Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Uganda Cultures Today

UGANDA’S CULTURES TODAY 

 Uganda is one East Africa country that is greatly endowed by nature in terms of culture and history. While here, you will be surprised to see and take pictures of the most endangered group of people; the pygmies locally referred to as the Batwa in the rain forests of south western part of the country. These people have the most interesting behaviors and characters and you will love to spend time with them even a single second will leave a broad smile on your face. This group feeds on bush meat and fruits. This makes hunting and fruit gathering their main activities carried out to ensure their survival. It’s interesting to see and interact with a group of people that lives in forests and has to go hunting wild animals and collect fruits for food. This group of people is also talented when it comes to the local dances. They have  rich culture organized traditional dances that are done in their language, they are very hospitable to an extent that they even fight to appear on the picture scene; they indeed love to interact with visitors

 Uganda also has a diverse range of ethnic groups in addition to the pygmies / Batwa. These include the Baganda and several other tribes. In the north live the Lango and the Acholi, who speak Nilotic languages. To the east are the Iteso and Karamojong, who speak a Nilotic language. Lake Kyoga forms the northern boundary for the Bantu-speaking peoples, who dominate much of east, central and southern Africa. Lake Kyoga serves as a rough boundary between Bantu speakers in the south and Nilotic and Central Sudanic language speakers in the north. Despite the division between north and south in political affairs, this linguistic boundary actually runs roughly from northwest to southeast, near the course of the Nile. However, many Ugandans live among people who speak different languages, especially in rural areas. Some sources describe regional variation in terms of physical characteristics, clothing, bodily adornment, and mannerisms, but others claim that those differences are disappearing.

 Bantu speakers probably entered southern Uganda by the end of the first millennium. They had developed centralized kingdoms by the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and after independence from British rule in 1962, Bantu speakers constituted roughly two-thirds of the population. They are classified as either Eastern Lacustrine or Western Lacustrine Bantu. The Eastern Lacustrine Bantu speakers include the Baganda people whose language is Luganda, the Basoga, and many smaller societies in Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. The Western Lacustrine Bantu speakers include the Banyoro, the Batoro, the Banyankole, and several smaller populations in Uganda. 

Nilotic language speakers probably entered the area from the north beginning about C.E.1000. Thought to be the first cattle-herding people in the area, they also relied on crop cultivation. The largest Nilotic populations in Uganda are the Iteso and Karamojong ethnic groups, who speak Eastern Nilotic languages, and the Acholi, Langi, and Alur, who speak Western Nilotic languages. Central Sudanic languages, which arrived in Uganda from the north over a period of centuries, are spoken by the Lugbara, the Madi, and a few small groups in the northwestern part of the country. 

Linguistic Affiliation.Introduced by the British in the late nineteenth century, English was the language of colonial administration. After independence, it became the official language, used in government, commerce, and education. Official publications and most major newspapers appear in English, which often is spoken on radio and television. Most residents speak at least one African language. Swahili and Arabic also are widely spoken. History and Ethnic Relations. 

 After independence in 1962, ending a period of colonization that began in 1885, there was little indication that the country was headed for social and political upheaval. Instead, Uganda appeared to be a model of stability and progress. It had no white settler class attempting to monopolize the cash crop economy, and there was no legacy of conflict. It was the African producers who grew the cotton and coffee that brought a higher standard of living, financed education, and led to high expectations for the future. Independence arrived without a national struggle against the British, who devised a timetable for withdrawal before local groups had organized a nationalist movement. This near absence of nationalism among the country's ethnic groups led to a series of political compromises. National Identity.Ethnic and religious divisions as well as historical enmities and rivalries contributed to the country's disintegration in the 1970s. 

There was a wide gulf between Nilotic speakers in the north and Bantu speakers in the south and an economic division between pastoralists in the drier rangelands of the west and north, and agriculturists, in the better-watered highland and lakeside regions. There was also a historical division between the centralized and sometimes despotic rule of the ancient African kingdoms and the kinship-based politics elsewhere. The kingdoms were often at odds in regard to the control of land. During the colonial period, the south had railways, cash crops, a system of Christian mission education, and the seat of government, seemingly at the expense of other regions. 

