Rhino Fund Uganda announces new procedures for bookings of accommodation

RHINO FUNDS SUCCESS PROMPTS MANAGEMENT CHANGES

The Rhino Fund Uganda and the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary have announced some changes in the way the organization is operating. Angie Genade, long serving Executive Director of the Rhino Fund and the sanctuary at Ziwa, shared with this correspondent some insights of her success in past years, most notably being able to double Ugandas rhino population since her arrival from South Africa from the initial 6 adults to a further 6 offspring, making a round dozen which can now be seen when visiting Ugandas only place where the endangered animals can be seen in the wild.
In view of increased workloads with administration and conservation issues on the sanctuary, and substantially increased lobbying and interaction engagements, Angie has now passed on the hospitality side of things at Ziwa to Francis Ochan, who will oversee the bookings for the guest houses, the dorms and the camping spaces PLUS take care of lunch bookings at the restaurant, while Angies husband Johan will continue to deal with bookings for the upmarket Amuka Lodge, located at a prime location on the sanctuary. Both can be contacted via johan or franchandan, with immediate effect. Bookings for rhino tracking, shoebill canoe rides, bird watching or hiking on the sanctuary remain in the domain of Angie.
The Rhino Fund Uganda is a registered NGO which was formed with the aim to bring the species back to Uganda where it has been extinct since the early 80s and the fund is credited to have accomplished not only that 2 rhinos, Sherino and Kabira are resident at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe and now 12 found on the Ziwa Sanctuary but is also credited with establishing the sanctuary. This was due to the generosity of Capt. Joe Roy and his family which cleared Ziwa of commercial cattle ranching and set aside nearly 17.000 acres of land for conservation, a move which paid off handsomely for Ugandas tourism industry which now makes regular itinerary stopovers at Ziwa to showcase this conservation accomplishment. Visit www.rhinofund.org for more details and to learn how to participate, support and fundraise for this worthwhile undertaking.

Kenya Airways drops Rome and Muscat, increases frequencies and capacity to other key destinations

KENYA AIRWAYS ANNOUNCES SCHEDULE CHANGES IN THE FACE OF PROFIT DROP

A statement received literally within hours of announcing full year financial results which showed a very significant increase in cost levels and a more than halved profit compared to the 2010/11 FY, the airline will with immediate effect suspend flights to Rome and Muscat. Both routes have reportedly underperformed, in the case of Rome at least in part attributed to the woes of the Euro Zone and the state of the Italian economy while demand to Muscat has clearly also not met expectations. However, flights to London will be upped to 10 a week, using the airlines largest aircraft a B777-300 with 322 seats while during the peak summer months Paris flights will be increased to 6 per week. The daily Amsterdam flight will also be switched to the larger B777-200, again adding capacity into a market place where demand remains strong and where in particular connecting traffic out of the United States is served.
The airline however has made also significant changes to some other destinations, adding three new evening departures to Dubai, which will now be served 10 times a week. The Lagos and Accra flights too are being combined now, giving Accra 12 frequencies per week with 9 flights to Lagos, increasing connectivity to KQs important West African market place. Flights to Nigerias capital Abuja will offer added options for Nigerians to connect to East Africa, the Gulf, India and China. Ndjamena flights have been upped to three times a week and flights to Dakar will now all route via Ouagadougou, giving the latter also 3 flights a week as a result of strong demand.
Easy and convenient connections out of Nairobi to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Bangkok and in particular to India, where Mumbai now has 10 weekly flights and the 3 Dehli flights have taken a strong hold in the market already, make flying with The Pride of Africa for many West Africans now their number one choice.
Kenya Airways CEO and Group Managing Director Dr. Titus Naikuni was quoted as having said: Owing to the decreased passenger volumes on these routes [to Rome and Muscat], we have decided to re-align our capacity across the entire network to meet growing demand on other destinations including new ones when asked to shed some light on both destinations being dropped from the schedule.
Watch this space for breaking and regular news from the Eastern African aviation scene.