Herbert Byaruhanga - Birding Uganda

Herbert Byaruhanga was born in Western Uganda adjacent to Queen Elizabeth National Park and Imaramagambo Forest. His love for nature started in primary school where he was an active member of the school wildlife club. He is the proprietor of Bird Uganda Safaris LTD, founder member and general secretary of the Uganda Bird Guides Club, and also founder of Uganda Safari Guides Association.

As a trainer of bird guides, accredited by Birdlife International's South African partner, Birdlife South Africa, Herbert has been instrumental in training bird guides in Uganda. He is also Chairman of the Federation of East African Tourist Guides Herbert holds a B.A. in tourism management from Makerere University Kampala, as well as a Higher Certificate of Education, Diploma in Tourism, Certificate in Tour Guiding, and Certification in Advanced Motoring.
Now referred to as " papa" meaning father, Herbert is well known in the tourism industry especially in Uganda and Rwanda, for his courage and determination to build capacity of the local people so that they are able to handle tourists professionally. He has organized courses of tourist guides in tourist driving, Cultural Guides, Bird Guides, and community guides.

From his own words, " After guiding tourists for several years, I realized that they needed the services of a knowledgeable tour guide or tour operator who knows where to find what they would like to see birds, who knows about their habitats, and their behavior. So I chose to offer safaris and tours to any body that is interested in Uganda and East Africa as well.

" When I joined the tourism industry as a guide I immediately looked into the future of tourism in Uganda. The first thing I wondered was, why would people come to Uganda when in neighbouring Tanzania and Kenya there has been a conducive political climate for many years, where all the animals there are very safe? I needed to offer tourists an alternative to the animals that draw people to Tanzania and Kenya, so I decided on birds. Birds are everywhere and will always be there, and considering my natural love for nature and birds, I immediately started birding and Iam now proud to see most companies bird watching in their programs they offer".

Go to Herbert's Blog