the
workers remain laid off only partial work on
private residences has been done so far on the
property. Trust know whom &endash; reminds me of
Kingdom Hotels erstwhile plans in Kampala, which
displaced a key primary school and teachers
training college and where nothing ever happened
afterwards, leaving 17 acres of prime land fenced
up and idle and leaving the country as a whole to
lose out. In closing, the source
added another piece of insight: 'if government took
the decision at the time to force a modernization
and refurbishment, which has never been done till
now, they should also take a look at some of the
older hotels on Mahe which changed hands by sale
and are being run down too. So where is the equal
treatment here, this remains a dark spot on us. You
wrote about this yourself one or two weeks ago and
I have seen your TripAdvisor comments, so you know
what I talk about. But the lack of work indicates
it was maybe a purely politically motivated
decision at the time, which makes it much worse'.
However, when asked if this same decision would
take place again under the very much changed
political circumstances of today, the source also
said: 'no, not today, things have changed too much
for this to happen today again'. MAJOR OCEAN SECURITY
CONFERENCE SET FOR SEYCHELLES The Seychelles will host a
regional ports security conference between 26th to
28th of May this year in order to extensively
discuss and devise strategies on how to better
secure the sea lanes and offer shipping protection
from the marauding ocean terrorists, aka Somali
pirates. There is lingering
suspicion that the pirate ranks have been
infiltrated by figures from the radical Islamic
militias fighting in Somalia, adding a hidden
agenda to their 'ordinary' pirating on the open
seas and a new dimension to the fight of the naval
coalition members. Participation will be
global, as the members of the naval coalition will
be represented, including it is understood
representatives of the US Coast Guard, all of whom
are already extending training and equipment
support to the Seychelles coast guard and other
security organs dealing with the menace.
Meanwhile, calls were
renewed in Eastern Africa too for closer security
cooperation amongst the EAC member states in regard
of joint ocean patrols and better coordination of
resources and activities, as the impact on trade
and shipping for the East African ports of Mombasa
and Dar es Salaam is becoming more evident. Cruise
ship arrivals, compared with just two or three
years ago, are said to be only half now, as more
shipping lines are moving their vessels to safer
cruise waters, but this has a severe impact of
course on the respective tourism businesses in
Zanzibar, Tanzania and Kenya. The EAC secretariat in
Arusha has therefore been called upon to create a
platform for consultations and cooperation in this
regard, also involving the International Maritime
Organization, IGAD, the African Union and relevant
international bodies. It is expected that all of
them will attend the Seychelles conference either
as outright participants or in an observer
capacity. In closing, these added
activities and measures further belie the article
of the Independent of two weeks ago, which
portrayed the holiday paradise of the Seychelles as
a 'pirate paradise' in their sensationalist article
but it was clearly thin on facts and full of
negative speculation and smacked of a hidden agenda
against the Seychelles. And in closing today again
one of Gill Staden's travel stories from apparently
a recent trip to Botswana, taken from her regular
publication 'The Livingstone Weekly': Elephant Sands Elephant Sands is 54 km
north of Nata, Botswana. Set in wilderness not far
from the road, the elephants have come to call this
place home. The byline of Elephant Sands is "where
elephants rule" and they definitely do. As we arrived after our
short trip from Nata, we were welcomed by an
elephant wandering through the campsite. Oooo
… this is going to be fun, we thought. And
then it wasn't long after that an elephant plodded
up to the swimming pool to take a drink.
It is amazing how quiet an
elephant can be when it approaches. Ben, the owner,
told us that a few weeks previously three girls
were lounging around in the pool and, not hearing
the elephant approach, were totally stunned and
frozen when an enormous bull ele, came for a drink,
lowering his trunk into the pool, not more than a
metre or two away from them. Elephants may rule at
Elephant Sands but they are seriously friendly and
loveable. I wouldn't, though, go so far as to say
cuddly. The lodge had been
recommended to us &endash; a must-stay. And I am
glad that I took the advice. The lodge is one of
those special places which are relatively new (4?
years) and the owner had built it because he loves
the bush and wants people to enjoy it too. It is a
far cry from the corporate lodge-chains which are
prevalent through the interior these days.
After a lazy day watching
the nearby waterhole and the elephants wandering
down to drink, we climbed on the safari vehicle for
a tour of a nearby conservancy. The conservancy is
government owned and protected by them on behalf of
the community. One day, the hope is that the
conservancy will provide an income for the nearby
communities. The conservancy is also a short
distance from the Zimbabwe border and Hwange
National Park. There are no fences. The animals
move freely with only their instincts to direct
them. We drove up the main road
and through the foot-and-mouth gate and into the
conservancy. The grass is high and the bush is
thick at this time of year. The road is bumpy.
There was not much to see, not surprising, of
course. But it didn't matter at all; the beauty of
the bush at this time of year is the
impenetrability of it. We arrived at a pan called
Motsweri Wamudimu (God's Leadwood). The pan is
named after an ancient leadwood tree, which was
standing in the water looking seriously old and
patriarchal. The tradition goes that any hunter in
the area has to come to the tree to pay homage
before he sets off on a hunt. We had really seen nothing
on the way to the pan. I suppose it was
disappointing because the conservancy is home to
all sorts of animals including lion, leopard, wild
dog and lots more. It was just one of those things.
We hadn't even seen many elephants either. But the
elephants performed on the way back. We met up with
a family herd of twenty or so, with young. They
were seriously cautious with the little ones
around, raising their trunks in the air to smell
for intruders. We were no threat, though, and sat
and watched the herd in the darkening skies for
some time. We were late back to the
lodge. Me, being totally nonsensical thought that
we had time to cook a meal and eat it. We did, but
it was 10pm before we snuggled under the duvets to
sleep. And then, during the night, the eles
continued to entertain, even though we were not in
the mood and just wanted to sleep. They came to the
waterhole; they came to the swimming pool. They
drank, they played. Seriously disturbing. I almost
got out of my tent to tell them so. In the morning we had a
plan to move on to Zimbabwe and Robins Camp in
Hwange. We were in no hurry, though, and didn't
leave until 10am after chatting, watching the
waterhole, and enjoying Elephant Sands ambience.
Very special. Try it sometime. News from 'Uganda &endash; Gifted by Nature',
the Eastern African and Indian Ocean region Uganda News CAA TAKES ISSUE WITH PRE-CHOGM LOANS FOR
EXPANSION The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority too was made
to appear before the parliamentary public accounts
committee to be subjected to scrutiny over the work
scope, the expansion and modernisation of Entebbe
International Airport ahead of the Commonwealth
Summit in November 2007. The representatives of the CAA however took
issue with the fact that they needed to borrow
'commercially' to finance the work, in total some
71 billion Uganda Shillings, while government owed
the institution some 68 billion Uganda Shillings,
for many years it must be said, of which in
connection with CHOGM preparations only 10 billion
were repaid. The outstanding amounts are for long now a bone
of contention between the CAA, an autonomous
authority established in the early 19990's, and
government over outstanding and increasing dues,
growing also by an unknown interest factor as no
creditor can afford to let debts stand without
added interest to cover for inflationary trends and
devaluation of the home currency. Hence, in the presentations given to
parliamentarians and the answers provided there was
an ever present plea to assist in recovering the
amount owed by government to be able to pay back
the loans sourced from commercial banks in
Kampala. Sources from within the committee blamed
government for approving the loan and guaranteeing
it without following proper procedure, claiming the
matter was never brought before parliament which
according to the constitution of Uganda has to
approve every loan guarantee government gives
&endash; BEFORE it is given. What is left to say but 'good luck with that' to
the CAA as the CHOGM enquiry and saga
continues. HERITAGE DENIES POACHING CLAIMS Heritage Oil has last week denied any complicity
in poaching or that any of their staff would be
involved in the illegal activity, as alleged by a
park staff at Murchisons Falls, who last week
claimed that there was evidence of increased
poaching around the camp set up by oil workers.
However, no hard evidence was presented at the time
and the company management refuted the allegations
in the strongest terms, saying 'our staff are too
busy working than poaching game'. The company had sought to retain a workers camp
inside the park area for swift access to the test
drilling sites by their staff at day break, but has
apparently now agreed to re-locate the camp to an
area just outside the Bugungu gate, where they seem
to have acquired land for the purpose from a
private owner. Sources from within Heritage, speaking to this
correspondent on condition of anonymity, also
challenged UWA to produce evidence and arrest and
prosecute culprits, but not blame Heritage as a
convenient scapegoat for anything which might go
wrong elsewhere. Oooops... RESTORING WETLANDS A QUESTION OF
SURVIVAL Residents from a small village in Pallisa
district have of late joined hands, bringing
together over 100 members, with the aim to restore
some of the former wetlands, which had been
encroached and destroyed in the past. The resulting
lack of pasture, drop in the water table and
general degradation of land has sent sharp
reminders to them that nature must be protected, if
human populations and livestock are to survive.
