Travel 

Sunday, May 10, 2015 

Ugandan lake park plans marathon

A marathon is being organised to take place in Lake Mburo National Park, 200 kilometres south west of Kampala as a way of promoting domestic tourism writes SHARON KYATUSIIMIRE.

 The marathon which is the first of its kind in Uganda will be held on July 19th 2015. Organisers say it will also help towards raising money to conserve the environment, but also give back to communities surrounding the park.

In a recent news conference, Francis Mugoga, the Managing Director Explore Africa Safaris, said the marathon is another effort by Uganda to make tourism a main source of revenue. This is considering the fact that Uganda is graced fully with a lot of nature resources which are not yet exploited.

“We as tourism agents are doing all we can to make sure that domestic tourism is promoted. This event will be attended by all kinds of people from all over Uganda and East Africa. We are going to do this every year and the money got from it will be used to conserve the environment, especially national parks. We encourage Ugandans to come in big numbers for this event because it is going to be unforgettable event,” Mugoga said.

The park is home to 350 bird species as well as zebra, impala, eland, buffalo, oribi, Defassa waterbuck, leopard, hippo, hyena, topi and reedbuck. 

Mugoga also assured Ugandans of security, saying they selected Mburo National Park for the marathon, because it doesn’t have many fierce animals like lions and leopards.

In addition, the Uganda Police and game ranchers will be standing beside the selected route to make sure that nothing wrong happens to the runners. 

Steven Assimwe, the Uganda Tourism Bureau CEO, said the event is a necessary move towards promoting those national parks that are not so frequently visited.

“We have 10 national parks and 12 game reserves in Uganda but only six of them are generating revenue to support the others. If we get promoting national parks, we will see more revenue coming in which will be helpful to government and Uganda as a nation. As Uganda Tourism Board we will continue to support private sector that bring any initiative that promotes tourism,” he said.

According to the organisers, the marathon will combine exciting game drives, nature walks, lake cruises on Lake Mburo, great foods and people from all over the world. 

Participates will also have an option of heading to queen Elizabeth National park for another experience of game drive, lake cruises on Kazinga Channel and checking out the tree climbing lions found nowhere else in the world except in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park and Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania.

By Sharon Kyatusiimire, Sunday, May 10th, 2015