MARASA PROPERTIES ROAR INTO ACTION FOR WORLD LION DAY – AUGUST 10, 2013

KAMPALA, Uganda (05/2013) Marasa, a member of the Madhvani Group of Companies, one of the largest private-sector groups in East Africa, announces its participation in World Lion Day, August 10, 2013, a day that will be marked around the world to call attention to the endangerment of the King of Beasts.  On that date, Marasa properties in Uganda – Chobe Safari Lodge; Paraa Safari Lodge and Mweya Safari Lodge, will donate $1.00 for each room night at these lodges to the non-profit Uganda Conservation Foundation which helps free lions from snares.

World Lion Day is the first global campaign to celebrate the importance of the lion worldwide and to call attention to the need for conservation efforts in the lions’ behalf.  Organizers say, “Since the dawn of man, the lion has played an integral role in our lives:  symbolically, religiously, culturally, economically and biologically.  To lose the lion from our world would be to lose part of our global heritage.”

Guests can see the splendid lion in his natural habitat by going on game drives at Chobe Safari Lodge and Paraa Safari Lodge, both in Murchison Falls National Park, and both scenically situated on the River Nile.  And they can view a particular wonderment – tree-climbing lions – while on safari at Mweya Safari Lodge. Mweya is located in Queen Elizabeth National Park on the amazing natural channel, Kazinga, running between salt water Lake Edward and fresh water Lake George. The channel attracts a varied range of animals and birds, with one of the world’s largest concentrations of hippos and numerous Nile crocodiles.

Arrangements to see the Ugandan lions can be made through Premier Safaris. 

For more information on World Lion Day, visit: www.worldlionday.com

PREMIER SAFARIS’ ANNOUNCES NOVEL EXPLORER-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM

KAMPALA, Uganda-  Premier Safaris, a specialist in adventure/luxury safaris in East Africa, is launching a unique program – customized safaris with Explorer-in-Residence Julian Monroe Fisher, a 21^st century David Livingstone. Fisher, an American currently based in Austria, is an explorer, author, anthropologist, ethnographer, filmmaker, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, member of the American Anthropological Association and an International Fellow of the British Chapter of The Explorers Club in New York City.  

Between 2007 and 2011, Fisher conducted five consecutive Explorers Club flag-sanctioned research expeditions to the African continent. In 2012-13, he guided an expedition team that included David Baker, great-great-grandson of renowned Victorian-age explorer Sir Samuel White Baker, retracing Baker’s 1860’s route from Cairo to Murchison Falls in Uganda.

Open to two – six people who crave adventure, Premier Safaris will tailor an African safari with emphasis on Uganda, the “pearl of Africa,” and stays at Chobe Safari Lodge and Paraa Safari Lodge. Fisher as well as a local guide will be along for the duration of the trip. Beyond leading the safari, he will share tales, historical facts, anthropological information and anecdotes from his twenty years of spearheading expeditions across the continent. Journeys include Lake Victoria, where one of the great 19^th century quests – the source of the White Nile – was fulfilled, when Jack Speke discovered it at Jinja.

Adventurers can visit the explored or hazard the unexplored, just like Livingstone, Sir Richard Burton, Beryl Markham and other intrepid Africaphiles.  Rates vary, depending on accommodations, number of people and activities required.  General rate: about US$3300 per person for a trip with five people over seven days. Trips can be extended to 10 days for those who want to retrace Baker’s footsteps in Uganda.

For more information, contact Corne Schalkwyk at gm@premiersafaris.com  visit www.premiersafaris.com or go to Fisher’s website: www.JulianMonroeFisher.com

ANNOUNCING THE OSCARS OF THE NATURAL WORLD – AFRICA THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE

The Seven Natural Wonders Project, a non-profit conservation initiative based in Dallas, Texas and spearheaded by Dr. Phillip Imler, has declared award winners of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa, and they are:  The River Nile; Mt. Kilimanjaro; The Red Sea; Ngorongoro Crater; Sahara Desert; Okavango Delta; and the Serengeti Migration. Tanzania’s Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Ambassador K. Kagasheki, presided over the awards ceremony which was sponsored by Ethiopian Airlines.

