CHOBE AREA OF MURCHISONS FALLS NATIONAL PARK GETS EXPANDED TRACK NETWORK
Uganda Wildlife Authority have completed the construction of more tracks in the Chobe area of the park above the falls, giving added opportunities to see game and explore the forests nearer to the Chobe Safari Lodge.
One of the two sections is approximately 10 km’s of length and runs along the River Nile to the River Ayago on the route between Chobe and Paraa, while the second section of 6 km’s offers access to natural salt licks and forest glades, where the spotting of game is now much easier. Two added foot paths from designated car parking areas to the River Nile have also been opened to allow visitors to approach the river banks at spots on foot.
The lower part of the park has 10 days ago suffered some severe fire damage, thought to have been caused by lightning strikes igniting dry grass and undergrowth, not as a result of arson or other accidental fires but the next rainy season is likely to regenerate green growth fast.
Meanwhile was it also learned that UWA in conjunction with the Uganda Tourist Board, aka Tourism Uganda, are planning to commemorate the 50th anniversary of having Kidepo Valley National Park first declared a park soon after independence. Often described in the past by this correspondent as a ‘prime piece of African wilderness real estate’ CNN has more recently also included Kidepo in their own top three national parks in Africa as a result of the bio diversity and extraordinary scenery visitors experience when coming all the way into the North Eastern corner of Uganda where the borders meet those of neighbours Kenya and South Sudan.
Tree climbing lions share their territory with cheetahs, the only place in Uganda where those rare predators are found today, and large herds of buffalo and elephant are regularly observed alongside a growing population of the Rothschild giraffes, the breeding stock of which was late in the last century brought in from Kenya under a bilateral wildlife conservation project when numbers in Kidepo had dwindled to critical levels.
Watch this space to stay informed of the latest developments in Uganda’s national parks, game reserves, sanctuaries and conservancies.
