May 29 – June 1 Uganda
I made it to Entebbe, Uganda at night, and when a miscue with my pick-up was clear, I jumped into a Sheraton Hotel Van, certain that I would at least have a safe & comfortable landing, with access to phone and email to get connected with the SCGIS member, Fortunate Muyambi, who is my contact here. An hour later, we arrived in Kampala, the capitol City. Next day was incredibly stormy, power knocked out, and the hotel generators fired up. I got a local simm card for my phone — a great move for those of you traveling internationally, take your phone, and get a card in each country you visit. Locals will be much more accessible, and available to call you back if needed.
Fortunate and I connected the next day, and after making a plan, we were off to the headquarters of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA). Here we net with several officials and staff who are using GIS (among many applications), to track Silverback Gorilla movement within the National Parks. I was able to provide an evaluation copy of ArcGIS 9.1 to Fredrick Wanyama at UWA, on behalf of the ESRI Conservation Program.
We also had some time to discuss the ability of ArcGIS to handle the various geographic projections they use in Uganda, and how they can permanently migrate to ArcGIS from the older ArcView 3.2 software. It’s always a tough move for people to change to software they are less familiar with, but as the advantages are discovered (a personal journey), it becomes easy to use the newer version.
Later, we stopped by the ESRI Uganda Distributor, Amadra ori-Okido’s office, and let him know what SCGIS Uganda will be up to in the next few months…pic below.
Fortunate works for the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund, the organization founded by Diane Fossey. Her work to monitor the life and habitat of the Silverback Gorilla is still carried on by a team here in Uganda, and by dedicated group in the US . We were to travel to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinag Gorilla National Park in the south western part of Uganda, to run a training class for wardens and rangers. Due to the combination of my tight schedule, and some last minute problems in the parks, we were unable to make the drive west. Plan B was engaged – Fortunate and I went to the University of Makerere in Kampala, and set-up at the department of Wildlife Biology for a day of SCGIS Uganda chapter-building strategy. Cool display of Hippo and Ostrich skeletons too!
I am traveling with and sharing documents which will help local SCGIS leaders get organized, announce meetings, make presentations, and create the momentum to get Conservation GIS users connected to one another for support, data sharing, and even training. I also donated some training materials and data, on behalf of AllPoints GIS, to the soon to be SCGIS Uganda. Pictured are Fortunate and myself with the formal presentation of software, on behalf of the ESRI Conservation Program.
It was a busy three days. I also happened upon a World Tobacco Free Day Parade headed down the street, complete with a marching band in the lead – they were playing “When the Saints Go Marching In…”
Later, I went back to Entebbe, and found a room at the Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel to sleep before an early flight. Funny place – then US President Clinton and Current George W. Bush have been to this facility, but all I saw was this guy…
Dear Sir, I would like like to receive the FORTUNATE´s email address to request his publications on tourism impact on gorillas. I am starting a project in Brasil with two students and we need articles about this subject.
Thanks !!