By Patrick Jaramogi
SEMILIKI, Uganda: Visitors to the popular Sempaya Hot springs located at the Semuliki National Park will no longer need to pay fees to access the springs. Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has scrapped fees for the guided nature walk to view the Sempaya hot springs following a directive by the UWA Board of Trustees.
According to a presser issued by Bashir Hangi, the UWA Communications Manager, the board reviewed the fees for access to the hot springs at Sempaya and decided that the fees should be discontinued. The UWA Executive Director Sam Mwandha says the scrapping of the fees is aimed at improving visitor experience in Semuliki National Park. “This measure will greatly improve visitor experience in the park and we hope even the nationals will now find it more convenient and exciting to visit the park since they will no longer be required to pay separately to view the hot springs” said Mwandha. With this new measure, visitors to the hot springs will now only pay the park entrance fees and no further charges will be levied. Other products such birding and nature walks will be paid for as per the Uganda Wildlife Authority tariff which is accessible on our website using the link ; http://ugandawildlife.org/images/pdfs/UWA-Tariff-2018-
About Semuliki National Park
Semuliki National park was created in 1993 following the upgrade of Semuliki Forest Reserve that was created in 1932. It is the only tract of true lowland tropical forest in East Africa, hosting 441 recorded bird species and 53 mammals. The Park sprawls across the floor of the Semliki Valley on the remote, western side of the Rwenzori. The park is dominated by the easternmost extension of the great Ituri Forest of the Congo Basin. This is one of Africa’s most ancient and bio-diverse forests; one of the few to survive the last ice age, 12-18,000 years ago. While Semuliki’s species have been accumulating for over 25,000 years, the park contains evidence of even older processes. Hot springs bubble up from the depths to demonstrate the powerful subterranean forces that have been shaping the rift valley over the last 14 million years.