There also were religious groups that had lost ground to rivals in the past, for example, the domination of Muslims at the end of the nineteenth century by Christians allied to British colonialism. All these divisions precluded the formation of a national culture. Ethnic Relations.After independence, there were conflicting local nationalism. The Baganda's large population, extensive territory in the favored south, and self-proclaimed superiority created a backlash among other Ugandan peoples. Nubians shared little sense of identification with other groups. The closely related peoples of nearby Zaire and the Sudan soon became embroiled in civil wars in the 1960s and 1970s, drawing in ethnically related Ugandans.

 Today relations are relatively harmonious. However, suspicion remains with the president believing to favor certain groups from the west of the country over others. Major Industries. When the present government seized power in 1986, industrial production was negligible, consisting mostly of the processing of crops and the production of textiles, wood and paper products, cement, and chemicals. Industry was a small part of GDP in the late 1980s, operating at approximately one-third of the level of the early 1970s. Under #Museveni, there has been some industrial rejuvenation, although this has amounted to not much more than the repair of damage done during the civil war to the industrial infrastructure. The sugar industry was rehabilitated through joint ventures involving the private sector and the government. By the 1990s there was a refining capacity of at least 140,000 tons of sugar annually. Other rehabilitated industries include beer brewing, tobacco, cotton, and cement. About 4 percent of adults worked in industry by the 1990s. During the 1990s, industrial growth was 13.2 percent. Tourism industry: #Tourism in #Uganda is focused on Uganda's landscape and wildlife Safaris. 


Shoe-bill stork

Mountain gorilla Sliverback


Murchison falls in Uganda

Map of Uganda



uganda tours

 

Uganda has a very diverse culture, landscape, flora, and fauna. In the late 1960s, Uganda had a prosperous tourist industry with 100,000 visitors each year. Tourism was the country's fourth largest earner of foreign exchange. The tourist industry ended in the early 1970s because of political instability. By the late 1980s, Uganda's political climate had stabilised and conditions were suitable for reinvestment in Uganda's #tourist industry. However, the loss of charismatic wildlife in previously popular safari parks such as Murchison Falls National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park prevented these parks from competing with similar tourist attractions in neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda's tourist industry instead promoted its tropical forests. The keystone of the new industry became Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. With more than 400 Mountain Gorillas safaris, #Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has approximately half of the world's population of Mountain Gorillas. Tourist attractions in Uganda Uganda is one of only three countries where it is possible to visit mountain gorillas . The others are Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mountain gorillas are Uganda's prime tourist attraction. The vast majority of these are in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, with a few others in Mgahinga National Park both in southwestern Uganda. In Bwindi, visitors have been allowed to view the mountain gorillas since April 1993. 

The development of gorilla safari  tourism and the habituation of gorillas to humans is proceeding very carefully because of the dangers to gorillas, such as contracting human diseases. Geography:The Republic of Uganda tours is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, in the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, which is also bordered by Kenya and Tanzania. Uganda is mostly a plateau, a compact country occupying an area of 236,580 square kilometers, roughly the size of Great Britain or the state of Oregon in the United States. It lies astride the #Equator and has a fine mild climate with copious rainfall that is experienced three times a year and sunny months. Although generally equatorial, the climate is not uniform as the altitude modifies the climate. Southern Uganda is wetter with rain generally spread throughout the year. 

At Entebbe on the northern shore of Lake Victoria, most rain falls from March to June and the November/December period. Further to the north a dry season gradually emerges; at Gulu about 120 km from the Sudanese border, November to February is much drier than the rest of the year. The northeastern Karamoja region has the driest climate and is prone to droughts in some years. Rwenzori in the southwest on the border with Congo (DRC) receives heavy rain all year round. The south of the country is heavily influenced by one of the world's biggest lakes, Lake Victoria, which contains many islands. It prevents temperatures from varying significantly and increases cloudiness and rainfall. Most important cities are located in the south, near Lake Victoria, including the capital Kampala and the nearby city of Entebbe. Although landlocked, Uganda contains many large lakes, besides Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga, there are Lake Albert, Lake Edward and the smaller Lake George. Trade.In 1998, the country exported products worth $575 million. The main export commodities were coffee (54 percent of the total value), gold, fish and fish products, cotton, tea, and corn. The countries receiving most of these products were Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Italy. The main imports include chemicals, basic manufactured goods, machinery, and transport equipment. Religion Religious Beliefs.One-third of the population is Roman Catholic, one-third is Protestant, and 16 percent is Muslim; 18 percent believe in local religions, including various millenarian religions. World religions and local religions have coexisted for more than a century, and many people have established a set of beliefs about the nature of the universe by combining elements of both types. There is a proliferation of religious discourses centering on spirits, spirit possession, and witchcraft. Religious Practitioners.