Cutting of trees for charcoal or woodfuel alongside
overcultivation in wetlands led to the
disappearance of aquatic life forms, eventually
bringing the community together to engage in
mitigating measures and attempts to restore former
wetlands out of converted farming land. Within a
few months, aided by good rains, have signs emerged
of a revival of the swampy areas, aquatic life like
frogs and small fish returned, prompting village
elders to give orders that the wetland areas can
now only be used for grazing livestock but no
further cultivation. Neighbouring villages,
encouraged by the success, have reportedly also
joined the initiative and are copying the methods
used to restore their own wetlands again. Well done
for this and may it serve as an example for other
parts of Uganda too. HOTEL OWNER SENT TO CID TO RECORD
STATEMENT The owner of the half cooked and less than half
finished 'hotel' along Entebbe road, regularly in
the media over the parliamentary public accounts
committee's investigation into the 'CHOGM'
expenditure, has again gone into the spotlight of
the local scribes, when he was made to appear
before the committee to answer an avalanche of
questions about how he got money ahead of the
summit while his hotel was never on any of the
lists of approved hotels, not earmarked for any
activity. Following less than satisfactory answers
the committee then directed the CID officers
present to record a formal statement from him,
which &endash; if made under caution &endash; could
serve as a springboard for subsequent added legal
proceedings. According to a source present at the
hearing he did himself no favours with his conduct,
leaving many to conclude that this is not the last
the public has heard about this saga. Full mouthed statements ahead of the summit in
late 2007 have him on record that he wanted to
build a hotel with 1.000 rooms and 2.000 shops, a
whopper surely fit only for fantasy land but not
the reality in this country. Visit www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/709831 for the
current full report in Uganda's leading daily
newspaper, the New Vision. Oooops... AND IN A RELATED DEVELOPMENT IT WAS LEARNED THAT
MR. BEHAKANIRA HAS SINCE HIS APPEARANCE BEFORE THE
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE AND THE CID DIED SUDDENLY
ON MONDAY THIS WEEK, AFTER BEING RUSHED FROM HIS
RESIDENCE TO A CLINIC WHERE HE WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD
ON ARRIVAL. MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE. HOWEVER,
HIS SUDDEN PASSING WILL THROW THE MANY PENDING
LEGAL CASES INTO FURTHER DISARRAY. UGANDAN FLAG SET FOR SPACE FLIGHT East African business tycoon Ashish Thakkar, set
to be blasted into space just as soon as the
'galactic space ship' of Virgin has been cleared
for public flight, has collected the flags of
Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania from the Presidents and
Prime Ministers of the three countries to take with
him into orbit, being the first East African
resident to head into space. The three flags will
undoubtedly be displayed while 'up there' and
photographs and video links will immortalize that
precious moment when our flags will be unfurled
deep in space for the first time ever, hopefully
generating some added publicity and promotional
value for our combined tourism sectors. Who else
can claim that a space tourist did promote their
home area like this, basically saying come visit us
in East Africa, with the message coming from orbit.
Way to go Ashish, have a good flight and happy
landings as and when. REGIONAL TOURIST INFORMATION ON THE
WEB The Eye in Uganda is now available again in its
web edition for those who cannot obtain a hard copy
of the bimonthly publication. Find it via
www.theeye.co.ug and read all about new places the
Eye team has recently visited, updates on addresses
and locations and feature articles, including one
by yours truly. Across the border in Kenya the premier web
guide, coming out weekly incidentally and available
by joining their extensive mailings list, even from
people living far abroad, is 'The Kenya Buzz' and
that can be accessed via www.kenyabuzz.com or
otherwise write to thebuzz@kenyabuzz.com EAST AFRICAN TOURISM AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
BILL PASSED The East African Legislative Assembly, while
conducting its third session held in Kampala /
Uganda last week, passed the long awaited tourism
and wildlife bill, which also now facilitates the
setting up of an East African Tourist Board, under
which joint promotions can be carried out to
finally bring to the forefront the nearly 10 year
old theme 'East Africa &endash; one destination
with many attractions'. The newly passed bill also
caters for the setting up of a joint commission,
which is in the future to coordinate and harmonize
in all matters concerning tourism and wildlife
management, from legislation over the regulatory
framework to policies and of course bringing under
one roof the member states promotional campaigns
and tourism and hospitality training. Notably though, none of the legislators
approached would be drawn into the simmering
conflict over the opening, or continued closure, of
the Bologonja border post between the Masai Mara
and the Serengeti, referring queries to officials
of the respective member states. Said one in
response to the question: 'I think this may be a
bilateral matter, so EAC would not get involved
unless asked to mediate'. Shy to pick a 'hot potato' &endash; aren't we
now? SIMBA TRAVEL CARE GOES FULLY 'E' A new website by Simba TravelCare was launched
last week via www.travelcare.co.ug, offering
Ugandan travellers hitherto unprecedented direct
access to bookings and travel information. All interested parties have to do is to enter
their destination, preferred travel dates and the
automated website then does the rest for them, i.e.
offer the most economical fares available on the
market at the time of enquiry. Payment can be made
through a Visa card or else a reservation can be
made and then paid for at TravelCare within a
certain period of time. The agency is now also found on Twitter and
Facebook for those who prefer to get updates on the
web. According to the company's own statement this
is a first for East Africa and will undoubtedly
spur the rest of the market to follow suit soon or
else be relegated into the pre 'e' age. NOMINATIONS FOR BEST TOURISM MINISTER OUT,
DECISION BY MID WEEK The annual nominations for best tourism minister
were announced late last week, ahead of the final
decision being announced during a meeting in Harare
/ Zimbabwe later this week, organized by 'African
Investor'. The Ugandan Minister Hon. Otafiire is amongst
those nominated, alongside his colleagues from
Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Ghana and
Sierra Leone. Notably, heavyweights like the Kenyan tourism
minister Hon. Balala or the Seychellois tourism
minister Hon. Belmont, who is also the country's
Vice President, are not on the list although their
tourism sectors have weathered the storm better
than many other countries, closing the annual
statistics for 2009 just fractionally below the
2007 results. Watch this space as the 'winner' will
be announced in the next edition. KIDEPO ALLEGATIONS 'TOTALLY BASELESS' A small group of attention seekers and
sensationalists tried to dupe this correspondent
last weekend into believing, and reporting, about
an alleged shooting of tourists in Kidepo National
Park. The truth of the matter however, and swiftly
established, was that two vehicles, hired by an
NGO, apparently drove into a cattle raid, some 400
kilometres from Kidepo (which never was their
destination by the way), and got shot at in the
cross fire in the vicinity of Nakapiripirit. These
were NOT tourists, and although the incident is of
course highly regretted, it bordered on the highest
irresponsibility by those concerned who tried to
wind up their colleagues in the safari operations
fraternity and hurt the business of the lodge
operator in Kidepo, with whom some of the very
individuals had issues before over the Clouds
Safari Lodge. Tourists, it is again reiterated, do NOT drive
nor are driven to Kidepo but fly there from either
Entebbe or Kajjansi, and the park itself is well
secured and safe for visitors. Whoever, one of the
access roads through the Karamoja region is still
much subject to the 'traditional ways of life'
comprising often of cross border cattle raids like
in the old days, but with spears, bows and arrows
today substituted against AK 47's. Please see the
travel advice by the Uganda Tourist Board or the
Uganda Wildlife Authority via www.visituganda.com
or www.ugandawildlife.org for added information on
safety and park security, and please, be careful
about rumours being spread by a very small section
of what is generally understood to be a disgruntled
minority trying to bring Uganda into disrepute. SHILLING BREAKS THE 2000 THRESHOLD After a gradual slide from the most recent high
a few month ago, when the 1700 range was within a
whisker, the Uganda Shilling has since steadily
fallen back into the 1800 and 1900 range of trading
against the US Dollar, and has early this week
broken the 2000 threshold once again. It is amongst economic observers and analysts an
open secret, that the previous high was
unsustainable and that the low 2000 range would
constitute 'fair value' considering the disparity
between import bills and export earnings at this
time. However, the relatively narrow trading in US
Dollars always gets distorted when major aid
funding 'hits' the local banks, although the
country's central bank 'Bank of Uganda' has
recently vowed to better manage currency values and
resort to added intervention to prevent the
previous spikes, which make forward planning for
investments and business transactions rather too
difficult and risky. Meanwhile, across the border in Kenya, their
shilling value too was hit and started falling into
the 77 range, largely attributed to the political
squabbles between the coalition government
partners, which last week had a 'head on collision'
when President Kibaki overturned the 'suspension'
of two government ministers by the Prime Minister
no sooner than it had been announced. Oooops... Kenya News JETLINK ON EXPANSION COURSE This privately owned Kenyan airline, operating
both domestic and regional jet services, has shown
their confidence in the future of aviation in
Eastern Africa last week when breaking ground for a
new hangar and office block, both to be completed
within about 14 months and costing nearly 200
million Kenya Shillings. The airline, managed by
Kenyan aviation veterans Capts. Elly Aluvale and
Kiran Patel, was granted land by the Kenya Airports
Authority to build their facilities adjoining to
the main airport area, permitting easy access for
staff to the airside, where in the future their
fleet of now 7 jet aircraft can be parked and
maintained. Formed in 2004 and entirely owned by Kenyans,
the airline has grown in leaps and bounds, and now
operates 6 state of the art Bombardier jets, while
staff numbers have now reached in excess of
300. Jetlink has until now been operating from the
same office block in a nearby industrial estate
used by competitor East African Safari Air Express,
with whom they partnered for some time before
deciding to go their own way, while maintaining
offices in the same building. Jetlink was the first
airline to introduce the fuel efficient sleek
Bombardier CRJ's in the region and is now using
these aircrafts on their domestic routes between
Nairobi to Mombasa (5 times a day), Eldoret (twice
a day) and Kisumu (5 times a day). They also fly
twice a day between Nairobi and Juba / Southern
Sudan and operate twice a week a scheduled service
between Nairobi and Goma / Eastern Congo.
