Nairobi rating improved
Nairobi has become one of the best cities in sub-Saharan Africa for international business people to live and work in. The city was ranked sixth out of 30 in the Mercer Business "Quality of Living" survey. Although it was ranked behind Cape Town, Johannesburg, Lusaka, Dakar and Blantyre, it was way ahead of its neighbours, Dar-es-Salaam, Khartoum and Addis Ababa. Nairobis ranking is up one place from last year. It has also been ranked among the top 150 cities for the business community worldwide, ahead of such cities as St Petersburg and Moscow in Russia, Belgrade in Yugoslavia, Bangalore, Madras and Mumbai in India, Havana in Cuba and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

The Kampala Serena Hotel
After a year of intensive reconstruction and restyling, the Kampala Serena Hotel (formerly The Nile Hotel) will open in July 2006, as the acclaimed flagship of the Serena East African Safari Circuit. The 5-star, 152-room world-class hotel is uniquely located amid 17 acres of prime city-centre gardens. Immediately adjacent to the hotel and just 40 kms from Entebbe International Airport , the Kampala Serena Conference Centre is rapidly expected to become Africas premier conference venue. Spaciously interactive, it comprises: The Plenary Auditorium, whose state-of-the-art facilities can host 1,500 delegates, The Nile Gallery, which also functions as an exhibition area; and a range of interconnecting conference facilities.

Kenya Airways expands its network further
Kenya Airways has now added Asmara / Eritrea and Freetown / Sierra Leone to their expanding African network. The inaugural Freetown flight was on April 06th while the Asmara flights will commence on May 03rd.

Kenya Airways has also just signed a code share agreement with Korean Air which is aimed to open the lucrative South Korean market for the East African countries. Flight connections will be via KQs three weekly flights to Bangkok, from where Korean Air will provide onward connections to Seoul and beyond. Korean Air is a member of Sky Team, a global airline alliance led by KLM/Air France, which Kenya Airways has joined as the first African airline member. In time for the summer schedule Kenya Airways has also added a third daily flight between Nairobi and Amsterdam, a route operated in conjunction with KLM.

Oldonyi Lengai, Tanzania erupts
The volcano, overlooking the plains of the lower Serengeti, which has long been a simmering hotspot, where tourists could get a glimpse of an active volcano in relative safety, has now erupted. Across East Africa volcanic activity has been recorded in the past with the most substantial such eruption a few years ago near Goma / Democratic Republic of Congo, where sections of the town and of the airport ended up covered roof high in lava flows.

Mount Oldonyo Lengai burst into flames recently and prompted tourist officials in the area issuing travel advisory warning tourists not to camp or visit the mountain base in fear of more volcanic activity. Not scared of travel advisory and warnings by wildlife conservationists in Tanzanias famous Ngorongoro Conservation Area, tourists are flocking near the volcanic mount Oldonyo Lengai. Recent eruptions were in sequence of other volcanic activities in the mountain with last eruption recorded to occur in 1983 after several and worst eruptions observed for a number of months in 1917 and 1926 while the 1940 incidence left a wide area devastated.

Arrivals now over 660,000 in Uganda
Figures now released by the national statistics body indicated that arrivals for 2005 stood at about 662,000, compared with the figures they released for 2004 which UBOS Uganda Bureau of Statistics put at 512,000. This underlines the trend over the past 6 years, when in average some 20 percent annual growth was recorded in arrivals to the country. In a related development East African citizens will in coming years also be able to cross the national borders of the East African sister states with a simple ID, then removing the element of East African visitors from the statistics, who will thereafter begin to show under the regional domestic tourism figures, which are expected to benefit from the transition, while international arrival statistics will then have to be modified and the loss of cross border traffic put into the new adjusted context.

Pemba Channel now a Marine Conservation Area
Following enabling legislation last year Tanzanias government has now established a marine conservation area for the Pemba Channel with the ultimate aim to have it declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The conservation areas will cover an area of about 42 nautical miles in length. Additional patrol vessels are being procured in order to effectively guard the channel area. Zanzibar and Pembas main source of income is from tourism and this further measure is expected to yield positive results in the future, protecting the marine resources more effectively and conserving the ecosystem for future generations.