Religious identity has economic and political implications: church membership has influenced opportunities for education, employment, and social advancement. Religious practitioners thus are expected to provide a range of benefits for their followers. Leaders of indigenous religions reinforce group solidarity by providing elements necessary for societal survival: remembrance of ancestors, means of settling disputes, and recognition of individual achievement. Another social function of religious practitioners is helping people cope with pain, suffering, and defeat by providing an explanation of their causes. Religious beliefs and practices serve political aims by bolstering the authority of temporal rulers and allowing new leaders to mobilize political power and implement political change. Rituals and Holy Places.In Bantu-speaking societies, many local religions include a belief in a creator God. Most local religions involve beliefs in ancestral and other spirits, and people offer prayers and sacrifices to symbolize respect for the dead and maintain proper relationships among the living. Mbandwa mediators act on behalf of other believers, using trance or hypnosis and offering sacrifice and prayer to beseech the spirit world on behalf of the living. Uganda has followers of Christianity, Islam, and African traditional religions. Ugandan #Muslims make pilgrimages to Mecca when they can. Followers of African religions tend to establish shrines to various local gods and spirits in a variety of locations.

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Uganda receives 1st Airbus to boost Uganda Airlines flights to Big cities of the world

Uganda receives 1st Airbus to boost Uganda Airlines flights to Big cities of the world connecting to Dubai   and China Cities. Many Ugandans fly to these cities for trade links . Uganda  has  already mapped  out long routes that include Guangzhou and Beijing in China, London, and Dubai as the first routes.The A330neo is powered by Rolls-Royce's latest-generation Trent 7000 engines and features a new wing with an increased span. The cabin provides the comfort of the new airspace amenities including state-of-the-art passenger in-flight entertainment and Wi-Fi connectivity systems, amongst others.

 

Uganda tourism is likely to be boosted by direct flights from these big cities. If Chinese can get direct flights to Uganda then many  exponential tourists from china are likely to buy Ugandan safari packages to destination Uganda. London is another busy hub that will allow many tourist to connect to Entebbe airport without any difficult.Thus in such cases tourism will be boosted. Uganda has got one major airport Entebbe Airport and receives many flights arriving from flights of Emirates, Ethiopian airlines, Kenya airways. Sn Bruseels, KLM Royal dutch, Egypt air  and many more connect to Entebbe airport on daily basis

Travel Hemispheres brings you special flying tour packages to the Pearl of Africa Uganda. That will help you experience the hospitality of Ugandans both by air and road traveling. Booking and planning tour with us in time will save you the hassle and time to secure a life time experience of Uganda’s beautiful attractions. Among these include gorilla tours, wildlife safaris gorilla safaris, bird watching and primate safaris plus lots of game viewing and bird watching. As Covid 19 continue eating up  tourism industry  dew to social distance issues, when you do flying safari in Uganda will be easily done.


Saturday, December 19, 2020

Uganda Flying Safaris to Solve Covid Safari Touring in Uganda

 

Travel Hemispheres brings you special flying tour packages to the Pearl of Africa Uganda. That will help you experience the hospitality of Ugandans both by air and road traveling. Booking and planning tour with us in time will save you the hassle and time to secure a life time experience of Uganda’s beautiful attractions. Among these include gorilla tours, wildlife safaris gorilla safaris, bird watching and primate safaris plus lots of game viewing and bird watching. As Covid 19 continue eating up  tourism industry  dew to social distance issues, when you do flying safari in Uganda will be able to avoid covid and do your holiday successfully  Hemispheres will offer special flying safaris to different national parks in the country. If you are on working visit to Uganda , any delegate booked can do a flying safari with us.