Information at hand also suggests that the airline
intends to commence flights to Mwanza and Dar es
Salaam in due course, while their Juba flights may
soon also extend to Khartoum, likely with full
traffic rights between the two main Sudanese
cities, which would give travellers added choices
on this busy route. When contacted the airline did confirm that this
major investments was an absolute necessity in
order to expand the airline's operations, fleet and
destinations and at the same time save very
substantial cost as hangar rent had become a major
expense while still restricting their ability to
maintain their fleet up to approved maintenance
levels. Jetlink also confirmed that other airlines
would be able to hire hangar space from them,
creating additional revenue streams in the future
rather than paying rent as is at present. The new
maintenance facility will be large enough to house
aircraft up to the size of a B767 and will be
completed in two stages it was learned, with the
final touches to be put at the end of quarter one
next year. There is now speculation if Jetlink may develop
their maintenance facility, possibly with the
assistance of Bombardier, into a regional
maintenance hub for the Canadian manufacturer, but
no one would be drawn into this scenario at this
moment, telling this correspondent enough already
and all he needs to know at this time to continue
monitoring the situation and breaking the news, as
and when they can be confirmed. Well done Jetlink in the meantime for the
expressed and demonstrated confidence in the
Eastern African economies and aviation market in
particular and Happy Landings all the time,
wherever you carry the Kenyan flag to. KAA BOARD PLACES 'OWN' ADVERT FOR CEO'S
POSITION Predictably, in view of the shenanigans by
outgoing CEO George Muhoho, has the recently
appointed chairman of the Kenya Airports Authority
and his board decided to declare the advert seeking
applications for a successor to the CEO null and
void and placed their own version in the daily and
regional newspapers. Muhoho was alleged to have
tried and engineer a successor of his choice for
his post, which he is finally now leaving after
almost 7 years, amidst much controversy in the past
and in particular over his hotly contested
re-appointment a year ago. The new advert no longer requires a number of
qualifications Muhoho's own advert had insisted on,
lending credibility to claims he had tailored it
towards his chosen individual in the organisation.
A year ago the then chairman of KAA left the
organization in protest, after his and the board's
objections to an extension were overruled by the
minister in charge of transport. It then took
almost the entire year before the minister
appointed a new chair, who on arrival swiftly moved
to assert his authority and made sure that the
legal provisions of the state corporation act,
which vests the employment of the CEO in the board,
was observed to the letter. Muhoho himself is due to leave office latest by
early April and these most recent squabbles will do
little to improve his legacy which was often
overshadowed by arguments in the media and
allegations, mainly over the circumstances of
contract awards and contract extensions for work at
the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. KQ ADDS 'ISAGO' TO 'IOSA' STATUS Kenya Airways has confirmed that they were
recently awarded the coveted IATA 'safe ground
handling certificate', reportedly the first such
award to an African airline, after some years ago
also scooping the first continental IATA
operational safety audit status. This effort and
achievement goes to underscore KQ's ongoing
commitment to not just comply with global aviation
regulations but aspire to be the best, and first on
the African continent, while running far ahead of
regional competition of course. It is understood
that audits for other leading African airlines are
still being processed and that results will be
announced for them in due course. The IATA
certification was awarded for the airline's
operations in both Nairobi and Mombasa. FRANCE TO SUPPLY AIRPORT SECURITY EQUIPMENT
TO KENYA A contract worth nearly 10 billion Kenya
Shillings appears to have been signed for the
supply of security and other operational equipment
for Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The
implementation will reportedly be done through the
majority state owned 'Aeroports de Paris' and
financed through the French development agency,
often used to channel bilateral agreements and
technical support by the French government for
major 'sensitive' export deals. Interesting enough,
the present expansion work at JKIA is being done by
a Chinese construction firm and when the
installation of the equipment commences the French
will undoubtedly pull out all the stops to prevent
'snooping' at an early stage to prevent any chance
of undesirable 'technology transfers'. MT. KENYA 'MOUNTAIN BIKE CHALLENGE' SET FOR
20TH FEBRUARY A one day mountain biking sports event, the 'Mt.
Kenya 10 &endash; 4' race is set to unfold on
Saturday, 20th of February, with the starting point
about 20 KM from Timau. Several categories of races
are taking place that day, and will take off from
just outside the national park boundaries high
above Timau, traversing forest, ranch and farm land
and finally ending up near the Borana Lodge on the
Ngare Ndare river. The main race, set to start at
08.00 a.m. already, will cover about 70 KM and will
descend from about 10.000 ft to around 4.500 ft
during the race and is recommended only for the
really fit riders with a lot of experience. Other
less demanding races are available too, like the 50
KM 'Rush' version and the gentler 'Slide' version
for beginners of 35 KM, still demanding though,
considering the swift descend and partly rough
terrain. Kenya has of late added such sports activities
to their list of 'promotable' items aimed to
attracting visitors from overseas to come into the
country and compete alongside the local and
regional participants. For more information email
lillian@mountkenyatrust.org or else, for more
detailed updates and requirements about the event,
visit the following two sites: www.10to4.org www.mountkenyatrust.org PRIUS PROBLEMS? NOT HERE SAYS NAIROBI CAR
HIRE FIRM Eco Cabs in Nairobi, a local car hire and
transportation firm, has last week publicly stated
that they do not know of any problems with the
Toyota Prius, much talked about in recent days
elsewhere around the world. The firm reportedly
owns and operates almost a dozen of these cars and
has not come across any problem yet, but is likely
to avail the vehicles to the Toyota East Africa
workshop in Nairobi for the planned inspection,
following what appears to be a global recall,
should they be asked to do so. Safety first, very
commendable! MORATORIUM FOR NEW ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE MARA
&endash; ONGOING CONTROVERSY Calls for a moratorium of building of new lodges
and permanent tented camps inside the Masai Mara
Game Reserve have been ongoing for a long time now,
considering that the general view of
conservationists has gelled into one tenor, too
many lodges, too many rooms, too many tourists and
too many busses. That may of course be argued by
others, from a different background, but the fact
remains that unlike in the Serengeti, where tighter
rules are applied and new investors and developers
are told to find their own land outside the
boundaries of the national park, in the Masai Mara
for long it was quite the opposite. The establishment of conservancies, using land
leased from Masai owners, is creating a much needed
buffer zone and gives space for animals to 'escape'
the pressures of hordes of tour busses circling a
pride of lions, and often outnumbering them by a
sizeable factor to find peace on the conservancies
where strictly limited ratios are applied in terms
of numbers of beds vis a vis the acreage of the
conservancy itself. There, to the credit of the
promoters of this new wave of tourism businesses,
the camps too are non permanent and if ever taken
down, for relocation or permanent removal, little
if any evidence will remain after the next rainy
season has help the vegetation to spread. The latest newsletter of RhiNews by Save the
Rhino International (www.savetherhino.org) also
mentions opposition towards a particular new
development, likely aimed at the 'mass market' and
the full story can be found through the link taken
from the newsletter as follows: "Kenya - Controversy over plans to build a
lodge in the Masai Mara; tour operator Somak comes
in for criticism Click here to read the full
story Somak Holidays has refuted claims it is selling
holidays to a safari lodge in Kenya that will
affect the habitat of the black rhino. According to
a report in The Sunday Times, leading
conservationists including BBC's Big Cat Diary
presenter Jonathan Scott and safari writer Brian
Jackman, have joined in a call for people to
boycott the operator and sign a petition." Interesting enough, the website of the lodge in
question, promoted by the name of Ashnil Hotels
(www.ashnilhotels.com) shows no substantive
information about their Mara property advertised,
as the site has either not been updated since 2008
or else the information, which could have revealed
the extent of their development, been taken off the
site. Notably also, neither do Mission Statement
and Company Vision speak in any way of
conservation, the protection of nature, maintenance
of the habitat and ecosystem or give an insight
into their environmental policy, if any exists, but
simply restricts itself to mention: 'By practicing responsible tourism we strengthen
our efforts to develop future properties which will
further benefit the country's economy, offer better
employment levels and yet retain the traditions and
customs of the people.' Does that translate to profit before
conservation? Make up your own mind my dear
readers! MORE FENCES FOR MORE PARKS? Information was received from Nairobi that the
Kenya Wildlife Service, following the successful
completion of the fencing of the Aberdare National
Park, is now eyeing more parks with large
surrounding populations for fencing. The Aberdare
project, initiated by the 'Rhino Ark', an NGO
dedicated to the conservation of rhinos and their
protection, raised &endash; including governmental
contributions &endash; nearly 800 million Kenya
Shillings to complete the project, which from its
inception and conceptualisation took nearly 20
years to complete. Next on the list for fencing, according to KWS
sources, is Mt. Kenya, where the forest from a
certain elevation upwards is a national park,
although a wider conservation zone is now also in
place, aimed to protect wildlife corridors and
avoid conflict with human populations, when in
particular elephant and buffalo stray into farms,
destroying crops and endangering people. It is expected that government, and KWS, will be
seeking a similar partnership as the one with the
'Rhino Ark' in past years to accomplish their
objectives so that fundraising can meet much of the
expected expenditure for the new fences. GAME RELOCATION TO FEED PREDATORS? A spot of controversy has arisen over plans by
the Kenya Wildlife Services to relocate zebras and
possibly other plains game to the Amboseli national
park, which has until the end of last year been
beset by a long lasting and devastating draught.