Arusha Coffee Lodge
Arusha Coffee Lodge is the finest lodge available in Arusha, the gateway city to the famous national parks of Tanzania. This cozy and serene lodge built around a working coffee plantation, is a wonderful place to begin and end the adventure in Tanzania. The Lodge is located on the outskirts of Arusha and is about 60 minutes by car from Kilimanjaro International Airport. It consists of 23 luxury chalets which are creatively decorated. Each chalet is spaced throughout the lush coffee grove to ensure privacy and solitude. The beds are very comfortable and furnishings are top quality with lots of interesting coffee themed artifacts. The bathrooms are grand with nice fixtures including bath and shower. One of the nicest features is the private wooden deck attached to each chalet which overlooks the coffee plantation. There is a swimming pool and spa area behind the reception and restaurant.

Nakuru Golf Course
Located exactly 160 kilometers from Nairobi is the Nakuru Golf Course. The course was opened in 1929 by Lord Francis Scott. Initially, the course was a nine-holer and consisted mainly of browns this was during its construction in 1923, but was extended to eighteen holes in 1935. Lake Nakuru and the Flamingos can be seen at the eighth and eighteenth tees, these give the player more pleasure. The first hole has a wide fairway with a 376 yard for men and 320 yards for women. The club's annual event is the Coronation Trophy. The restaurant offers appetizing meals and adequate drinks for thirsty players and observers thus, due to the club's great hospitality, visitors from Nairobi highly commend the golf course and club.

Rwenzori Centenary Celebrations
The government of Uganda in partnership with the Italian government is preparing for the centenary since the ascent of Mount Rwenzori in 1906 by the then Italian Duke Luigi da Savoia of Abruzzi. A back ground to Mt. Ruwenzori is revealed in the writings of Ptolemy in AD 160 who wrote of these 'Mountains of the Moon' as the source of the river Nile. The mystery was finally solved centuries later with the expedition of the duke who carried out a complete topographical, survey of the 5109m snow capped mountains. For more details on the centenary celebrations visit www.rwenzoriabruzzi.com. Source:http://visituganda.com/news.html

Explore the Masai Mara on foot
This is an exclusive five night safari that offers every aspect of what a real safari should be seeing animals, walking, exploring, and experiencing African life alongside expert local trackers who live in this area. The opportunities for game viewing on foot or by vehicle, at any time of the year are undoubtedly some of the best in Africa. The area transects the Koiyaki and Ol Kinyei Group ranches, adjoining the Masai Mara Game Reserve. The idea behind walking on safari in a wilderness area is to gain a much more intimate, comprehensive, and intense experience of the animals and landscape. Walking is a fantastic way to encounter game, their tracks, sounds, scents, their relationships to each other and the ever-changing environment. Accommodation is in comfortable, walk-in insect-proof tents, custom-made for walking safaris.

Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania
As well as being the premium location in all Africa for viewing chimpanzees in the wild, Mahale Mountains is also a stunningly beautiful lakeshore location, with superb white sand beaches and gin clear water for swimming, sailing, snorkelling and fishing. Here the verdant forested slopes plunge from the peaks to the shoreline, where perfect white-sand beaches line intimate palm-lined coves on the famous gin-clear lake. The park is located about half way down the Eastern shore of the enormous Lake Tanganyika, about 120km south of the town of Kigoma. There are no roads running into the park and the only access is by boat along the lake. All safaris inside the park are on foot through the forests and visitors need to be of a reasonable level of fitness if they are to have a good chance of seeing what took them to the park. Mahale was gazetted as a park only in 1980 and covers 1577 square kilometres. The highest peak in the chain of mountains that bisects the park north to south is at 2463 metres. The main reason for the existence of the park is as part of the Primate Protection Programme. The area is inhabited by a wide range of animals, but it is chimpanzees for which it is rightly famous. According to recent census there are now more than 700 chimpanzee in about 15 communities.

Nyali Beach Hotel, Mombasa
Nyali Beach Hotel in North Coast could soon be auctioned over a debt of over KSh300 million (approx. USD 4.2 million). The hotel is under receivership for a while already. Its auction became imminent last month after the proprietor, Nyali Beach Hotel Ltd, lost a bid to block its intended sale by a local bank.