Authorities at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary have closed a section of the facility to residential visitors after water from Lake Victoria submerged the cottages. This closure specifically affects accommodations and the restaurant, impacting residential visitors.
The announcement was made by Dr Joshua Rukundo, Executive Director of Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary, during the launch of a modern boat to transport tourists at Pelican Lodge and Marina in Entebbe.
“The water levels have affected us, specifically our visitor accommodation and restaurant. Being an island, the main attraction is being close to the water, so all our facilities were right on the water’s edge, but the increase in the water levels over the years has forced us to close. The last time we closed this section was in 2020 and 2021, not only because of Covid-19 but also because of increased water levels,” Dr. Rukundo stated.
Dr Rukundo assured visitors who had already booked and paid for accommodation that the sanctuary is managing the situation by partnering with neighbouring facilities.
“We are partnering with neighbors so that they can take over some of the bookings as we restructure and plan on how to resume visitor facility services at Ngamba Island,” he explained.
He added that they have identified an alternative location to invest in and construct better facilities if the water level situation persists.
The newly launched 29-seater modern boat, named MV Eazy, was donated to Ngamba Island by Pelican Lodge and Marina. Dr. Rukundo highlighted the significance of this donation.
“This boat opens up big opportunities. We have a partnership with the Uganda Tourism Board and a number of hotels, including Pelican Lodge and Marina. The partnerships have brought a lot of volumes. The more the numbers, the more cost effective it is for tourists to travel in groups and that’s where we have been lacking capacity. We have been having small boats, with an average sitting capacity of 12 passengers, and we had to hire speed boats which makes it expensive and costly to our visitors,” he said.
He noted that the sanctuary has a target of having 20,000 visitors per year in the next five years, up from the current 5,000 visitors.
“If it wasn’t for the water levels, our target was to have 7,000 visitors this year,” he said.
Mr. Basil Ajer, a Director at the Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, appreciated the management of Ngamba Island for maintaining the chimpanzees.
“The Ministry has a vision of increasing the number of tourists to about 4 million annually. It is important that we have a chimpanzee sanctuary like this, which can attract many visitors, but there is potential to increase the number, especially after launching a boat which will improve the transport and safety of our visitors,” he said.
He noted that the Ministry signed an MoU with Ngamba Island, which commits it to the provision of technical, financial, and operational support, among others.
Mr. Lodaya Hiren Khushal, Manager of Pelican Lodge and Marina, said supporting Ngamba Island is in the spirit of promoting tourism.
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