The death by thirst and hunger of many plains game
also denied the lions and other predators their
regular 'meal' although scavengers made good of the
many fallen animals at the time, with their bones
now littering the plains &endash; as recently
witnessed during a visit to the park and adjoining
conservancy 'Selenkay'. There incidentally the
problem is not as acute, as much game seems to have
taken to moving into the conservancy, where the
predators are appearing relatively healthy,
compared to their cousins inside the park proper.
There the community also cooperates with the Porini
conservancy and a lion project informs the herders
of the location of the lions at all times to reduce
the potential for conflict, while the adjoining
group ranches do not have this level of
sophisticated cooperation with KWS and their cattle
and goats are therefore targeted with greater ease
by the free roaming big cats. However, concerns have been expressed about the
capture and relocation for the purpose of only
feeding the predators, as the main aim &endash; it
was pointed out to this correspondent by some
agitated mails from Nairobi &endash; should be the
adding of game numbers to permit a faster
restoration of the previous animal populations and
assist in breeding success after the long draught
was finally broken in December. KWS is planning to
move up to 7.000 animals into Amboseli, in which
appears a 'compromise' with neighbouring group
ranches, at least those NOT participating in
conservancy schemes, to help protect their
livestock from falling prey to the marauding lions
and hyenas by introducing 'more predator food
sources' into the park. Requests by some of the
group ranches to fence off the national park have
already been rejected by KWS, according to some
normally well informed sources, as it would trap
the animals inside with no recourse to their
engrained migration pattern, angering apparently
some of the Masai. However, as witnessed hands on
some weeks ago, conservation can indeed coexist
profitably for both tourism operators and the
Masai, as the example of the Selenkay Conservancy
proves where cattle, goats and game use the same
land to the profit of all concerned. How about
considering this before becoming belligerent and in
particular spearing and poisoning lions which are
one of the biggest assets for wildlife based
tourism? No lions, no tourists, that is the simple
truth in the end, and the same applies to the wild
dogs (also called painted or hunting dogs), the
hyenas, the leopards and the cheetahs?!? Watch this space as the relocation gathers
momentum and as and where appropriate follow ups
will appear here. Tanzania News AIR ZARA ADDS DODOMA TO NETWORK Mid last week saw the formal launch of flights
by Air Zara from Dar es Salaam to the country's
political capital of Dodoma, using an Embraer 120
turboprop aircraft with 30 seats. The airline already flies, according to the
information received, between Dar es Salaam to
Zanzibar and Arusha, but seems intent to add
further domestic routes in due course. The source
mentioned as likely destinations Mwanza, Tabora and
Kigoma while no information was offered on plans to
fly into the region or beyond. ITB IN THE SIGHTS OF THE TANZANIAN TOURISM
TRADE Information was received from both Arusha and
Dar es Salaam that about 100 participants are
expected to travel to this year's edition of ITB,
the globally most important tourism trade show,
which takes place annually in Berlin / Germany and
brings together the world wide tourism trade but is
also open to consumers. Ahead of the FIFA World
Cup, starting in June in South Africa, a number of
African countries, Tanzania at the forefront, is now making last
minute efforts to catch the eyes of the global
footballing community, and in particular of those
travelling to the match venues in South Africa, to
get visitors doing side trips or stopovers enroute
to or from their 'football holiday'. ITB this year is taking place in less than a
month now, between 10th and 14th of March, and
record participation is again expected by the show
organizers in Berlin, as the globe emerges from the
worst recession and economic downturn in
decades. Tanzania will be represented on ministerial
level, but of course the Tanzania Tourist Board,
TANAPA, the Zanzibar Tourist Corporation and nearly
50 private sector firms will also attend to
showcase Tanzanian safaris and resort holidays
along the mainland and island beaches. That said, Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda too will be
showcasing their tourism attractions in Berlin, so
make sure you visit them there. Rwanda News GORILLA CENSUS TO COMMENCE SOON Rwanda is set to 'count' the mountain gorillas
found within and nearby the 'Parc de Volcanoes',
immortalized by the film 'Gorillas in the Mist' and
countless books and articles written about Rwanda's
premier tourism attraction. Initiated and supported
by the International Gorilla Conservation Programme
the census will extend across the Rwandan borders
into Uganda and the Congo DR, where populations of
the rare species are also found in sizeable
numbers. There is particular concern about the true
number of the animals remaining within the Congo
borders, as conflict in recent years and the
constant movement of militias has undoubtedly
disturbed the habitat of the gorillas, while last
year several were reported to have been killed,
allegedly by guerrillas aligned to the FDLR and
former Hutu killer militias who perpetrated one of
the worst genocides of modern history on the
Rwandan population. The last such census took place nearly 8 years
ago and there is keen interest to confirm 'actual
numbers' as opposed to the constant speculation and
boasting about how many of the 'gentle giants' are
found in each of the three countries. Also assessed will be the effectiveness of
conservation measures, the protection accorded to
the animals and the management of 'neighbourly
relations with adjoining communities, whose land
borders the parks. Watch this space for the
results, as and when available and congratulations
and thanks to the conservation groups and
development partners who contributed to make this
possible. A similar exercise is understood to go underway
at the same time in Uganda and the Congo, to
establish an overall total of mountain gorillas in
the forests for the benefit of joint conservation
measures. THE EYE RWANDA NOW ON THE WEB The latest edition of Rwanda's premier guide
booklet, published there every three months, is now
available on the web again via www.theeye.co.rw
&endash; with all the updates of where to go, where
to eat, where to stay and what to do across 'the
land of the thousand hills'. For those visiting
Rwanda, copies are available from the tourist
information offices, leading hotels, lodges and
travel agents, or directly from your safari
company, which you should ask to have 'your
personal copy' available when they meet you on
arrival at the airport. RWANDA AND CONGO RESUME AVIATION COOPERATION Leaving the 'bad old days' behind them the two
countries have now also resumed cooperation in the
aviation field, following a series of exploratory
talks culminating in the signing of a formal
Memorandum of Understanding last weekend in
Kigali. The MoU will permit RwandAir to fly from Kigali
to such places like Kinshasa while Congolese
airlines in turn can fly again into Rwanda. The
cooperation, as much else, was halted in the
aftermath of the 1994 genocide, when the
perpetrators fled into the Congo and found safe
haven, from where they continued to launch hit and
run attacks on Rwanda, although more recent
military cooperation and the exchange of
intelligence has helped to improve the situation
and relations between the erstwhile foes. RwandAir had some time ago already, as reported
here, indicated their desire to fly to Kinshasa
again from later this year, when additional
aircraft have joined their fleet. It is understood
that RwandAir is in the process of procuring office
space in Kinshasa and will in due course begin
their final stage of operational preparations and
marketing the new destinations. NO LOAN, NO HOTEL? The Kabarondo business community, at least
sections of it, had their request for a 600 million
Rwanda Francs loan turned down, which they had
intended to use for the construction of a three
star hotel in the location. The district mayor
subsequently threatened to withdraw the land
allocated to the business group if they would not
find the resources to go ahead with the
construction, which if at all may now only go ahead
on a greatly reduced scale. Not a bad idea finds
this correspondent, why not start with fewer rooms
and then expand as the occupancies rise and the
cash flow proves that the initial investment and
loans can be paid back? The bank, it was learned,
had offered a 200 million Rwanda Francs loan to
start with, partly due to the lack of sufficient
securities to guarantee the larger amount, and if
cool heads prevails this project can still go ahead
and bring a state of the art hospitality facility
to the township. Ethiopia News NEW WILDLIFE EDUCATION CENTRE IN THE MAKING In a remarkable cooperation between the UK based
'Born Free Foundation' and the Ethiopian Wildlife
Conservation Authority was last week a foundation
stone laid for a new wildlife conservation,
education, training and rescue centre, the first of
its kind in Ethiopia. The new centre will be developed on a site of
nearly 80 hectares and is located just about 25 KM
outside the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, not
far from the protected Menagasha Forest. The plans for the new facility were in the
making for a few years before reaching the point
where a foundation stone could be officially laid,
and full construction, according to information
received from Addis, is due to commence within a
few weeks now. The concept is similar to the Uganda Wildlife
Education Centre, which is also used for the
promotion of conservation, the care of rescued and
injured animals and as a centre for research.
