Uganda Opens Entebbe International Airport and borders For Tourists After 7 months Closure
H.E Yoweri Museveni on 20th September 2020 announced the opening up of Entebbe International Airport and land borders for tourists. This is after a 7 months closure in March that was aimed at restricting the spread of COVID-19.
The Ugandan President was holding a Presidential address on latest updates on matters regarding COVID 19.
Tourists will be required to show COVID 19 negative results at the airport tested 72 hours before arrival in Uganda.
The local tour operators have also been mandated to ensure that the tourists don’t mix with the local Ugandans. They will be directly driven to their Hotels on arrival or to the wildlife destinations like national parks.
There are airlines that will resume flights to and from Entebbe International Airport now that it is finally open. They include Uganda’s national carrier; Uganda Airlines, RwandAir, Kenya Airways, Turkish Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, Qatar Airways, Brussels Airlines and others.
Earlier this month, Uganda Wildlife Authority opened primates national parks for chimpanzees and mountain gorillas that had remained closed since March. This was because primates have over 95% DNA similar to humans with high chances of contracting human disease like COVID-19.
After several consultations with the Ministry of health and local tour operators, the parks were finally opened. These will however be run basing on standard operating procedures of social distancing and sanitising.
Entebbe International airport and land borders are now fully open, tourism business in Uganda will resume slowly. Tourism depends a lot on air travel and international border crossings as tourists easily connect to their intended destinations easily.
Uganda’s Main Tourist Attractions
Mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga gorilla parks in south western Uganda tops this list. Mountain gorillas are apes that prefer to live in forested mountains and mostly feed on plant vegetation.
All the gorilla parks are now fully open to tourists and can be accessed by road or air by flying to the nearby airstrips. Ensure to buy gorilla permits in advance as they get fully booked because gorilla tours are on high demand.
Savanna wildlife species are other key attractions of tourists to the Pearl of Africa. They include lions, elephants, buffaloes, Rhinos, birds, hippos, zebras and are evenly distributed in the different national parks in Uganda.
Savanna wildlife species are enjoyed on game drives, nature walks and on boat cruises in Parks with Lake and Rivers.
Given that Entebbe International airport and all borders are open, one can visit Uganda for a wildlife safari. There are many tour operators who tailor make Itineraries featuring the various destinations.
Uganda’s COVID-19 cases are stand at 6,017 with 2544 recoveries and 63 deaths. Much as tourism is now fully open there is need to be careful for our own safety.
