Insight into Uganda’s top national parks

murchison falls
murchison falls
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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Mark Jordahl, who used to live in Uganda for quite some time, has just published four illustrated guide books for some of the country’s main national parks alongside a special guide for kids who are

Mark Jordahl, who used to live in Uganda for quite some time, has just published four illustrated guide books for some of the country’s main national parks alongside a special guide for kids who are visiting the parks with their parents or on school educational trips. The new guides will no doubt become a much in demand piece of literature for visitors to the country when they take a safari across the ‘Pearl of Africa’.

Mark kindly enough wrote to this correspondent giving his own take on the new books:

Enrich Your Visit to Murchison Falls, Lake Mburo and Kidepo Valley National Parks

Filling a long-standing gap in Uganda’s tourism resources, African Wildlife Foundation’s Tourism for Biodiversity project, in partnership with Uganda Wildlife Authority, has just launched a series of guidebooks to Murchison Falls, Lake Mburo and Kidepo Valley National Parks. In addition, a Kid’s Activity Guide has been produced to keep children engaged while on safari and to help them learn more about Uganda’s parks.

These full-color books contain all of the information needed to plan a visit. Sections include an overview and history of each park, how to get there, what to do, where to stay (with current contact information and websites), relevant conservation issues, local cultures, mammal identification sections, bird checklists and more. A relationship to these parks will be much deeper with an understanding of the history, ecology and cultures that have made these amazing places what they are today.

The author, Mark Jordahl, has worked in tourism and conservation in Uganda for over ten years, starting with his graduate research in Murchison Falls National Park. He has seen the tourism industry evolve significantly over the years, with better-trained guides and more lodging and activity options, but there have been no written resources available keeping up with these changes. These books reflect his decade-long relationship with Uganda’s parks, and will hopefully inspire a new wave of books about Uganda’s natural wonders.

Where can you get your copy? Good question! Currently they are only available at the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) Headquarters in Kampala, the Entebbe Wildlife Education Center and the African Wildlife Foundation offices. If Uganda Wildlife Authority sees that there is a demand for these resources, they will become more widely available.

The books cover Murchisons Falls National Park, Kidepo Valley National Park which CNN last year named as one of Africa’s top parks and Lake Mburo National Park, all of which are part of the must-visit circuit when on safari in Uganda. There has been a distinct lack of written material, and although UWA provides details on all the 10 parks they manage on their website, many tourists and visitors to the parks continue to prefer leafing through a book proper rather than looking up details on their smart phone, phablet or tablet.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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