Congratulations to the conservation fraternity in
Ethiopia for this milestone development and thanks
to the development partners and donors making this
project a reality. No cost estimates or details on the magnitude of
the donations from the Born Free Foundation could
be obtained by the time of going to press. Southern African News AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL PREPARES FOR 'THOUSANDS OF
FLIGHTS A DAY' As the FIFA World Cup draws nearer, and the host
football association, local transportation and
hotels and resorts are gearing up towards the
biggest challenge of their lives, yet anyway, the
country's air traffic controllers, airports and
ground handling companies are also practising dry
runs ahead of what might be the busiest period for
air traffic ever seen in the South African
skies. The country's main international hubs,
Johannesburg's 'Oliver Tambo' but also Cape Town
and Durban, are expected to see unprecedented
numbers of flights coming in and leaving during the
world cup, as the teams and the masses of their
fans move from venue to venue., but then so will
all the airports of the venue cities across the
country. Even in comparison, according to a well informed
aviation source in Pretoria, the All Africa Games
or the Cricket World Cup, which were hosted over
the past decade and a half in South Africa, have
not come near even if combined, to the expected
influx of visitors over such a short period of
time, and all hands will be needed on deck so to
speak when the time comes in June. It is also understood that parking areas on
airports presently reserved for military purposes
may be opened for the duration of the tournament to
provide added parking space for aircraft, while a
last minute race is also on to complete expansions
of apron, taxiway and runway facilities. A source from South African Airways, the host
and home carrier for the games &endash; although
Emirates is the main airline sponsor for FIFA
&endash; has also confirmed that the airline will
be operating an enhanced and expanded 24 / 7
schedule to make most use of planes ordinarily
parked overnight to move the anticipated large
number of footballing and tourist visitors across
the vast country. Other privately owned airlines registered in
South Africa too have made final preparations to
increase their own capacities through short term
'wet leases' aimed to boosting the available seat
numbers, although SAA was not to be drawn into this
issue if they would seek assistance from their
alliance partners to enter into short term leases
also. However, there are some indications from such
airlines as Lufthansa that their planes, normally
arriving in the morning and returning to Europe in
the evening, may operate some flights for SAA
instead of just standing there idle, making money
for both in the process. Meanwhile, sources in the UAE have given the
clearest indication yet that Emirates will be using
their A 380's to fly their regular daily flights
into South Africa to also offer more seats, which
in any case will be at an absolute premium in the
run up to, during and immediately after the event,
when progressively the eliminated teams and their
supporters begin their journey home, while the
knock out stage goes underway and the losers too
make an early exit from South Africa. In a related development several countries in
Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean have now also
geared up their promotion towards 'twin centre'
holidays, trying to attract tourists going to the
World Cup to stop over at their own shores either
before or after the tournament. Seychelles News STAFF TRAINING A CORNERSTONE IN SEYCHELLES
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT Last week nearly 50 graduates received their
course certificates after successfully completing
their training at the Seychelles Tourism Academy,
the country's premier institution for manpower
development in the hospitality and tourism sector.
'Seychelloisation' i.e. progressively introducing
the country's own citizens to positions presently
filled by a large expatriate body of hospitality
labour, is an expressed policy goal by government
and its relevant organs to absorb school leavers
into the sector, able to start a career and provide
full employments for all willing and capable
Seychellois. Like in Eastern Africa, where up to the 70's
expatriates held literally all key positions in the
hotel, resort and safari lodge sector, a deliberate
policy of affirmative action has turned the tables
on those days, and it is now largely Ugandans,
Kenyans, Tanzanians or Rwandese holding the top
jobs in the tourism industry, with expats now few
and far between. In the Seychelles, although presently only
counting less than 90.000 citizens across the
archipelago, this too is the aim for the STA, to
provide competent, skilled and well trained labour
to hotels, resorts and restaurants, giving the
young 'entrants' then the opportunity to add
further qualifications, for the top performers to
even train abroad and progressively make their way
from entry jobs into lower, middle and eventually
top managerial positions. The government of Seychelles had some time ago
commenced a programme of 'voluntary retirement' for
civil servants, many of whom were still in their
productive years, and a large number of those,
after happily taking their retirement packages from
the public service, then retrained to obtain the
skills needed to join the workforce again in one of
the many new resorts springing up across the
islands. Reportedly over 500 course participants
took advantage of short courses to attain entry
level certificates, and skills needed to enter work
in general service and floor positions. While speaking with the Principal of the STA
recently in Mahe, the following manpower
requirements were made available, showing that with
an estimated increase of about 30 new hotels and
resorts over the next three years, which will
likely result in the total number of rooms across
the core area of the archipelago rise from
presently about 5.000 to 6.691, the needed trained
manpower is due to equally escalate from presently
just under 10.000 to 14.734, and of course to be
largely sourced from within the island's population
as the affirmative action programme to absorb
'local labour' into positions previously held by
expatriates is continuing. (The figures quoted are
based on presently approved tourism hospitality
projects across the main islands of the Seychelles
and the resulting forecasts for an increased
workforce). In one of the future editions will a
full feature on the discussions with the STA
Principal appear, so watch this space. Meanwhile has a group of students placed in
training programmes abroad for the last couple of
months returned home to the Seychelles, after the
completion of their industrial attachments. They
had reportedly trained in Mauritius, Dubai and
Kenya while one students was placed at the
internationally acclaimed 'Banyan Tree Resort' in
the Seychelles to complete her mandatory in service
training component. Notably, this element of
training is supported widely by the private sector,
with many 'captains of industry' being drawn into
the management committee of the STA to inject
expertise and experience from senior stakeholders,
who serve alongside their 'colleagues' from the
Seychelles Tourist Board and other governmental
departments. WETLAND MEETING CONFIRMS CONSERVATION GOALS A weeklong series of meetings was held last week
in Victoria's International Conference Centre under
the theme 'Wetlands connect life and culture',
which saw the Secretary General of the RAMSAR
Convention on Wetlands attend the key meetings. A
range of researchers, conservationists,
governmental, diplomatic and civil society
participants were also partaking in the
discussions. The Seychelles were chosen for the
global event to highlight the country's commitment
to protect the fragile marine ecosystems and
mangrove forests along sections of the islands'
shores. Three of the archipelago's already
protected wetlands are now listed as global RAMSAR
sites, including the Aldabra atoll, which is only
to a small part open for explorer and adventure
tourism so that the area can be kept free of too
much impact and research and monitoring has clearly
a higher priority than promoting a 'Galapagos'
scenario. An additional three sites have been
earmarked to join the 'RAMSAR' list in the near
future, which includes the fabled 'Vallee de Mai'
on Praslin Island, home of the 'coco de mer' palm
trees. The Seychelles' two major economic activities,
tourism and fishing, both depend on intact
ecosystems and a high level of environmental
protection and it does appear that government and
civil society are committed to the preservation and
where necessary best mitigation measures
possible. Notably for the tourism industry was a new
promotional brochure launched under the heading
'Wetlands and Ecotourism in Seychelles' which will
give visitors to the archipelago added up to date
information about these critical areas. The new
material covers the 20 best known ecotourism
attractions on Mahe, a further 8 such sites on
Praslin and 7 on La Digue islands, while 9 more
have been highlighted from other islands across the
extensive island chain. The policy and research unit at the Seychelles
Tourist Board has confirmed that this initiative is
a result of committing the country to the
principles of eco tourism already way back in
2003. Visit the board's website at www.seychelles.com
for more information. STB ENDS MARKETING CONFERENCE, PRESENTS
RESULTS The Seychelles Tourist Board has ended their
annual marketing conference, which brought together
most of their staff from the overseas tourist
offices, a number of their newly appointed 'tourism
ambassadors', Air Seychelles, representatives of
the private sector and relevant governmental
bodies. Mr. Alain St. Ange, Director of Tourism
Marketing, gave a sweeping overview at the closing
ceremony held at the Four Seasons Resort, in the
presence of the Vice President and Minister of
Tourism Joseph Belmont. At the same time he also
formally handed over a copy of STB's five year plan
to the VP, which outlines the way forward as
developed and agreed by a cross section of
stakeholders. Amongst the announcements was the upcoming
invitation to about 100 leading travel agents to
come and visit the archipelago during 2010, aimed
to equip them with hands on knowledge about the
range of facilities now available on the islands,
from simple locally owned and managed bed &
breakfast establishments over 'conventional' beach
hotels to top of the range luxurious resorts,
retreats and Spa's able to hold their own against
any competition in the world. In addition the board will continue to provide
printed material for use at the major tourism trade
shows and distribution by the overseas tourism
offices and their tourism ambassadors, but &endash;
while design and content development would remain
based in the Seychelles &endash; printing would be
done in the visitor source markets to save cost for
shipment and distribution. Some of the newly
developed sales aids will focus on diving,
snorkelling, fishing, island hopping, golfing but
also to further cement the archipelago's reputation
as a wedding and honeymoon destination and for its
dedication to the protection of marine ecosystems.