Honeymooners, old age and clients on Business visit to Uganda can take short gorilla safaris, wildlife safaris and other adventure Uganda tours using our flying safari services in Uganda. Will take this advantage of taking our flying safaris to avoid long time driving on the roads.

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

When is the best time to trek mountain gorillas in Uganda?

The best time to trek Mountain gorilla in Uganda all depends at time  you would wish to  have your holiday. Mountain gorilla trekking takes place throughout the year around .  In Uganda and Rwanda we experience 2 rainy seasons and  may be it’s the time your can postpone gorilla trekking. The months of June July and August are  dry seasons . Also the months of January and February  experience less rains.  June, July August and September receive less rains and are the best to to track and book gorilla safari with : https://www.travelhemispheres.com  .All these months are good for mountain gorilla trekking experience.

During  the  dry season months of  January , February, June, July- and  August   usually receive many tourists wanting to track mountain gorillas. Its advisable to book early some good months before your trekking date  because at timed gorilla permits on some days get sold out before. Its better you book in time and avoid disappointments  or missing out.

Other months of the year gorilla trekking also takes place but this time there is less traffic of people trekking. May be its better to book during this months as will be assured of  gorilla permit availability and congestion is limited while trekking . Bwindi offer the best gorilla trekking followed by Volcanoes park of Rwanda.

The months of months of  January , February, June, July- and  August   remain are the best time of the year even to visit other  national parks in the country when visibility is very good and have less overgrown bushes thus allowing viewing wildlife easily in the wild. Also animals tent to concentrate in one place for water, security and pasture and when other predator animals also will be closing on them for prey.

The best time to trek the gorillas in Uganda and ad Rwanda  the nearby countries that have the same activity  and DR Congo. Although in both counties, the activity is done all year round. But knowing the best time and the season would be of an advantage since it may help to cut the costs of the travelers like during the higher and the lower seasons where by some discount is offered to travelers during the lower seasons.

Uganda has  the best climate in East Africa  due to its location along the Equator and surrounded by the great water bodies like the mighty river Nile with its climatic changes. In Uganda, there are two seasons that’s the dry and the wet seasons of the year. The rainy seasons start from march to May and from October to November.

In Uganda,  climate is hot and wet  with cool  days regulated by diverse forests, Rivers lakes and altitude throughout the years. Temperature will always range from 20.5c to 28 degrees these results to variation in altitude. The rainfall received in Uganda ranges from 1000-2000 mm and it received throughout out the year causing changes in the climate and weather in the country thus making it difficult to predict th best times of the year to carry out the gorilla trekking exercise in Uganda.


 Uganda safaris can still be visited throughout the year but the most appropriate time to visit the gorillas in Bwindi and Mgahinga national park is from June. July, August and September and  there is reason to postpone your gorilla holiday trip due to weather issues. We usually advise our visitors to carry warm Jackets because evenings and nights during rainy seasons can be cold. , hiking shoes  are also good to carry  all these will help you to keep warm during rainy seasons.

 

Saturday, November 21, 2020

What is Covid-19 visitor rules towards to Uganda?

 What is Covid-19  Visitor Rules  To  Uganda

Covid -19 did not spare Uganda. Though it is still at its lowest in terms of people affected.   Visitors wishing to do uganda safaris and tours  must have tested negative for at least 72 hours. All travelers arriving in Uganda must have a negative COVID-19 certificate. The only accepted test is a SARS-CoV 2 Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) performed within 120 hours of departure (meaning travelers must be tested and get results within 5 days of their first flight). Other tests, such as Rapid Diagnostics Test (RDTs), are not accepted.



  All travelers arriving or transiting through  border points of Rwanda, Kenya Tanzania and .Sudan  will be screened upon entry ton arrival and be allowed to proceed on you tour to Uganda.

For Rwanda  all travelers are required to wait 24 hours for the results of their COVID-19 test in a designated transit hotel. All COVID-19 prevention measures announced by the Ministry of Health must be respected during waiting period• The Government of Rwanda has negotiated special rates at designated transit hotels for the 24 hour waiting period. Should a guest wish to remain in the hotel after receiving negative test results, they are welcome to extend their stay at the hotel’s applicable rates.

