Conserve our cultural sites

As Uganda and the rest of the world marked the International Museums Day on Friday—a day closely linked to the preservation of cultural heritage, it emerged that encroachers are threatening one of this country’s revered archeological relics. People have taken to cultivating crops and quarrying on land belonging to Nyero Rock Paintings thus threatening the very existence of this tourist site.

The rock paintings, located in Kumi District- eastern Uganda, is an internationally recongised heritage site. It symbolises a unique history and is said to have been home to the early Iron Age inhabitants of Teso sub-region and bears imprints of the ancient people’s settlement. There are rock paintings on three caves with drawings representing various things, all of which are now being destroyed. It is unfortunate that the very people who should be preserving this rare site are instead carrying out detrimental activities that destroy it.

Though there have been efforts to save Nyero Rock Paintings in the past-- three years ago, Kumi District Council passed a resolution banning stone quarrying and cultivation at the surrounding of Nyero Rock Paintings-- it is clear, from the ongoing human activity at the site, that the authorities have failed to control the encroachers who are destroying a national treasure.

This story speaks a lot about our collective attitude as a nation towards our heritage and general lack of interest in local tourism, a sector that would, if promoted, give this country’s economy a huge boost. Even the Uganda Museum, the centre to showcase our cultural heritage, is under-funded and largely neglected.

In fact, plans are underway to demolish it (and move the exhibitions to another place) to give way for the construction of a multi-million dollar office block, a move conservationists are challenging.

How then do we ensure that our history does not disappear completely? As part of the Ug@50 series to mark 50 years of Independence, this newspaper is running, among other things, our cultural sites and historic places. These are not just stories to feel newspaper pages; we are profiling our history as part of a bigger effort to preserve these important sites.

We urge all Ugandans to play their part in preserving our heritage: Government, local leaders and every citizen. Destroying our heritage denies the future generation an opportunity to know this country’s unique heritage.

Murchison: Of gushing crystal waters and magnificent wildlife

The Murchison water falls are a sight to behold, as they make their way through the rocks. There are plans to renovate the place from where people can see the top of these falls. 

While the park has lost a little of its glow, all hope is not lost. As a matter of fact, it is still a gem and plans are in the works to make it one of Africa’s best again. It is partly land and partly water, which allows tourists to enjoy sceneries on and off shore in its locations both in Masindi District in western Uganda and in Amuru District in the North.

One of Murchison’s most beautiful points is its southern bank, where the water is wild and loud, creating a beautiful view as it gushes into nestled rocks into a sight of cloud-like water.

It offers a photographic moment as it splashes out from high up in the rocks and all the way down to the river’s bed which is more peaceful. One should get ready to become wet and be careful to protect the camera from the strong water drops bouncing out of the falls.

The falls
Standing at the metallic belvedere, you experience that childhood feeling of playing in the rain. This is the point that stretches from the all-green equatorial forest, along the northern Albertine Rift valley.

Simon Okurut, a guide and caretaker of the soon-to-be refurbished welcome point, says this Lake Victoria outlet sends around 300 cubic metres (300,000 litres) per second of water over the falls, squeezing into a ravine that is 10 metres wide and seven metres high, down to the serene waterbed as the Nile drains its energy.

Surrounding what has been described by some as the world’s most powerful water fall, are green plains of beautiful flora, which attracts several bird species.

It is no wonder that Winston Churchill described the land around the falls as “Kew Gardens and the Zoo on an unlimited scale”. He might have said these words over a century ago but their truth rings to this day.

The view from the top of the falls is the best anyone visiting will experience as you get to enjoy not just the sight but also the sound of the falls making their way down the gorge.

One of the park’s highlights are the boat trips to the bottom of Murchison fall.

Wildlife
But it is not just the waterfalls that make Murchison falls tick, there are the wild animals too. 
By the way you might want to learn that this park was once known as Kabalega, after the Omukama (king) of the Kingdom of Bunyoro- Omukama Chwa II Kabalega - who ruled during the 19th century and is famed for resisting British colonial rule.

The name Kabalega was former president, Idi Amin’s idea in the 1970s, although this was never legally promulgated. It was later renamed Murchison Falls National Park after Sir Samuel Baker “discovered” the falls and named them after Sir Roderick Murchison, president of the Royal Geographical Society at the time.

An early morning drive through the park is most ideal as you have the chance to see a variety of wild animals. Murchison is famous for big Nile crocodiles, a checklist of mammals that includes 80 species, with large ones like elephants, giraffes, buffalos, Jackson’s hartebeests, hippos, Ugandan Kobs, waterbucks, lions, and leopards as the main game attraction.

You will also get to enjoy forest walks that double as educational tours since tour guides are willing to share information about the park, the animals, birds and any vital information. The park, after all, is only part of the Murchison Falls Conservation Area (MFCA) which also comprises Bugungu and Karuma Falls Wildlife Reserves, translating into more scenery.

If you are to spend a night, there are different lodging facilities to choose from. One thing is for sure though; Murchison Falls National Park is one place that stamps the fact that motherland Uganda is truly gifted by nature.