One major change though is due for implementation,
as updates to the archipelago's accommodation
guides are now going to be posted online, to give
and instant entry to new resorts and facilities
without having to wait another year before the next
printed edition comes out, which by the time of
publication will again already miss any other new
addition to the lists. Few would know for instance, as discovered
during a recent visit to the Seychelles and
interaction with leading conservationists and
conservation groups, that on the Aldabra atoll as
many as 150.000 of the giant sizes sea turtles can
be found during the breeding season, while on the
better known Galapagos Islands only 30.000 of them
are found, i.e. the Seychelles has as many as 5
times more, yet hardly known and publicised for
that type of explorer and adventure tourists. Mr. St. Ange also requested the Vice President
to establish a committee dealing with tourism at
government level, to include all relevant
stakeholders from government and private sector, to
coordinate activities and react to matters arising
without leaving out crucial input nor otherwise
affecting the smooth handling of arriving and
departing visitors, leave alone impact them during
their stay. The Seychelles Tourist Board has set itself a
target of increasing visitor arrival numbers from
the just under 160.000 in 2009 by about 5 percent
in 2011, which would mark a new 'record' for the
islands, but in view of the newly opened resorts
this will be necessary to fill the extra beds.
Sources this correspondent spoke with during and
after his visit also confirm that the targets are
within reach, as already an upwards trend has been
seen during the first few weeks of the year, while
generally applauding the work done by STB since its
major restructuring a year ago. Said one
Seychellois hotelier: 'without the reforms at STB a
year ago, I do not know where we would be now.
Tourism has always been a bit of ups and downs over
the years, but a year ago we were staring at a big
market loss, not seen before. When the new board
came in, some people were very sceptical but most
of us who invested our life savings in the industry
only had big hopes that professionals would now run
our marketing. It worked out better than anyone had
hoped, we only just missed the 2008 figures which
were a record and instead of losing 20 percent as
everyone had feared. Now everyone is behind STB
because they have shown they saved tourism in the
islands. Yes our revenues are still down but that
is the price we pay for the worldwide recession, at
least the visitors kept coming here and tariffs
will catch up again soon.' So well done to the entire STB marketing team
and the of course the man at the helm, adds this
correspondent. VICTORIA HOSPITAL HAS DE-COMPRESSION CHAMBER While researching tourism related matters during
a recent visit to the islands it was also confirmed
by staff at the main Victoria hospital, that they
indeed have a decompression chamber available on
the premises. This correspondent, arriving without
a yellow fever certificate, was compelled to appear
at the hospital for a health check up, which
incidentally was done swiftly and professionally,
ending in a form / receipt being issued permitting
health authorities at the airport to make sure I
actually did go, but also provided the opportunity
to check out some related issues on medical
facilities. Many tourists are concerned about falling ill on
distant island locations during their vacation, but
the facilities at the Seychelles main hospital were
found adequate to deal with most urgent cases,
rather than having to resort instantly to air
ambulance evacuations. In the specific case of divers ascending too
fast, a fully equipped decompression centre is
operational at the main hospital, and can be a life
saver for someone affected by the side effects of a
bodged dive. This is good news of course as this
information is not otherwise easily available.
Happy diving into the rich underwater marine parks
around the islands, where nearly 50 percent of the
ocean area is now protected by law as national
parks and reserves. WE HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THE EXCHANGE RATES Three individual hoteliers and hotel managers
raised their concern with this correspondent during
a recent visit to the Seychelles, when discussing
investments and capital expenditure to keep their
hotels in top shape. It appears, that last year the
Seychelles Rupee had been devalued to the tune of
around 1 US Dollar equalling 16 SR's, but meanwhile
this has been clawed back to a 1 : 11 ratio. The
devaluation was seen as a major bonus for tourist
visitors, as locally paid extras were suddenly more
affordable in terms of their own home currencies
and therefore an added incentive to holiday in the
Seychelles. The 'appreciation' trend, the three
independently claimed, had a major impact on their
ability to channel earnings back into product
development, refurbishments and upgrades, as every
US Dollar they earn now translates into
substantially less in terms of local currency being
credited on their accounts, compared to a year ago.
Hence, some of the hoteliers met are advocating to
return the Seychelles Rupee back to the lower
transaction rates of last year to not only add
value for tourist visitors but also boost their
bank balances in Rupee terms. Mmmmh..., after all a
lower value for the Rupee also results in higher
importation cost, doesn't it? So, concludes this correspondent, the lower
value of the rupee, and greater 'value' of
converted hard currencies, will only benefit the
hotels vis a vis staff salaries, the cost of
utilities and locally sources services, right? SEYCHELLES GOVERNMENT REFUTES 'THE INDEPENDENT'
REPORT ON PIRACY 'PARADISE' The government of Seychelles, through the
Minister responsible, the Hon. Joel Morgan, has
categorically refuted allegations spread by the
'Independent' in the UK, subsequently widely
reproduced on the Internet, that the archipelago is
unsafe for visitors. The government's formal
response is reproduced further down in the interest
of fair reporting, but before that a few comments
in my own capacity. While in the Seychelles very recently, this
correspondent had the opportunity to discuss
security and related issues with competent
individuals, generally thought to be in the
knowledge what government does vis a vis the
protection of the archipelago's territory and
waters, the protection of tourism and fishing and
of course the protection of her own citizens. No one pretended that Somali piracy was NOT a
problem, everyone acknowledged that it was a matter
of concern, but also pointed out that the capacity
to deal with it had been substantially boosted in
2009, with better equipment and more men deployed,
on some islands as well as by the country's coast
guard. Security cooperation with the international
naval coalition was also described as 'an effective
added deterrent' since daily flight by conventional
reconnaissance aircraft by coalition partners based
at the Mahe International Airport as well as the
use of UAV's or unmanned aerial vehicles by and
American detach provided much needed intelligence
about the approach routes of Somali ocean
terrorists and gave early detection of their
intention to enter the 200 nautical miles economic
exclusion zone declared by the Seychelles a while
ago. There was consensus in the discussions that as a
next step the mandate and rules of engagement may
need reviewing, so as to create a more effective
deterrent, and that the UAV's may eventually need
to be armed to be living up to their full
potential. There was also agreement that with the
strengthening of the legislative regime in the
Seychelles successful prosecution of those ocean
terrorists caught can be achieved, and it is
understood that special capacity in the main prison
on Mahe Island had already been increased with the
generous support of friendly nations. It was also
learned that further training of Seychellois
security was ongoing and that added naval assets
would join the coast guard in 2010, to more
effectively control the shipping corridors in and
out of the main seaport in Mahe and patrol the more
outlying islands some of which are hundreds of
miles away from Mahe. It is obvious that the article by the
Independent was sensational, that is what obviously
sells newspapers, but did not portray a fair
picture of what is going on in Seychelles. That
also not being the first time ulterior motives
cannot be entirely ruled out ... Ministerial Statement: "Your article &endash;
'How the Seychelles became a pirates' paradise'
&endash; falsely suggests to the reader that the
Seychelles islands are an unsafe destination where
visitors should 'fear' coming face to face with
pirates on one of the islands' beaches. "I must clarify that the Seychelles islands are
safe. "Tourists on the islands of Seychelles are
not under direct threat of being attacked by
pirates and should not be anxious of what you call
'the big fear' that pirates will 'launch a raid on
one of the islands' beaches' or 'nightmare
scenarios' of pirates 'waving guns at free-spending
tourists' on Seychelles' beaches. "This is an unjustified and unrealistic picture
of the current situation. "The Seychelles islands possess a vast exclusive
economic zone of 1.3 million square kilometres of
ocean, roughly the size of western Europe. "We have appreciated the strong support from all
our international partners who have sought to
assist us with patrolling and surveillance of the
zone. "2009 was a year of increased piracy activity
off the Somali basin, and pirate incursions in our
EEZ increased. As you noted, this has severely
affected the niche tourism sector of leisure
yachting and the large-scale tuna fisheries
operations, and consequently our economy. "However the impact on sea-based activity and
land-based activity should not be confused.
Seychelles has been directly affected by piracy on
the high seas, as boats passing through the
economic zone were targeted. However, Seychelles'
tourism arrivals experienced only a 1.4% drop from
the previous year, unheard of elsewhere in the
region particularly during a year when the global
recession impacted worldwide travel. "This is proof that, overall, Seychelles'
tourism industry was not directly affected by
piracy because the tourists are safe. "However, tourism at sea in certain areas is
still a risk. The Seychelles government has issued
warnings to leisure yachts wishing to sail beyond
the inner islands, as it is not possible to
guarantee their safety on an individual basis on
the high seas. "While Seychelles and its international
partners, such as the European Union's naval force,
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, India and
the US, continue to refine strategies to combat
piracy in certain areas of our vast EEZ, both in
terms of the surveillance and interception of
suspected pirate craft, it is a case of 'business
as usual' for all yachting and boat traffic among
our inner islands. "Seychelles prides itself on being at the
forefront of the fight against piracy, as we
actively promote our islands as an anti-piracy hub
for international forces. We have had a 50%
increase in the number of warships entering our
port in the last year, and have increased
surveillance programmes from our islands. For this
reason our islands remain safe and are not, as you
nonchalantly claim, a 'pirates' paradise'." EXECUTIVE TALK eTN's Executive Talk recently had the
opportunity to catch up with the Vice President
Development for the Middle East and Africa of the
Intercontinental Hotel Group Mr. Phil Kasselis and
with Mr. Karl Hala, Director of Operations for
Africa, during a brief visit to Kampala. Owing to
the short timeframe only a few questions could be
asked which are reflected here below: Mr. Phil Kasselis, Vice President Development
for the Middle East and Africa of the
Intercontinental Hotel Group, based in Dubai,
during a recent brief visit to Kampala. and Mr. Karl Hala, Director of Operations for
Africa for the Intercontinental Hotel Group, based
in Nairobi. eTN Q1: How many managed properties does
Intercontinental presently have in Africa and more
specifically in Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean
region? Mr. Phil Kasselis: Our current portfolio in
Africa stands at 18 hotels with about 3.600 rooms,
comprising 5 Intercontinentals, 2 Crowne Plazas, 7
Holiday Inns and 4 Holiday Inn Expresses. This
covers our market from the top scale to the mid
scale and includes a resort hotel on Mauritius,
incidentally the first in Africa for us. We are of
course constantly looking for opportunities like in
Seychelles, or on Zanzibar. Generally our hotels
are however located in the capital cities or
commercial centres. eTN Q2: It was learned recently that IHG intends
to double their Africa portfolio in the near and
medium term. Will there be resorts and maybe even
safari properties included in this development? Mr. Phil Kasselis: You are right, Africa is a
key area of expansion for us, hence the reason for
the current fact finding visits. Some time ago we
carried out a strategic analysis of Africa in
regard of our markets, and we found that in a
number of key cities IHG was not present, or we had
been there in the past and should consider re-entry
into those markets. Africa has changed in recent
years, often driven by a boom in resources and
commodities, and we have now determined where we
want to be on the continent. The challenges are to
understand the countries, understand the
markets. eTN Q3: What determines your choice of a
location, is it the business market, the leisure
market or a combination of both. Mr. Phil Kasselis: When we are looking at new
locations a crucial factor is political stability.
