No 503 Wildlife Trade News: 31st August 2015

Another dose of bad news about poaching, wildlife and environmental crimes … in the spotlight today …………………… What is the difference between these two headlines? Wildlife crisis. CITES calls emergency talks. The one above should be true, but it is not. see below: If the whole of the EU can, and does, respond to a […]

Ol Pejeta August 2015 – Your Wildlife and Community News

News from Kenya’s most complete wilderness experience conservancy … Ol Pejeta view online | send to a friend | visit Ol Pejeta | book online August 2015 Dear Friend of Ol Pejeta: #GoodBoyDiego – an Anti-poaching Dog: a Rhino’s Best Friend Meet Diego, one of Ol Pejeta’s anti-poaching dogs. He is a dog with a […]

ATA extends early bird registration fees for Nairobi congress by two weeks

ATA Kenya Congress Early Bird Rates Extended to September 15th View this email in your browser EARLY BIRD RATES EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 15TH FOR ATA’S 40TH ANNUAL WORLD CONGRESS IN KENYA Early Bird Rates have been extended to September 15th for ATA’s 40th Annual World Congress in Nairobi, Kenya! Early bird registration is $400/person for […]

Etihad’s new home terminal construction advances ahead of schedule

ABU DHABI’S NEW MIDFIELD TERMINAL ADVANCES AHEAD OF SCHEDULE (Posted 31st August 2015) Etihad Airways’ exclusive new home terminal, also due to be used by all Etihad partner airlines like Air Seychelles, Air Berlin and Jet Airways, among others, is reportedly making good building progress and will according to reliable information received be more than […]

Kenya’s new e-Visa regime – not entirely watertight as yet

KENYA’S GRACE PERIOD FOR VISA ON ARRIVAL EXPIRES AT MIDNIGHT (Posted 31st August 2015) At the stroke of midnight, when the date switches to 01st of September, will the grace period expire for Visa on arrival for visitors to Kenya. Anyone arriving afterwards is now expected to have applied for an e-Visa as prescribed by […]

EWASO Lion News

CLICK HERE TO DONATE August 2015 Special Lion Kids Camp Reunion This month we held a very special edition of our Lion Kids Camp. We brought together 122 Kenyan children who had all previously participated in a Lion Kids Camp. Everyone was so excited to see each other and reunite for four days of conservation […]

Kenya Airways choses UK based aircraft broker to sell surplus B777-200’s

GOING – GOING BUT NOT YET GONE AS KENYA AIRWAYS SEEKS TO SELL B777-200’S (Posted 30th August 2015) Kenya Airways has put things in motion last week to sell off four Boeing B777-200’s, which were acquired from the manufacturer new between 2004 and 2007, making the planes between eleven and eight years old. Parked outside […]

Safety first as Reunion protects its beaches from sharks

REUNION – A BLUE RIBBON ISLAND (Posted 30th August 2015) Reunion, the French Indian Ocean island located East of Madagascar, has in recent years established itself as a premier adventure holiday destination, offering way beyond just ordinary beach vacations but also a large variety of active adventure activities, both land and ocean based. For locals […]

Rwanda’s Conservation Awards – who will the first ever three recipients be?

CONSERVATION IN ACTION AS RWANDA’S RDB LAUNCHES CONSERVATION AWARDS (Posted 30th August 2015) The 11th edition of Kwita Izina, Rwanda’s erstwhile gorilla naming ceremony now turned into a week-long festival of conservation, will commence tomorrow, Monday 31st of August. This year will 24 newborn gorilla babies be named during the finale of the festival in […]

This African airline has come a long way and is spreading its wings even further

COUNTDOWN STARTS IN EARNEST FOR RWANDAIR TO MOVE FROM A CONTINENTAL TO AN INTERCONTINENTAL AIRLINE (Posted 30th August 2015) When Airbus and RwandAir hold their media briefing at the Kigali Serena Hotel on the 09th of September, will the countdown to the delivery of two Airbus A330’s begin in earnest. The two companies will make […]

Creation of a new national park confirms Rwanda’s conservation leadership in East Africa

GISHWATI – MUKURA NATIONAL PARK GETTING READY FOR VISITORS (Posted 30th August 2015) Preparations are ongoing in Rwanda to get the country’s fourth national park, Gishwati – Mukura, ready for tourist visitors, including the completion of key infrastructure elements. While not as spectacular as the Nyungwe Forest National Park does Gishwati – Mukura nevertheless offer […]

No 501 Wildlife Trade News: 29th August 2015

More bad news … and a message from the author for regular readers, not to be missed. Please note: This daily newsletter has evolved from an intended single species, niche target audience news report to a small number of people, into what has become a more general wildlife news report. It is now disseminated to […]

Lillian Gaitho’s weekend topic talks about tricks …

Tricks means someone is being tricked … Lillian has a look this weekend what that can mean for your travel arrangements … Cheap Holiday Tricks for your Next Vacation Whatever your tour operator or agent tells you, treat it as sales pitch! It’s utter brinkmanship as we all know; the end result is to nail […]

YouTube comedy shot on Reunion proves to be a hit in France

TWO MONTHS DOWN THE LINE AND OVER A MILLION YOUTUBE VIEWS FOR REUNION PRODUCED COMEDY (Posted 29th August 2015) It took not even two months to reach the million view mark on YouTube following the release of the comedy produced by ‘The Golden Moustache’ on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion. The main characters, […]

Raising flights from four to daily is just a matter of time.