By: Bruce Amp

Know Uganda: The glowing sunset of Bwindi

Inside Bwindi ImpenetrableForest, beauty manages to penetrate to the surface for the nature lover to enjoy. One such beauty is of the sun going to bed.

As a guest of Ruhija Gorilla Lodge, a classy offering in BwindiImpenetrable Forest National Park, I set out with my partner to this jewel of the jungle.

Perched on the eastern side of the park is this serene lodge with a green roofing overlooking the thick forest cover of Bwindi forest. Further beyond the forest is Queen Elizabeth National Park near Lake Edward. At this point you can even catch a glimpse of the hills of D.R Congo.

Nippy air
Here at Ruhija Lodge, the sun rises at midday. But that still would find you fully clothed. It can be extremely cold to as low as 12 degrees centigrade. What is more, on one ridge it can be shining and just across from it, rain heavily pouring while on another ridge, farmers are busy swinging their hoes into the air and sinking them deep into the fertile soils.

The name Bwindi means darkness. It can be extremely dark even during the day that you may not see far. It is dangerously chilly that you would not risk an asthmatic person for company.

From nowhere, you can be engulfed in a fog of clouds as they caress you with tiny misty drops and for the hairy skinned, you may be covered in a sheath of white flakes.

However, the lodge maintains a constant flow of hot beverages. And every meal is preceded with simmering onion, oregano or chicken soup; be it dinner or lunch. And if you have travelled alone, the lodge offers you at least two hot water bottles.

Breathtaking sunset
Dark and chilly as it may be, once it rains and the clouds are driven away, Bwindi has an excellent view of the sunset. The chalets/cabins at Ruhija Gorilla Lodge are built in such a way that you have a nice view of the sun setting over Buhoma and Lake Edward in Kanungu.

It was the most amazing gift for us. But you have to be careful, otherwise, you may miss it. In typical Kikiga, they call it akarenga bazaana, an orange glow of the sun with its rays lashing out at the dark forest of Bwindi.

This splendid glow allows you to take in the four-breasted hills of Muhabura, Mgahinga, Simbinyo and Virunga mountains, which lie lazily and invitingly beyond the Bwindi Forest. And this can all be taken in while seated at the balcony of the lodge’s restaurant or at the front area of your room. All the rooms overlook the forest cover of Bwindi.
Here, the sun’s setting glow will not last for more than 10 minutes. I call out to my friends whom I had travelled with to capture the glow but by the time they kick the blankets off their tired bodies, after a hectic gorilla trekking expedition, the glow of the sun is gone.

The glow is replaced with a crater-like scenery. Note that there are no crater lakes in view at this point of Ruhija. The clouds just form white lake-like features in between the valleys and for a moment you may mistake them for real lakes. And these come just moments before darkness, again, engulfs the hills and valleys of Bwindi.

Accommodation
Management knows how cold Bwindi can get. The toilet seats have a wooden covering. With that degree of coldness, you may not do yourself any justice to answer nature’s call on a very cold toilet seat.

The beddings are snow white but there is a shed of brown all around you because of the wooden walls. And the towels; yes, the towels are not thin as they are wont in most hotels in Uganda. You can also be sure; Ruhija Gorilla Lodge offers you warm water all the time.

The heating system is directly connected to the cooking area. As long as there is cooking going on, you will have hot water in your showers. And cooking goes on all the time. The rooms are highly recommended by the Tourism Minister, the amiable Prof Ephraim Kamuntu. He has spent a night here and this lodge also hosted the Inter Parliamentary Union delegates from Switzerland.

The park is popular for gorilla tracking and this is something you can indulge in. Other than that, you can do some bird watching. There are over 240 bird species in and around Bwindi, including the blue turaco that has been sighted in Ruhija.

Ruhija can be deathly quiet save for the whirling wind that blows from across the forest. Despite this, the haven that is the lodge is testament that while Bwindi is impenetrable, it is habitable.

 By: Bruce Amp

Facebook: Uganda’s largest disorganised, noisy ‘kafunda’

Facebook: Uganda’s largest disorganised, noisy ‘kafunda’

A look at the worldwide phenomenon called social media and questions about how long the world can continue to put up with oceans of trivia on the Internet.

Since about March 1985, I have read, on and off, Awake and the Watchtower, two publications by the Jehovah’s Witness, a Christian sect founded in the United States in the 1840s.

The Watchtower is, today, the largest-circulating magazine of any kind in the world, with over 30,000,000 copies printed in various language editions by the Witness’ Watchtower and Tract Society of Brooklyn, New York, in the United States.

Their religious doctrines aside, I have been struck for these 27 years by the quality of these two magazines. Every single edition is meticulously printed, trimmed, stitched, edited and written with virtually no single typographical error to be found.
I have not seen many magazines that are as well-produced as Watchtower and Awake.
The art work depicting Biblical characters is always well rendered and the photography is next to perfect in lighting and colour hue.