As a globally operating hotel group it is of utmost
importance for us that our guests, and our staff,
are safe. When we go into a country it is never for
the short term, our average management agreements
are between 15 to 20 years in length, so the
ability to do business there for the long term is
important. Other factors are the location, the
right business partners, and it is key to
understand the cultural differences from country to
country. When we enter a new country it is normally
with our 5 star Intercontinental brand, to give our
customers what they expect of us, a large property,
often with a convention centre, multiple
restaurants, with all the required infrastructure
to guarantee safe operations for guests and staff.
Owing to the varying construction cost seen across
the continent, it may not be feasible to build a 5
star hotel in a location because the cost may be
prohibitive, so these are all factors taken into
consideration. This is more important in today's
financial environment when procuring equity for
some locations may be difficult. In some countries,
where average room rates are relatively low, we
would consider using our other brands, like Holiday
Inn, which is also a full service operation but
towards the mid scale, while our Crowne Plaza brand
is another option in the 'entry level' upscale,
between 4 to 5 stars. The new Crowne Plaza in
Nairobi for instance is modern, contemporary hotel,
located in an emerging business hub outside the
CBD, and it is an example for a good upscale
business hotel complementing our Intercontinental
operation in the city. eTN Q4: About the Crowne Plaza, was that hotel
not due to open late last year? What caused the
apparent delay? Mr. Phil Kasselis: We had some construction
delays, and also suffered some storm damage during
a heavy storm a couple of months ago. Procurement
of construction materials for projects in Africa,
and the Middle East, is often difficult. In this
case we worked with the owners to manage this
difficult phase and focus on the opening now due
shortly. eTN Q5: What brought you and Karl to Kampala for
this, albeit very brief visit, is there something
happening here and will we see an Intercontinental
brand come up in the city? Mr. Phil Kasselis: Africa is a key area in our expansion drive and
of course, I cannot judge opportunities from my
office in Dubai, I must and do travel across my
area of responsibility to assess new openings, new
opportunities. Uganda is part of this strategy as
we are looking at spreading our brand in East
Africa, so yes, we are looking at Rwanda, Uganda
and other countries to establish what we could
bring to those markets and what these markets can
bring to us. Right now we do not have any
announcements to make, it is too early for that,
but we are keeping a keen eye on this geographical
area. eTN Q6: Intercontinental is the world's biggest
hotel operator, isn't it? Mr. Phil Kasselis: This is correct, we have over
half a million rooms in our different brand
portfolios, over 3.600 hotels around the world, and
we are the biggest 5 star luxury brand with over
150 Intercontinental Hotels around the world. eTN Q7: So where do you want to go from here,
being on top that is? Mr. Phil Kasselis: What is really critical for
us is to have the right hotel in the right
location, so the actual number of hotels or rooms
is not an absolute in itself. Especially here in
Africa it is important for us to know our owners
with whom we do business long term. Our 'heritage'
in Africa has strong roots for many decades now, in
some of the key capitals of key countries. My role
is to re-focus on Africa, which we have done over
the past 5 years, and where for instance countries
like Nigeria or Angola have suddenly emerged with
added demand for 5 star hotels. eTN Q8: Which is your biggest growth area
geographically, Africa, Asia, the Middle East,
Europe, the Americas? Mr. Phil Kasselis: Our biggest presence is still
in the US, but emerging markets like China have
driven expansion in recent years, as has the Middle
East and Africa. In China for instance we already
have about 100 hotels operating right now, with
more in the 'pipeline', making us the biggest
international hotel operator in that country. The
Middle East and Africa too are considered growth
areas and we are of course pursuing opportunities
to spread the brands. eTN Q9: Will you follow the lead by some other
global brands like Fairmont or Kempinski into the
resort and safari property market? Mr. Phil Kasselis: Not really, it is not our intention to branch
out into resorts or safari properties, our main
focus remains our existing brands. There are
already many challenges in doing business for us in
Africa, and we rather focus to have key hotels in
key locations across the continent. Safari lodges
and resorts would more than likely divert our
attention away from our core business, where we
concentrate on our clientele from the business and
corporate world, governmental, airline crews, and
leisure travellers. From the branding perspective
it would of course provide a big 'halo' effect but
from a purely business perspective it does make
more sense for us to stick to our main
strategy. eTN Q10: You used to have a property in Mombasa,
right at the beach, some time ago? Any chance for
you to go back there once more? Mr. Phil Kasselis: To establish resorts in
places like Mombasa or Zanzibar would largely
depend on the room rate potential, but You are
right, we were in Mombasa some time ago and if an
opportunity would come along we would look at it.
It may not have to be an Intercontinental, we could
opt for a Holiday Inn or a Crowne Plaza, and what
is also important is size, for a company like ours
it is hardly feasible to operate a hotel with 50,
60 or 80 rooms. We are offered to look at a lot of
such properties, some of them very fine resorts,
but in that range of 'keys' it really makes not
much sense for us. There has to be a cost benefit
for the owners and we would look at a certain
minimum number of rooms to achieve this for them.
One option here would be franchises, where the
owners manage the hotel and we provide the systems
for them, so it cannot and should not be ruled out
completely. eTN Q 11: What do you think sets you apart from
your main global competitors? Mr. Phil Kasselis: We at IHG have a lot of
'heritage', a long history going back a long way in
the hospitality business, and Intercontinental as a
brand is now over 50 years old. Go back to the Pan
Am days, when Intercontinental was owned by them,
and we developed Intercontinental Hotels wherever
Pan Am was flying to in those days. This gives us a
global perspective, having been the pioneer of a
global brand of luxury hotels. In Africa we have
our operations base in Nairobi, and we have been in
Africa for decades which gives us a lot of
experience and insight into the local markets in
the many countries we operate in. We understand
what it takes to operate in Africa, it is not just
to put a name on a building but to create and
maintain an infrastructure, train staff, retain
them, work with local administrations, and we
believe we have an edge over our competitors
here. eTN Q12: Where does Intercontinental Hotels
stand with social responsibilities as a corporate
citizen, can you give some examples what it is you
do for instance in Kenya? Mr. Karl Hala: Our major focus is on our
communities and our environment, wherever we (IHG)
work. Last year we turned our attention to the
'green image' when we dramatically reduced the
hotel's energy consumption through the introduction
of state of the art equipment, the total switch to
energy saving bulbs and by encouraging guests to
use electricity sparingly and switch off the room
lights altogether when they are out (adds this
correspondents that the fridges are not affected by
the use of the master switch as recently seen when
staying at the Intercontinental Hotel in Nairobi).
