Wildlife is undoubtedly a staple in Uganda’s tourism offers and a game drive to spot the big five among other wild characters in their natural habitat is a prized package for the sector.
However, for elusive species like the leopards and lions, chances of seeing them on a single safari are not that many, a common source of frustration for tourists who visit the Parks with a single focus on what they want to see.
While it is advisable to be open minded for all possible encounters in the park and have preferences as an icing on the cake, the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has devised and established a tour package which guarantees tourists 100% chance of watching the lions go about their day in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Experiential Tourism is a premium package that has taken root as a more rewarding adventure for tourists in addition to the regular game drives. This new experience allows tourists to participate in monitoring some of the mammal species and birds in the park by use of locator devices. The collaring and tracking system enables the rangers to know the location of a particular pride at a given time.
According to UWA head of communications Mr. Bashir Hangi, the experiential tourism package continues to be bought by huge numbers of tourists despite its price that goes up by the day due to the high demand.
Queen Elizabeth NP offers two experiential tourism products that is; with the lions and the banded mongooses. There are other experiential activities tourists can engage in including the hippo census and bird counting.
Steven Nyadru, the Assistant Tourism Warden in the Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area says the collaring is majorly for monitoring and research purposes and is not unique to the cats.
“Queen Elizabeth NP is a man and biosphere Reserve where we have humans and animals in close interactions. The purpose of collaring the animals is to be able to track them whenever need arises, monitor their movements around the park and aid research projects. So, it is not sorely for the experiential tourism package,” Nyadru says.
He added, “Collaring comes in handy especially when the animals go close to the communities. We are able to trace them and go get them away to prevent deadly encounters or property destruction.”
Other collared animals include the mongooses, leopards, elephants etc.
The Genesis of Collaring
Experiential tourism development in Queen Elizabeth NP is banked on the efforts of researchers who are in position to study the ecology of lions in Africa. In the 1980s and early 90s, a viral infection swept over Tanzania, claiming lives of a huge number of lions. This prompted researchers in other countries to test lions in the different National Parks for the virus.
Lions in Queen Elizabeth NP were found not to have the virus, however, the concerned researchers deemed it fit to have a mechanism that would aid monitoring of the cats for faster response in case of such disease threats or outbreaks.
The interest in lions and leopards, according to Daniel Turyomwe, a tour guide at Queen Elizabeth NP, was particularly driven by their unique role in the wild; checking the population of the rest of the animals and the carrying capacity of a given land range.
“Their role is to eliminate the weak, sick and unproductive animals. This upholds the law of the jungle – survival for the fittest,” Turyomwe says.
This immense need birthed the concept of collaring. The collar helps researchers to monitor how the animal moves, feeds and their overall behavior.
A King’s Breakfast in QENP’s Kasenyi Plains
The Kasenyi plains section of QENP is dominated by the short grassland Savannah which favours the prey. And it’s a no brainer that where the prey is, so will be the predator.
This is where the thrill of it all happens. By 8 am, a team of journalists aboard UWA’s new overland tourist truck was already in Kasenyi, necks turning from side to side as the anticipation for a wild spectacle grew wilder by the minute. At 8:23am, the truck slowed down as we approached a pride of 5 lions sunbathing in the open stretch.
Across the truck on the right was a family of waterbucks, probably in oblivion of the dangerous fellows laying in waiting only a few meters away. It must have been the curiosity of youth, or rather the naivety of infancy that got this young, meek waterbuck stepping foot in the hungry jungle king’s territory- a gamble with far high stakes.
In a split second, before many could position their cameras to capture the moment, one of the brothers steadied from a crouch, launching into the air and swiftly pouncing on the unsuspecting, helpless waterbuck like a dog in a fetch competition.
Even in the best of my recollection, I could swear I didn’t hear the cry of the little thing, or notice much of the struggle. It was a battle long lost for the waterbuck and an easy, sort of self-delivered breakfast for the pride.
For the fainthearted, the following scenes could easily trigger a tear, a scream and maybe passing out for the hemophobic. For a neutral individuals like myself, it was a subtle adrenaline rush; watching the poor animal in a chokehold, squeezed by the lion’s fore limbs till its lifeless body lay still- the throbbing gone- all up for literal plating.
Now, no one prepared me for a blood spluttering scene, but here it was; three members of the pride jerking into a scramble and partition session, razor sharp teeth digging into the flesh of the kill- the back, the hind leg and the neck. It was like that moment in a vampire movie where the fangs come alive as Dracula’s descendants dive into a blood sucking frenzy.
After a couple of minutes in the struggle, the lions dismembered the waterbuck, each picking their share and walking to a secluded spot; blood-stained fur, eyes steady on the piece and an occasional growl, whatever for.
A few minutes away, a leopard was going about their day in a cactus tree, the Euphorbia lactea that is spread across the Kasenyi plains. Elusive as it is, we had a good minutes’ watch, picture moment and headed back. This was an experience of a lifetime and it is no wonder, the experiential tourism package is high in demand at Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Fees
Experiential Tourism costs Shs 100,000 for East African residents and US$100 for foreigners.
Tourists who do experiential tourism pay an extra 10 dollars which goes to the collective fund set aside for compensation costs in case of losses suffered by the neighboring communities occasioned by the lions.
The package has equally become a mitigating strategy for the human-wildlife conflict around Queen Elizabeth National Park.
