Uganda conservation news update – Mt. Elgon again the target for ‘resettlement land’
DOES ASSAULTING THE ENVIRONMENT CREATE POPULARITY AND POLITICAL CAPITAL Mount Elgon National Park, already constantly in the bad news over encroachment, illegal logging and poaching, killing of park rangers and the increasing danger of yet more major landslides, has been given another back stab recently, when of all people president Museveni appears to have directed […]
Aviation breaking news – Egypt Air ‘suspends’ flights to Juba
EGYPT AIR ‘SUSPENDS’ JUBA FLIGHTS Information was received overnight that Egypt Air’s service between Cairo via Khartoum to Juba, previously operated twice a week, has been suspended indefinitely. While talking of a ‘resumption of flights sometime in the future’ this has been dismissed as ‘hogwash’ by an aviation figure in Juba who added: ‘they have […]
Tanzania conservation news update – The great herds are stirring as migration to the North goes underway
THE MIGRATION COMMENCES – WILL IT BE ONE OF THE LAST? The great herds of wildebeest are stirring again after the calving season in the low grass plains between the Serengeti and Ngorongoro is coming to an end. The young wildebeest are now strong enough on their four feet to follow their mothers, as the age […]
Latest ‘Travel Africa Magazine’ hits the market
NEW TRAVEL AFRICA MAGAZINE ‘SPRING EDITION’ IS OUT A few days ago was the latest edition of the highly acclaimed ‘Travel Africa Magazine’ released and subscribers will be able to find one of Africa’s finest travel publications in their P.O. Box, or as is the case delivered by the post man. At the same time […]
Nairobi Tented Camp ‘makes waves’
NAIROBI TENTED CAMP TURNS VISITOR FAVOURITE The ‘cat is out of the bag’ finally and the ‘best kept secret’ it is no longer – the Nairobi Tented Camp, located inside the Nairobi National Park has made such an impact on the market that it has turned crowd favourite only months after commencing operations. TripAdvisor reviews are […]
Seychelles news update – Vigilance and surveillance of the Indian Ocean waters pays dividends
SEYCHELLES VIGILANCE PAYS DIVIDENDS The archipelago’s undeterred drive to safeguard the island country’s extensive national waters of the Indian Ocean paid more dividends earlier in the week, when more Somali pirates were nabbed red handed, trying to hijack a Seychellois fishing vessel. Aerial surveillance and coordination with the international naval coalition led to the capture […]
Rwanda conservation update – Gishwati forest encroachers to be evicted
FOREST ENCROACHERS TO BE EVICTED AGAIN A year after many illegal squatters were evicted from the Gishwati forest and resettled by the Rwanda government, have a number of them sneaked back into the protected area and resumed illegal logging and cultivations. The news broke yesterday prompting a reassurance by government that this trend would not be […]
Kenya conservation news – NEMA stops mangrove forest destruction
NEMA KENYA STEPS IN TO SAVE MANGROVE FOREST Developers of a planned top end residential estate along the shores of the Kilifi creek north of Mombasa were told in no uncertain terms that there will be NO development approved if it involves – as presently planned – to clear an extensive swathe of mangrove forest. […]
Tanzania conservation breaking news – Kikwete stirs fresh controversies when demanding ‘soda ash plant must be built’
KIKWETE’S MOTIVES FOR SERENGETI HIGHWAY BECOMING ALL BUT CLEAR President Kikwete was overnight reported to have demanded the fast tracking of a proposed soda ash extraction plant at Lake Natron, when visiting the Ministry of Industry and Trade. This confirms a long harboured and long suggested suspicion that the construction of the equally controversial highway […]
Conservation breaking news – Thai authorities confiscate over 2 tons of African ivory
THAI CUSTOMS SEIZE OVER 2 TONS OF BLOOD IVORY Information just in confirms that customs officials in Thailand confiscated over 2 tons of blood ivory, shipped to Thailand from Eastern Africa and concealed in boxes of mackerel. Intriguingly the raid took place on a river and not one of the main ports or airports, suggesting […]
Rwanda conservation news update – Gorillas on agenda of multilateral meeting in Kigali