This is a global initiative, also unfolding in
Africa of course, and it underscores our corporate
philosophy and intent to give back to nature. Less
energy consumption is good, good for the economy in
general and good for the environment. In fact, the
Kenyan hotel fraternity has since embraced the
concept following our success, so this is good news
for us to have spearheaded this initiative. We also have a partnership with National
Geographic, and the message from that cooperation
is: 'giving back to communities'. This assists to
maintain cultural values, uplift and empower them,
be it in regard of environmental protection
measures, provision of clean drinking water or
other pressing concerns our neighbouring
communities have. Compliance with local laws and regulations too
is very important to us, and in fact we adhere to
the principle of using best international practise
and standards in what we do, and our own internal
environmental and safety standards unit is very
important in this regard. Added Phil Kasselis at that stage: We are a UK
based corporation, and our laws and regulations in
the UK are very stringent and although trading on a
global scale we are subject to UK laws and respect
and implement those wherever we are. Importantly,
all our staff understand this philosophy and
wherever you go and ask them they reflect our
corporate values in their answers. eTN Q13: Talking about staff, some hotels have
phenomenal staff turnovers, how about your own
approach to your staff and what is your turnover
like? Mr. Karl Hala: Our staff turnover is very
minimal, we have in Nairobi a very very good
relationship with our staff, also in other hotels I
am overseeing. Our staff are generally happy and
content, their morale is high and we have made this
happen because they have career prospects, get
opportunities to advance and our internal training
schemes give our staff all the tools and skills
they need to do not just their present work
effectively and in a motivated way but gives them
chances to grown with us. When you have happy staff
you have happy guests, it is very simple. Added Phil Kasselis: We encourage our staff to
stay within the IHG system and we give them the
constant training and incentives to doing so. Those
interested to join IHG can see at
www.ihgcareers.com what we have to offer and how we
train and look after their career developments, so
this is not just a job but a career choice for
life. In fact, much of the little staff 'turnover' we
see is actually a transfer of skills through
existing staff going to a newly opened hotel, which
is often going along with a promotion. Our
expansion in Africa for instance, Karl can use and
count on the staff they have trained across the
existing hotels when opening new places, we have
the infrastructure do doing that and many other
hotel groups find that a particular challenge
because they do not have these options when looking
at a new location, a new hotel. Generally the hotel
sector is one of high mobility and we are fortunate
that many of our key staff are remaining with us,
especially in Africa where this is so
important. eTN Q14: So by creating your 'own' management
cadres, you have a pool of very skilled and well
educated labour willing to migrate with you to new
locations? Mr. Karl Hala: That is exactly the case! eTN Q15: To what extent are you cooperating with
local hotel colleges and hotel schools and what is
your own training regime like, for job starters for
instance? Mr. Karl Hala: I was an examiner at the Kenya
Utalii College some time ago. Training for me, for
us, is on the very top of the agenda, has been and
will remain so, and our corporate training
programmes are a good example for our philosophy
here. Our internal programmes are run by
professionals in their fields of expertise, be it
on leadership skills, on sales, on any department
in the hotel; and our management training programme
is strongly focused again on leadership, building
on the foundations of earlier position specific
training. In addition we work of course closely with
training institutions, private and public, as the
vast majority of our staff originally comes from
such schools and colleges. I can single out Kenya
Utalii College and the Abuja School for Hospitality
training, to name just two. We work with them, and
their lecturers, to develop courses and course
content, which benefits us and them, because they
can train people who can then seamlessly start to
work in a hotel. Once someone starts with us, there
are then options to switch for instance from the
rooms division to front office for instance, and
one can rise through the ranks and become a General
Manager, so all opportunities exist and those
willing to take advantage can do so. Each hotel has its own training department, and
so has the group of course overall. In fact IHG has its own academies now to train
staff where they attain certificates and diplomas
which are of course recognised not just by us but
even other hotel operators, they know the quality
we produce there. Added Mr. Phil Kasselis: right, we have an
academy for instance in Cairo, developed by one of
our owners and run by us, where we train staff on
entry level requirements, working then as room
stewards, waiters, cooks etc. and also offering
advanced training for those seeking higher
qualifications of course. We also have a similar
academy in China where it is crucial for us to
train staff to the standards we think necessary to
start working in our hotels and we are presently
looking to establish similar academies in Saudi
Arabia, because in the Gulf there is now an
affirmative action policy in place to absorb
nationals into the workforce, right across the
Gulf, so we need to be proactive and provide the
facilities to train young people. Mind you, it is
the 95 percent of our hotel's workforce we are
talking about here and that is where the challenges
are, to have them on top of their game. As an example, opening a hotel in Nigeria, where
there is literally no trained pool of labour
available, when you open a hotel and need to employ
say 600 staff, you almost have to train them
yourself because it exceeds the capacity of local
hotel schools! When you open an Intercontinental
Hotel anywhere in Africa, and your guests pay
upwards of say 300 US Dollars a night, they expect
nothing short than perfection and the same
standards they get anywhere else in our hotels, and
it does not work to make excuses, that you have
just opened, or because this is a difficult place
to find trained staff, our clients do not care for
excuses, the know when they enter our front door
they are receiving Intercontinental standards and
service, those are the challenges we have learned
to overcome, maybe better than many other hotels
because of our long relationship with Africa and
our heritage in hotel operations here. Added Mr. Karl Hala: you see, we started to
listen to our staff, to be sure when we open a
hotel we are ready, the staff are ready, and we got
a lot of information from our staff's observations
and recommendations, suggestions made, to improve
our services, to be able to open a new hotel when
everything is ready for that moment. This has also
led to a constant process of evaluations, not just
once a year almost as a formality, but here with us
this has taken root because we learned the benefits
from it, to be always aware and on top of
things. Added Mr. Phil Kasselis: most big global
companies have 'diagnostic' tools to assess certain
issues, performance, etc, and with us it is of
course not just the bottom line, profit and loss
etc but also very specifically the human resource
reviews; call it 360 reviews or staff engagement
surveys, our staff can through web access in total
anonymity post their own experiences, their own
assessments and their own reviews of processes, so
we always have a valuable tool to recognise a
potential problem area in a hotel and can react in
time to make changes where necessary. So we went
beyond just guest surveys and added staff surveys
to the menu available to our management to gauge
performances. eTN: Thank you gentlemen for your time and all
the best in your expansion drive for Africa and in
particular Eastern Africa, where we could do with a
few more Intercontinental Hotels, Crowne Plazas or
Holiday Inns. And in closing this week once again some travel
and tourism reports taken from Gill Staden's 'The
Livingstone Weekly' &endash; thanks Gill! A visit to the Nata Lodge Nata Lodge burned down a couple of years ago. It
was a sad loss to many travellers through Nata
because it has always been a favourite stopover.
Now, though, it has been rebuilt and is as popular
as ever. I stayed at the campsite the other week with a
friend and, although the ablution block was first
class, the actual grounds left quite a bit to be
desired. There were no barbeque sites, little shade
and extremely sandy. I can only assume that the
campsite is on the 'list of things to do'. I hope
so. Our reason for staying at Nata Lodge was to go
onto Sua Pan in the afternoon and to see the
birdlife at Nata Bird Sanctuary. We duly joined
about ten other guests on two safari vehicles to
take a tour of the pan. The bird sanctuary entrance
is about 10 km south of Nata Lodge on the
Francistown Road. We entered, the guides paying the
necessary dues &endash; this is a community
project. And then we drove onto the pan. Sua Pan is ideal at this time of year, the
rains, because it is the breeding ground for
pelicans and flamingoes. Unfortunately the rains
had not been kind to Botswana this year and the
pans had much less water than in previous years.
The pelicans had gone elsewhere to breed because
there was insufficient fish in the pan to feed on.
The flamingoes were there, though. Up to half a
million of them, we were told. The pans can be dangerous at this time of year
and it takes an experienced driver/guide to take
clients onto the pan safely. Many vehicles have
been known to get stuck in the mud on the pans,
hence the wise advice is to go with an experienced
company who can look after you. We travelled through some small puddles at
first, followed by some rather large ones,
splashing through with no problem. On the way we
met with a herd of wildebeest, some springbok and
three jackals. One of the jackals was most obliging
by standing next to the vehicle while we took some
photos. The birds on the pan were waterbirds
&endash; waders, swimmers and floaters. Some
spoonbills were a special treat as they scooped
around in the water finding morsels to eat. And then we came onto the pan proper. The
flamingoes could be seen as a sea of pink in the
far distance. The guides drove us onto the pan as
far as he could go and we had to stop there,
looking through binoculars. I suppose it was
disappointing not to get close to such an amazing
spectacle but that is the way it goes. We had no
choice. After enjoying a sundowner on the pan we drove
back to the lodge. I am so glad that I went to see.
Something to talk about on many an evening stuck at
home in town. EOP Ele's play with Wild Bull's!! News update from the Elephant Orphanage
Project To Rescue, Rehabilitate and Release orphaned
elephants back into the wild Just the other day the EOP ele's made their
first fully interactive encounter with two wild
Kafue bull elephants. During an afternoon walk the
ele's were grazing in an open plain, 2km from the
elephant boma. Their Keepers, who sat watching them
150m away, noticed two big bulls (approx 20-25
years old) heading towards the little orphans from
a nearby thicket. On seeing the bulls Chodoba
lifted his trunk and approached one of them, and as
it came up to him he began touching the bull with
the tip of his trunk! The bull was content to let
Chodoba study him while he himself started to
graze, Chodoba by his side. The other bull continued forward to where
Chamilandu was grazing with the younger ele's. To
the amazement of the Keepers this bull started
touching the babies (Tafika and Batoka) with his
trunk and they reciprocated, showing no fear as the
bull towered over them! For nearly 1 hour the
little ele's played and grazed contently in the
company of these local giants, as if this meeting
happened every day. The ele's it seems are still
controlled by their bellies and routine, and as the
time came for them to return to the boma (just
before dark) Chodoba knew to take the lead. With a
few calls of encouragement all the ele's happily
followed their Keepers back for milk and pellets,
leaving the wild bulls heading off into the Ngoma
Forest as the sun began to set. This incredible encounter demonstrates the
caring and affectionate nature of these gentle
giants and reinforces our beliefs that the little
orphans will one day be accepted by the local Kafue
elephants, to give them a second chance for a life
back in the wild. |
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