I mention these magazines up as a backdrop to my discussion on the Internet phenomenon of the last seven years known as “social media”, the websites with names such as MySpace, Twitter, LinedIn, Facebook, StumbleUpon and Google Plus that have attracted huge numbers of users and many of them are now worth billions of dollars. It was exciting at the beginning to feel the impact of these websites. One could accidentally discover long lost friends, neighbours and classmates.

Communication relief
People who had been frustrated for years about sending letters to editors of newspapers but these letters not being published, now had their own platform on which to air their views without hindrance.

Much of this new avenue for public expression was needed, but for a limited time only.
It is now becoming clear that social media as we know it has more or less run its course. At any rate, the novelty is, I sense, starting to wear off.

When I first opened an account on Twitter in March 2010 and Facebook a few weeks later, I had the hope of many people that these two platforms would give me access across international frontiers that many of us who grew up in Uganda’s years of scarcity know only too well.

I decided to concentrate on Twitter and left my Facebook account idle until last week. It was not long, however, before by around May 2010 I started realising, much to my disappointment, that Twitter was not what I had expected it to be.

The vast majority of Twitter users are content to write or comment on trivia and little else but trivia. Light, somewhat shallow comments, replete with grammatical and spelling errors and the most petty of topics dominate this micro-blogging platform.
The best content on Twitter is by far the articles and links to articles from, to and by the traditional, professional news media. Outside of traditional media, 99 per cent of Twitter’s content is, to put it simply, a waste of time.

Uganda’s largest “kafunda”
When I finally got my Facebook account going last week, the first thing that struck me and took me aback was the quality of photography on the website that users upload. From people’s personal profile to galleries of their other activities, it is incredible how poor the quality of photos on Facebook is.

From my estimate, 98.7 per cent of Ugandan Facebook users have no sense of the lighting, angle, framing, mood and resolution basic to good photography. Even the Ugandan Facebook users one would expect to be “exposed” from years of international travel, residency and education have the most amateurish photos on their pages.

Considering that for most people, the first place on the Internet that they are to be found after a search engine check is on their Facebook pages, I was struck by how little conscious most users are of the need for that first impression to be, at the very least, appealing.

Being a rather good photographer myself, and having got used to the editorial, artistic and photographic quality of the Watchtower, Awake and to some extent National Geographic magazine, I came from that point of view. I’m just not used to seeing so many poor quality photographs and such poor editing and published quality.

Of course, it was also not long before I realised from my experience that, just as with Twitter, the vast majority of the comments and feedback on Facebook is dominated by trivia, grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.

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TOURISM SECTOR EXPECTS INCREASE IN FUNDING

The amount allowance in tourism promotion in the 2012 /2013 budget will be a major illustration of commitment to a sector contributing more than 20% of the national Budget revenue analysts have said.

This is because at no time has the country been presented with a better opportunity to show its commitment to the sector than this year when several major international publications and organizations recognized Uganda’s natural abundance and tourism potential.

The most prime recognition was from “Lonely Planet”, the premier online tourism publication that declared Uganda as the best place to visit in 2012.

The national budget framework indicates that the 2012 / 2013 approved budget for the entire tourism, trade and industry will rise minimally by 0.1% from sh53.1b to sh65.1b.

But senior sauces are worried that the overall ministry increase will not trickle down to tourismpromotion which has been a major point of concern to key stakeholders and observers.

Cuthbert Baguma, the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), former boss the major promotional agency, said they (UTB) “may have no work within the constraints (budget).”

“It is not going to change (sh2b budget), there are no indications really. It sends us thinking hard,” said Baguma.

For several years now, sector players and observers have been baffled at the sheer lack of financial commitment since donor funding especially from the European Union into the sector dwindled close to a decade ago.

Already the 2012 /2013 national budget framework has pointed to infrastructure as a major priority area for the Government.

The Government has always argued that channeling funds into infrastructure projects like road network is one way to funding tourism. While this is true, evidence shows that a deliberate channeling of funds into promotional activities has a direct impact in attracting high spending travelers especially from Europe and the Americans.

This is the case with Kenya and Tanzania and lately Rwanda, which have all reaped from a deliberate decision to pump money at key markets where the top dollar is.

Tourism minister Ephraimu Kamuntu while announcing Uganda’s success at the 2012 ITB Berlin exhibition recently was non-committal, saying the Budget cycle was still on.

Already, first quarter indications are encountering according information from the tourism ministry, which shows that arrival figures are up.

Despite the low funding, tourism contributes 24% of the total National Budget revenue. In receives only 1% of the total national Budget that stands at over sh10 trillion.

In the 2011 / 2012 period, foreign exchange earnings from the sector shot up to $662m (sh1.6 trillion) up from the previous year’s $90m (sh229b).

Even the sh2b that has been allocated to the sector for the last two years, not all of it gets to UTB at the end of the financial year. Questions have also been raised about the capability and transparency of the promotion agency to handle the funds with integrity. There are reports that at some major exhibition, UTB officials embarrassment to the country.

 By: Bruce Amp