AIR SEYCHELLES BANKS ON INDIA TRAFFIC FOR GROWTH (Posted 29th August 2015) Air Seychelles, now flying four times a week between Mahe and Mumbai, appears keen to turn the route into a key platform for future growth. Cooperation with Jet Airways, also an Etihad partner airline, is at the centre of this strategy which gives […]

Uganda safaris made easier through new road projects

NEW ROAD DEAL SET TO OPEN UP UGANDA’S ALBERTINE TOURISM ATTRACTIONS (Posted 29th August 2015) A financing deal worth at least 145 million US Dollars was signed between Uganda and the World Bank during the week, aimed to improve the road network in and around the Albertine Graben. Access to Lake Albert, in particular the […]

South Sudan tourism update

Bahr el Jebel Safaris, which remains South Sudan’s only licenced safari operator at this stage, will reopen their office in Juba next month and is planning to commence expedition style safaris from January next year. This follows the signing of the IGAD Peace Agreement which was finally signed earlier this week by the regime in […]

News from Serena Hotels

Golf in Uganda has seen a game changing development as the Lake Victoria Serena Resort has soft opened its own lakeside golf course recently – a full review is coming up in mid September when I have returned from Rwanda. The first 9 of eventually 18 holes are now open for play and the resort, […]

Harshest sentence yet by a Kenyan court for blood ivory offenses

100 MILLION KENYA SHILLINGS FINES OR LIFE IMPRISONMENT – KENYAN COURT GETS TOUGH ON POACHING (Posted 28th April 2015) A magistrate’s court in Narok, a town seen as the springboard to the Masai Mara Game Reserve and the a string of conservancies around it, has handed down the toughest sentence yet on two Kenyan men […]

Kenya Airways turns up the heat on potential blood ivory smugglers

KENYA AIRWAYS LAUNCHES ‘WILDLIFE FRIENDLY SKIES’ INITIATIVE (Posted 28th August 2015) Kenya Airways, IATA, the Kenya Wildlife Service and conservation NGO Freeland have joined forces to prevent the illegal shipment of blood ivory and other illicit wildlife products from being loaded on one of their flights, either as cargo or concealed in passenger baggage. The […]

Big Reunion team plans to be in Paris next month for Top Resa

REUNION’S TOURISM SECTOR GEARS UP FOR TOP RESA (Posted 28th August 2015) Over 90 participants from Reunion’s tourism private sector and IRT, Ile de la Reunion Tourisme, are expected to head to Paris in a month to attend France’s largest tourism trade show, Top Resa. Reunion will exhibit alongside fellow Indian Ocean Vanilla Island members […]

Air Seychelles joins STB for tourism promotion in India

SEYCHELLES TOURISM PROMOTES ISLAND HOLIDAYS AS PRESIDENT MICHEL VISITS INDIA (Posted 28th August 2015) President James Alix Michel’s State Visit to India provided the ideal springboard for Seychelles Tourism and private sector stakeholders to also head to the subcontinent to promote honeymoons and regular island holidays. Air Seychelles, now flying four times a week from […]

Undying traditions? Read on what Lillian Gaitho is talking about …

TGIF is almost upon us again and with the weekend looming large has Lillian put pen to paper, or rather in modern day terms put fingers on the keyboard to share her thoughts on Kenya traditions. Undying Traditions in Various Kenyan Cultures Image credits: fotolibra.com Kenya can be said to have one of the most […]

Six weeks to go to a key airport conference in Munich

Less than a month left to register for SMART Airports Conferences 2015 Forward to a friend View in your browser Less than a month left to register for SMART Airports Conferences 2015 BOOK NOW Hear from leading industry experts including: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER Organiser Click here if you are interested in becoming a sponsor […]

Kenya set to invest multi billions in added road infrastructure at the coast

NEW HIGHWAY DEVELOPMENT TO PUT AN END TO TRAFFIC JAMS IN AND OUT OF MOMBASA (Posted 27th August 2015) A new proposed six lane highway project, connecting the port city of Mombasa to the outskirts of the greater Mombasa metropolitan area in Mariakani – some 40 kilometres enroute the main highway to Nairobi – has […]

This Pan African low cost carrier is on the expansion drive

FASTJET’S SIXTH AIRBUS A319 DUE FOR DEPLOYMENT TO ZAMBIA (Posted 27th August 2015) After clearing all regulatory requirements for the issue of an air operator certificate, in short AOC, for their soon to be launched new operation in Zambia, has Fastjet yesterday put pen to paper to acquire their sixth such aircraft. The new bird […]

More seats to Kigali and Entebbe for heavy year end bookings

BRUSSELS AIRLINES ANNOUNCES EXTRA ENTEBBE FLIGHTS OVER FESTIVE SEASON (Posted 27th August 2015) Brussels Airlines has just announced two added Monday flights over the Festive Season 2015/16, both of them routing from Brussels via Kigali to Entebbe and then returning nonstop to Brussels. These two services are over and above the twice a week nonstop […]

Conservation news updates

The figures provided by the Conservation Action Trust about lion hunting in Africa put that continent to as much shame as does the elephant slaughter and the rhino poaching figures of recent years.Read on to get the latest news updates about conservation issues from around Africa. Hunters Bagged 10,000 Lions in Africa Since 2003, Trophy […]

The latest Rhino News

AUGUST 2015 This month we bring you rhino news and updates from Malaysia, Vietnam, Uganda and Southern Africa. Don’t forget – World Rhino Day is less than one month away! Find out how you can get involved in supporting the world’s five rhino species below. Wild Sumatran rhinos considered extinct in Malaysia A new paper […]

New Year’s surprise for Frankfurt passengers on Emirates

EMIRATES ANNOUNCES DOUBLE DAILY AIRBUS A380 FLIGHTS TO FRANKFURT COME NEW YEAR (Posted 26th August 2015) Travelers from Emirates’ East Africa destinations Entebbe, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, destined for Frankfurt, can from New Year’s Day 2016 look forward to both daily flights being operated on the award winning airline’s giant Airbus A380. The move […]