24-7 Cars Tours and Safaris

General info on Gorilla Tracking

2012-02-20T03:36:00.001-08:00

This is a strenuous activity and one should be physically fit to enjoy this safari. Professional guides will accompany groups but no porters are available to carry personal belongings. Minimum age is fifteen years. Anyone with signs of communicable disease will not be allowed to trek.
While possession of a gorilla permit is a guarantee of trekking, it cannot be a guarantee of sighting. However the chance of sighting is high - 95% or more. Maximum time allowed with the gorillas is one hour at a minimum distance of 7 meters.
No flash photography is allowed and fast film is therefore recommended (minimum 400-1600 ASA). Personal DVD recorders are allowed. Special arrangements need to be made for professional film makers and filming permits are required for commercial photography and filming.
For Gorilla Tracking, we strongly recommend a breathable and lightweight rain jacket or poncho, a warm jacket or fleece for overcast days and evening, long-sleeved shirt and trousers, sturdy waterproof walking boots (seasoned or well worn footwear), leather gardening type gloves, sunscreen, cap or sun hat, sunglasses, insect repellent, comfortable day pack for carrying water and minimum amount of personal items. Cameras and video cameras are allowed, but bring film and batteries from Kampala.http://www.24-7cars.ug/pkggor.html

Who We Are

2012-02-18T00:28:00.000-08:00

For over five years, 24-7cars has been luring adventurers and travelers from all over the world to leave the comfort of their homes for a life changing experience in one of the world’s most enchanting wilds. Winston Churchill described Uganda as the Pearl of Africa. We take you to the Pearls of Uganda.

We are an African tour company that is located in East Africa operating specially in Uganda offering holiday/vacations, tours and safaris to the most exclusive tourist destinations in Uganda. Do not miss a thing: From the water fall filled wondrous river Nile to the wild game populated Savannah and lush forests teeming with elusive, rare mammals, birds and plants. Big and small, threatened gigantic primates hidden from the rest of the world, we take you all the way to the peaks of mountains shrouded with myths of the origin of mankind.

For every budget, there is a package. We do not leave anyone out. Choose from our pre- designed itineraries or order for your own customized tour itinerary. Our safaris are based on you and not numbers. For as many as 1 passenger, the adventure must go on. http://www.24-7cars.ug/about.html

Another track to the falls.

2012-01-07T01:12:00.000-08:00

Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has officially opened an 18.5km track from Te Bito to the top of the Falls worth USD 200,000 in Murchison Falls National Park.
The construction was funded by Tullow Oil Plc as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility programme to support promotion and preservation of wildlife and tourism in Uganda.
The official opening on Tuesday December 6, 2011 was presided over by the minister for Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage Professor Ephraim Kamuntu and witnessed by leaders from Acholi and Bunyoro regions, the Executive Director UWA, Dr. Andrew Seguya, the General manager Tullow Oil Mr. Eoin Mekie, the Uganda Tourism Board boss Mr. Cuthbert Baguma and other stake holders in the tourism industry.

UGANDA VOTED BEST PLACE TO TRAVEL TO IN 2012 BY LONELY PLANET

2011-12-08T01:02:00.000-08:00

Which countries will come into their own as travel destinations in 2012? We’ve collated hundreds of ideas from everyone at Lonely Planet, including our extended family of travellers, bloggers and tweeters to work out the very best. This list of the top 10 countries for 2012 – in ranked order – was voted for by a panel of inhouse travel experts, based on topicality, excitement, value and that special X-factor.

1. Uganda

It’s taken nasty dictatorships and a brutal civil war to keep Uganda off the tourist radar, but stability is returning and it won’t be long before visitors come flocking back. After all, this is the source of the river Nile – that mythical place explorers sought since Roman times. It’s also where savannah meets the vast lakes of East Africa, and where snow-capped mountains bear down on sprawling jungles. Not so long ago, the tyrannical dictator and ‘Last King of Scotland’ Idi Amin helped hunt Uganda’s big game to the brink of extinction, but today the wildlife is returning with a vengeance. This year Uganda also celebrates the 50th anniversary of its independence; Kampala, one of Africa’s safest capital cities, is bound to see off the event with a bang. Still, Uganda still isn’t without its problems. Human rights abuses aren’t uncommon, and the country breathes a collective sigh whenever President Museveni thinks of another ruse to stay in power for a few more years. But now, as ever, explorers in search of the source of the Nile won’t leave disappointed.

Mgahinga Gorilla NP

2011-12-06T02:34:00.000-08:00

Mgahinga is part of a larger ecosystem, the Virunga Conservation Area (434km sq) which includes two adjacent parks in Rwanda and Congo. It rises from 2227 m to 4,127m above sea level.
The park which is a cultural heritage featuring in the history, folklore and traditional healing practices for local people, covers the north slopes of the three northern Virunga volcanoes Muhavura, Gahinga and Sabinyo. The park derives its name from “Gahinga”a Kinyarwanda word for a pile of volcanic lava stone heaps around which cultivation is carried out.On the other hand, Muhavura means guide and Sabinyo means the Old man’s teeth. It is bordered to the south by Rwanda and to the west by DR Congo.
While Sabinyo is deeply eroded with jagged crown and deep gorges and ravines, Gahinga has a swamp filled –crater about 180m wide and Muhavura has a small crater lake about 36m wide at its summit. On some of the steep mountain slopes are caves formed by lava tubes, one of them being the famous Garama cave located near Ntebeko, the park headquarters.