MEETING ON GORILLAS HELD IN KIGALI The Rwandan capital Kigali hosted the latest round of consultative meetings aimed to improve gorilla conservation and the protection of their habitat across national borders. It was learned though from a participant in the meetings that apparently Uganda still had not ratified the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory […]
Aviation news update – Qatar Airways goes ‘100’ and celebrates with ‘special deals’
QATAR AIRWAYS CELEBRATES 100TH DESTINATION WITH ‘SPECIALS’ Information was received from Nairobi overnight that the addition of Aleppo in Syria has brought the number of destinations offered by Qatar Airways to overall 100, cause for a special celebration. Added flights by the airline into East Africa, i.e. Nairobi and Dar es Salaam but sadly not […]
Kenya conservation news update – The upside and downside of fencing elephants in
MORE FENCES PLANNED FOR LAIKIPIA ELEPHANTS It was learned, courtesy of Melissa Groo of Save the Elephant News, that another fence is being planned to keep elephant out of farms and ‘shambas’ and to protect the ever growing population around forests, parks, reserves and conservancies. The Marmanet forest has been targeted for this exercise but it was not […]
Tanzania conservation news update – More mixed signals from President Kikwete
STUNG BY CRITICISM KIKWETE NOW LAYS INTO TOURISM MINISTRY During the customary post election visit to all the government ministries, President Kikwete on Wednesday visited the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. According to reports the ministry was then promptly subjected to several broad sides by the president, as he accused them of not doing […]
SKAL Kampala elects new board, brings hope for better days ahead
SKAL KAMPALA GETS NEW ‘OLD’ PRESIDENT Ms. Kainembabazi Sabiti, in her professional life General Manager of Amadeus Uganda, was elected to another term of office as president of the Skal Club of Kampala yesterday evening, bringing an uneventful year to a close and giving renewed hope to the Skalleagues for better times ahead. Club vice president for the new […]
Seychelles news update – The MAIA takes Conde Nast honours again
THE MAIA GETS ANOTHER JEWEL IN THEIR CROWN Information was received during the week that Conde Nast has once again put this unique luxury resort in their ‘hot list’ for 2011, after already last year honouring them in 2010 as ‘best hotel for food’. Three renowned chefs are on call to create the most amazing […]
Regional economic news update – Inflation creeping towards double digits
INFLATION MOVING TOWARDS DOUBLE DIGIT TERRITORY The recent slide of the Uganda Shilling and subsequent rise in fuel prices and prices of imported goods in general, combined with lesser supplies of food to the main consumer markets due to drought effects, has driven inflation to a decade long high, as across the region the ‘magic […]
Conservation breaking news – Tanzanian president cancels UNESCO WHS application
TANZANIAN PRESIDENT CANCELS APPLICATION FOR ANOTHER UNESCO SITE True to his form of putting reckless exploitation before careful conservation has Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete reportedly cancelled an application filed by his own ministry of natural resources and tourism, to have the area comprising two more recently established forest national parks – Mkomazi and Udzungwa – recognized by […]
Conservation news update – Female gorilla dies after sustained attacks by two ‘suitors’
GORILLAS NOT IMMUNE TO SEXUAL VIOLENCE News have emerged that a female gorilla of the Nkuringo group has recently died, after her body was found a considerable distance away from the ‘normal’ habitat of the group. It was reported that she has been subject to ‘beatings’ and attacks by two male gorillas, vying for her […]
Aviation news update – Kenya Airways funds new dining hall for special needs school
KENYA AIRWAYS IN SUPPORT OF SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOL The Ikuu Special School in Eastern Kenya had a new dining hall constructed by the Pride of Africa recently as part of the airline’s annual social responsibility programme. The school, which educates special needs children, including many suffering of autism, for which purpose the facility was initially […]
