PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATIVE RESULTS IN NEW TOURISM DOCUMENTARY
(Posted 02nd August 2015)
(Picture courtesy of Isabel Courthier showing the paramotor over Queen Elizabeth National Park)
Several of Uganda’s key tourism stakeholders will now be able to showcase their properties from a very different perspective, now that the final edited version of the Paramotor Tour Uganda has been released. Tourism Minister Hon. Maria Mutagamba gave her explicit thanks to the producers of the new documentary, which refreshingly shows Uganda from a viewpoint rarely seen by tourists and yet telling the story of the Pearl of Africa, its main national parks and key attractions.
It was Jean Michel Hausman’s hope, when he came to Uganda a few years ago, to accomplish this task and fly across the country and with the help of many wellwishers did the project finally take off, literally as well as proverbially speaking. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paramotor-Tour-Uganda-2014/922563244429365
Brussels Airlines, which sponsored the fuel for the trip and being the first on record willing to support the mission, was soon joined by the likes of GeoLodges Africa, Marasa Africa, Lake Albert Safari Lodge, the Chameleon Lodge, Nalubale Rafting, the Lake Victoria Serena Resort & Spa, the Mihingo Lodge, the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, Amuka Safari Lodge and a number of other places. The Uganda Wildlife Authority played a key role when they granted a waiver for the production team vis a vis park entrance and filming fees, a move which allowed to set the dates for the three and a half weeks of flights over the country. All permits secured for the flights, after the Ugandan CAA had finally signed off on the project, did Jean Michel take to the skies, albeit at low level, starting to document an unusual and yet exciting journey across Uganda.
(Aerial view of a large herd of buffalos in Kidepo Valley National Park)
(Chameleon Hill Lodge on Lake Mutanda)
(Lands’ End – the Lake Albert Safari Lodge is built on the last piece of Ugandan soil as the lake waters separate the Pearl of Africa from the Congo)
(Mweya Safari Lodge in Queen Elizabeth National Park overlooking the Kazinga Channel)
The result is nothing short but stunning, and while Jean Michel is now preparing to leave Uganda as his tour of duty at the Belgian Embassy is drawing to an end, will the legacy he created for Uganda’s tourism industry live on.
He has already new plans though, among them the launch of a Paramotor Fest in Uganda to which pilots from around the world could come, not only to enjoy the magnificent scenery but also for competitive reasons as he intends to launch a championship type of event, all subject of course to regulatory approvals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVYgosXysBI
For Jean Michel it is Bon Voyage from us all here in Uganda, which includes not only the sponsors and collaborators in the Paramotor Tour of Uganda project but from the entire tourism fraternity. Tourism Uganda, besides the mainstream productions of DVD’s about the country now has an added option to showcase the Pearl of Africa with the close up and personal documentary of someone who came to Uganda as a stranger and is leaving as a friend.