While in Uganda visitors after showing certificate  convid -19 will be allowed to proceed on safari with your guide.  I is rtill not easy to cross from either country to another and am still gathering information as to whether will be allowed to cross from Uganda to Rwanda.  As of today they allow visitors who are passing at one entry that is airport. 

While doing Uganda safari , gorilla tracking has been resumed  and it is going on smoothly.  We at Travel Hemispheres are arranging tours and safaris to all destination parts of the country. Your  itinerary  and cost  to track gorillas  in Uganda will tailor-made for your interests and taste.  . We also have golden monkey tracking  activity in Uganda.

 

Saturday, November 7, 2020

What is a Mountain Gorilla Sliver Back ?

 What  is a Mountain Gorilla Sliver Back ?

Mountain gorillas differ from lowland gorillas (Western Gorillas). At first scientists thought there was no difference between these gorillas.  The sliver back  gorilla is from the  is Mature male mountain gorillas of about 12 years that have grown a sliver grey hair on its back. A saddle of grey hair grows on its back after attaining sexually maturity age. Gorillas are very social animals and each group call it a family may have 4 up 30 or 50 members headed by 1 sliver back mountain gorilla.  A such group will have a sliver back or two of them heading the family. Other members of the group may contain females who are wives to the sliver back thus sliver back gorillas are polygamous in nature. Others are Juveniles and infants. The dominant sliver back commands the family and gives protection and other young sliver backs take orders from the head. Orders may include the directions to take while searching for food and if threatened who should fight first . A silver back enjoys the center of attraction at any time in the group or family. The Sliver back gorilla take in-charge of the group. The gorilla family call it a gorilla group is equally answerable to the head gorilla called Sliver back.

Mature Mountain Gorilla Sliver Back

Mountain Gorilla Sliver Back

 This Sliver back prepare young male Juveniles  how to defend the group and leadership skills  and  incase the head is no long active mainly when it gets old , the young one who will take over. At times when sliver back gets misunderstanding with young sliver backs , will fight and chase the old Sliver back out of the family or get killed  after winning him.  Here is the time when the group breaks into other groups thus forming New Gorilla families and groups. People or tourists  who  carryout Mountain gorilla trekking safaris enjoy mostly the  presence of a Sliver back  leadership skills displayed and command showed in presence of new visitors who actually are human beings.. Missing encountering Sliver Back  when tracking mountain gorillas remain incomplete not until you visit again and encounter this forest Gentle Giant- the Mountain Gorilla Sliver Back of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.  

Thursday, October 22, 2020

How Much is Gorilla tracking Permit?

 

How Much is Gorilla Permit?

One can ask himself or herself this question. What is a gorilla permit?  Before we get to know how much is gorilla permit cost , one need to know what is this gorilla permit all about?  A gorilla permit is paper print or virtual/card   document issued by Government body and  in Uganda by  Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and in Rwanda by ORTPN   authorizing the holder to visit the gorillas in the their natural habitat in this case in Uganda gorilla trekking or call it tracking takes place at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and Mgahinga National park. While in Rwanda gorilla tracking take place at Volcanoes National park and IN DRC Congo at Virunga National park.

Effective 1st July 2020 a gorilla permit in Uganda will cost US $ 700. While in Rwanda the cost of Gorilla permit has been and is still costing US $ 1500. A gorilla permit is a one day visit to the gorillas . A gorilla permit is usually booked  and paid in advance say for some good months or a year before coming. This is done because gorilla permits at time are sold out and to avoid missing out on trekking mountain gorillas it better booking and paying for in advance. Travel  Hemispheres as a ground tour operator in Uganda , Rwanda and DRC Congo will help you to book and secure for  your gorilla trekking permit in time .


 

8 people are allowed to visit one gorilla family . Mature people are allowed to Trek gorillas  and minimum age is 15 years of age allowed to trek mountain gorillas. 1 hour is allowed to view and stay with gorillas  once gorillas are sited.  Trekking can take many or few hours and all depend on the family trekked. Remember gorillas move inside the parks and are not stationed in one place. Your guides  will help you to  lead all the way through until you are out of the forest back to your Lodge.

Where to See Mountain Gorillas

Mountain Gorilla trekking is done in Uganda and Rwanda plus few treks in Congo –Democratic Republic of Congo .Mountain Gorilla trekking is ...