Aviation news update – Air Uganda cuts Mombasa / Zanzibar flights during low season
AIR UGANDA’S MOMBASA / ZANZIBAR FLIGHTS TO BE ‘SEASONAL’ Information from Uganda’s quasi national airline indicates that the airline will be exploring new ways to maintain their route from Entebbe to Zanzibar via Mombasa. Effective 01st of May there will be NO FLIGHTS until the 30th June, before resuming again for the period of […]
South Sudan news update – Nile waters on agenda of Egypt / South Sudan meeting
INDEPENDENT SOUTH SUDAN TO RESPECT NILE WATER AGREEMENTS The soon to be independent South Sudan – expected to be on 09th July this year – has recently met with an Egyptian delegation seeking to establish ties with the Southern leadership. Key issue on the agenda was the River Nile and its waters, with the ‘White […]
Rwanda news update – 17th anniversary of genocide coming up
17TH GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION IN RWANDA The ‘land of a thousand hills’ will shortly remember the 1994 genocide, inflicted by murderous gangs of hardline militias and individuals on members of the Tutsi tribe and moderate Hutus seeking peaceful co-existence between the tribes. The genocide triggered the eventual fall of the hardline government and saw the militias […]
Tanzania news update – Drop in tourism rankings also due to ‘controversies’
TANZANIA TOURISM RANKING DROP ATTRIBUTED TO HIGHWAY/POACHING CONTROVERSY Several stakeholders in the tourism sector have, following a consultative meeting of the industry in Dar es Salaam in early March, spoken out on the issue. Some regular sources claimed that some of the reasons were being played down by officials, such as the impact of poaching […]
Pan African Movement supports Gadaffi ?!?
PAN AFRICAN MOVEMENT SULLIED BY ‘PRO GADAFFI DEMONSTRATION’ Earlier in the week did the Kampala based Pan African Movement call for demonstrations in Kampala, denouncing the UN sanctioned ‘No Fly Zone’ over Libya and the intervention by Western countries. Singing the predictable but misplaced tune of ‘colonialism’ the Pan African Movement lost much of its credibility […]
Conservation news update – Another UWA ranger killed in the line of duty
ANOTHER UWA RANGER KILLED The remote Kidepo National Park was the scene of the latest victim of poachers violence against rangers and warden, when over the weekend yet another UWA staff was shot dead. According to information at hand aerial surveillance had established an intrusion into the park, allegedly from across the border in Southern Sudan, by […]
Breaking news – LAICO owned Lake Victoria Hotel in Entebbe also ‘seized’
BREAKING NEWS – LAKE VICTORIA HOTEL ‘SEIZED’ TOO The Laico owned and operated Lake Victoria Hotel in Entebbe, once the grand old dame of the hospitality industry in Entebbe, was according to breaking news just received also seized yesterday late in the day, when the Libyan appointed managers were told to hand over to a […]
Uganda news update – Libya sanctions and asset freeze now extend to UTL
LIBYA SANCTIONS AND ASSET FREEZE NOW EXTENDS TO UTL Uganda Telecom, in which Libya holds 69 percent shares, was next on the list of the Ugandan government to ‘seize’ in line with the UN resolution on an asset freeze, when news emerged late yesterday that the shareholding and control by Libya over the communications company has […]
Seychelles news update – STB strategizes with partner islands
SEYCHELLES MEETS WITH OTHER ‘VANILLA ISLANDS’ TO MAP OUT COOPERATION The Seychelles Tourist Board, represented by CEO Alain St. Ange, Deputy CEO Elsia Grandcourt and the CEO of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association Jennifer Sinon, met their counterparts from the other Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and the Comoros in Madagascar’s capital of Antananarivo. […]
Weekly round up of news from Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region – Fifth edition March 2011
TOURISM, AVIATION AND CONSERVATION NEWS from the Eastern African and Indian Ocean region A weekly roundup of reports, travel stories and opinions by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome Get daily breaking news updates via Twitter @whthome or on my blog: www.wolfganghthome.wordpress.com Fifth edition March 2011 JAPAN’S GENEROSITY IN TIMES OF INTERNAL DISASTER AND HARDSHIP […]