Hiking and Scenery viewing

2011-12-06T00:59:00.000-08:00

Hiking can be carried out on Lamoj Mountains just a few kilometers from the Park Headquarters. Visitors can also go to view the splendid Kidepo River Valley dominated by Borassus palm forest; its wide flat bed is dry for most of the year. From Kidepo Valley, you may also visit the Kanangorok Hot Springs, which are located only 11 km from Kidepo river valley.

The mountain and Savannah landscape of the park is spectacular. The Narus valley is situated in the South West of the park; the rugged Napore-Nyagia mountain range forms its western boundary. Separating it from the Kidepo Valley in the northeast, are the Natira and Lokayot Hills. To the north in the Sudan are the Lotukei mountains and the Morungole range marks the southern boundary of the park.

Kidepo Valley National Park

2011-12-06T00:30:00.000-08:00

The park has a semi-arid climate with just one rainy season per year (April-September) and rainfall is light. The valley of the Narus river in the south of the park receives some 890mm of rain/year while just 635mm of rain/year falls in the Kidepo valley to the north. Both rivers are seasonal, and dwindle and disappear in the dry season. During these months, the only permanent water in the park is found in wetlands and remnant pools along the southern Narus valley near Apoka and as a result, wildlife is concentrated in this area. This consideration, combined with the valley’s open, savanna habitat, makes it the park’s prime game viewing location. Indeed it is possible to sight a good variety of wildlife simply by scanning the valley with binoculars from the comfort of the Apoka lodge.

Lion in Uganda

2011-11-11T01:42:00.000-08:00

QENP

2011-11-10T01:31:00.001-08:00

Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda’s second biggest national park after Murchison Falls occupying close to 1,978 km square.
A World bio-sphere reserve with a RAMSAR wetland site, the park is situated astride the equator and located in south western Uganda lying on the base of the rift valley between Lakes George and Edward.
The national park borders Democratic Republic of Congo on its western side. It is sometimes referred to as the pearl of Africa. In Uganda Queen Elizabeth National Park is basically known for the big four animals that is the Elephants, Lions, Buffaloes and the Leopards. It is also classified as an Important Birding Area (IBA) by Birdlife International.

Gorilla Census will be most accurate ever

2011-11-03T01:44:00.000-07:00

In an effort to help conservationists understand population dynamics of the gorillas, assess the success of conservation programmes aimed at ensuring their survival, and ensure that they receive continued attention from the global conservation community; a gorilla census is being carried out in Bwindi National Park.
This is the fourth time the census is being carried out in Bwind which is also a UNESCO designated world heritage site. The first time the Census was carried out, in 1997, it was estimated that there were 300 individual gorillas.
The 2011 Gorilla census that began in September is expected to end by October 22nd and besides finding out the population of the endangered Mountain Gorillas, the team in charge of the census is also collecting information on the status of other wildlife like Elephants, Bush Pigs, Monkeys and Duikers, they are also taking records of evidence of illegal activities that affect the flora and fauna.

The methods used in this year’s exercise include the indirect sweep method where gorilla nests are counted and the fecal method where faeces of these gorillas in the nests are collected and later will be analyzed in the laboratory to identify DNA samples of each individual. The fecal method, although tedious and time consuming is expected to yield more accurate results than the previous method of counting only the night sleeping nests made by Gorillas.

Flora and Fauna

2011-11-01T04:28:00.001-07:00

A variety of vegetative habitats surround the open water of Lake Mburo. The lake’s western side is dominated by a grassy escarpment rising above a shoreline fringed with acacia forest and the closed canopy Rubanga forest. To the north and east, grassy valley floors, made seasonally lush and soggy by rain, drain between undulating hills. These seep through expanses of wetland into the lake. Rock kopjes are found along the eastern margins of the park.
These varied habitats support an impressive variety of wildlife including 68 mammal species. These include some rarities. Lake Mburo is the only park in Uganda to contain impala and the only one in the rift region to host Burch ell’s zebra and eland. In Uganda, topi are only found in Lake Mburo and Queen Elizabeth National Parks. Commoner species include warthog, buffalo, oribi, Defassa waterbuck and reedbuck. Leopard and hyena are also present while hippo and crocodile are found in the lake.
The park also has a very respectable bird list with around 315 species recorded to date including the Shoebill, Papyrus Yellow Warbler, African Finfoot, Saddle Billed Stork, Brown Chested Lapwing, Wattled Plover, Carruther’s Cisticola, Tabora Cisticola, Great Snipe, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill and White Winged Warbler. Acacia woodland bird species are especially well represented while forest species may be found in Rubanga Forest.
Around the park