The voting process was conducted by specialists* and criteria included “grandeur; amazement and wonder.” 

Uganda’s Minister of State for Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, the Hon. Agnes Egunyu, accepted the award for “The Nile, longest river in the world with its source in Uganda.”  She noted that this prestigious award is yet another in a series of accolades bestowed on Uganda, among which was being selected in 2012 by the New York Times as a top tourist destination.

To experience some of the wonders of this exciting country and The River Nile in all its glory, Premier Safaris has developed a six-night, all-inclusive package called Nile Spectacle, a water safari that comprises visiting the source of the White Nile, river rafting, and a boat trip to world-famous Murchison Falls and the foaming pool at its base known as the Devil’s Cauldron. Guests will enjoy stays at luxury lodges including Paraa Safari Lodge and Chobe Safari Lodge, both of which afford spectacular views of the Nile.

The rate per person for six nights, all-inclusive, start at US$3000. 

For more information, contact gm@premiersafaris.com Or call toll free +1-877-620-9329

*The Declaration Committee of the Seven Natural Wonders Project includes Alexandra Cousteau, daughter of the legendary marine explorer and founder of Blue Legacy International; Rich Beattie, executive editor of Travel + Leisure; Dr. John Francis, a vice president of the National Geographic Society; TV host Julia Dimon;  Dr. Frank Gill, president of Audubon; and Arend de Haas, co-founder of the Africa Conservation Society.

THE WILDER SHORES OF LOVE: EXPEDITION TO RE-TRACE DISCOVERY OF LAKE ALBERT & MURCHISON FALLS, UGANDA

A four-night expedition to re-trace and document the African explorations of Sir Samuel Baker, one of the more courageous and colorful 19^th century European adventurers, and his second wife, Florence, a Hungarian beauty who was a former slave, is being led by Julian Fisher and accompanied on the Uganda leg by Baker’s great-great-grandson, David Baker.

A widower and committed abolitionist, Baker attended a white slave auction in Bulgaria and rescued a beautiful blonde girl twenty years his junior, who was about to be sold into a Turkish harem. In 1864, Baker and Florence, after withstanding hunger, disease, and myriad deprivations and threats, arrived at the shores of a lake in what is now Uganda, and identified the place where the White Nile enters the lake. Baker christened the lake “Albert,” after England’s late Prince Regent. Then, upstream the couple discovered the mighty Murchison Falls, where the Nile flows through a 23-foot-wide cleft in the rocks to plunge 148 feet below, forming a spectacular rainbow. Baker named the falls in honor of the then president of the Royal Geographic Society, Sir Roderick Murchison.

Those enchanted by the romance and derring-do of Africa’s great explorers can follow in the footsteps of Samuel and Florence, who became notorious in Victorian England because they traveled as an unwed couple.  After their incredible adventures, notoriety turned into fame:  he for his discoveries, she for her resourcefulness (among other gifts, she was an expert seamstress, who made all their clothes) and together for their unconventional romance (they later married).

Premier Safaris, a specialist in adventure/luxury safaris in East Africa, is packaging a trip for those who want to follow Samuel’s and Florence’s journey to Lake Albert. It includes a boating safari on the Nile to Murchison Falls, game drives, and stays in Murchison Falls National Park at two luxury lodges:  Chobe Safari Lodge and Paraa Safari Lodge.  Located in a little-known section of the Park, Chobe boasts breathtaking, panoramic views of the River Nile, coupled with the sounds of its frothing rapids.  Paraa, known as the “jewel of the Nile,” also offers delightful views of the river and its resident population of hippos and crocodiles.

Rates for the four-night safari are $1,975 per person sharing; single room supplement is $118. Rates are valid from 1 January 2013 – 31 December 2013. There is a minimum of two guests per departure. 
Included in the rates are two nights at Chobe Safari Lodge and two nights at Paraa Safari Lodge, Murchinson Falls National Park, most meals, ground transportation in custom built safari vehicles with English speaking guides, all park fees (as specified in the program) and government taxes.

For reservations, email: GM@premiersafaris.com or visit:  www.premiersafaris.com