Viewed from a hilltop, southwest Uganda聽spreads out in an emerald patchwork of terraced agriculture and primeval forest. To the north and south, in the Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga National Parks, about half the global population of mountain gorillas (792聽at last count)聽call those forests home.聽

In the wet season, elephantine clouds roll in from the Congolese interior聽and the land glows with startling fecundity. In the rarer dry months, the Virungas, central Africa鈥檚 volcanic chain, make great shadows in the haze. At its heart, Lake Bunyonyi, 6,500 feet up, with its 29 hilly islands, is a jewel.聽

Populated with聽a diverse tapestry of hospitable tribal groups, it鈥檚 the sort of special place you might expect to entice hikers and wildlife聽watchers from around the world. But that鈥檚 just the problem: The few people who come to this paradise聽stay for a day or two to see the gorillas and then move on.

Miha Logar, a 41-year-old Slovenian transplant, is trying to change that. In 2011, he founded the聽, a private-sector initiative that is working to rebrand Lake Bunyonyi and the surrounding region as a destination to rival the golden savannahs of Kenya and Tanzania,聽Uganda鈥檚 eastern neighbors. In time, Logar hopes the name 鈥淕orilla Highlands鈥澛爓ill become southwest Uganda鈥檚 de facto label. He鈥檚 taken on the responsibility of marketing the region鈥攁 job usually shouldered by a government agency鈥攆rom his straw-roofed hut headquarters on the shore of Lake Bunyonyi. 聽

A self-confessed IT聽nut with an infectious smile bracketed by a cropped goatee, Logar first came to Uganda in 1999 as a student researching the potential of computer technology to transform lives in the developing world. A year later, he moved permanently聽to the country to start the nonprofit , an organization that fosters business in the local community through tourism.聽

From the outset, Edirisa鈥檚 goal has been to nurture cultural self-respect by encouraging alternative ways of earning money in a region that鈥檚聽overreliant on farming. To Logar, tourism seemed like an obvious industry to grow. In 2003, Edirisa opened up a hostel, employing indigenous workers and offering locally led hikes and lake tours鈥攂oth incredible add-ons to the typical gorilla safaris offered in the region.

鈥淚t鈥檚 always the same: two nights, off they go. People come for the gorillas, then leave,鈥� Logar explains. 鈥淲e are trying to position this place as a destination by itself.鈥�

In more visible parts of the world, that job would be easy. But here, eight hours by road from the capital of Kampala, farther still from Uganda鈥檚 adventure travel hub of Jinja, remote geography keeps visitor numbers low.

Proximity to the ever-volatile DRC and tragic聽but聽rebounding Rwanda doesn鈥檛 help. Negative perceptions have a tendency to leak over frontiers. The 聽issues warnings only聽for the DRC side of the border, noting聽that Americans traveling in Uganda聽should be aware that tensions have the potential to leak into the area聽in the form of refugees. But locals are proud to say that Lake Bunyonyi, free of bilharzia, crocodiles, and hippos, is one of the safest lakes on the continent.

There鈥檚 evidence that Logar鈥檚 efforts are paying off. Over the past decade, Edirisa鈥檚 hiking and dugout canoeing tours, run not-for-profit and providing employment opportunities for dozens of local people, have become a byword for culturally sensitive travel that goes beyond the guidebooks. Around 300 independent travelers a year, including this writer, have joined the group鈥檚 local guides to explore Lake Bunyonyi鈥檚 islands and the surrounding backcountry.聽

鈥淲e鈥檙e not allowed to hunt in our forest, but by guiding tourists we still get benefits from it,鈥� says John Kanusu, whose community of 120 Batwa Pygmies have scratched out a meager聽agricultural livelihood since being displaced, like many of Uganda鈥檚 marginalized Batwa, from their ancestral lands by the government. 鈥淲e never expected that we would earn money from selling decorated walking sticks!鈥� For Kanusu鈥檚 tribe, and countless others living on the margins in southwest Uganda, the Gorilla Highlands Project holds the promise of dignity聽and an essential source of income.聽

Logar鈥檚 other sphere of expertise, multimedia, is also playing its part. To date, disseminating the new brand has owed much to the steady trickle of volunteers鈥攆ilmmakers, photographers, designers鈥攚ho Logar, himself an ex-journalist, has tempted to Bunyonyi. An award-winning Gorilla Highlands聽ebook, currently running to almost 400 pages, becomes more comprehensive every year. A video聽map, featuring what Logar promises will be 鈥渁mazing footage鈥� of the region鈥檚 places and people, is nearing completion.

These tools aside, the project鈥檚 success will rest on word聽of聽mouth: the everyday work of cajoling tour operators, hotels, and government agencies to adopt the Gorilla Highlands聽rubric when discussing southwest Uganda.聽

It鈥檚 an ambitious plan, but with such a bewitching part of the world on his doorstep, the Slovenian has every right to be optimistic. It鈥檚 just a case of spreading the word.

Lake Bunyonyi is located near the town of Kabale, 250 miles southwest of Kampala. To find out more about the region, you can download the for free.

The post Africa鈥檚 Most Hidden Gem appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

At first, I couldn鈥檛 see anything to distinguish Weligama Bay. A mile-wide bite out of the Sri Lankan coast not far from the country鈥檚 southernmost tip, its arc of ochre sand and lilting palms appeared much the same as the miles of coastline I鈥檇 seen rushing past the windows on the three-hour train-ride from the capital Colombo.

Here and there, rows of bright-painted outrigger catamarans lay beached in the sun. Nearby, a huddle of dark-skinned fishermen sat in a half-circle repairing a shock of bright orange netting. The odd tourist ambled by, guests of the few low-slung lodges here that, until recently, marked the shores of Weligama Bay as one of the quieter stretches of Sri Lanka鈥檚 south coast.

All it took was a brief glance to the east to see how things are changing. Right at the bay鈥檚 apex the scenery was in the process of a dramatic transformation. Rising up over an acre of churned up earth, the 11-story exoskeleton of the Weligama Bay Marriott Resort & Spa, due to open in mid-2016, now dominated the skyline for miles.聽

A decade ago, it would have been fanciful to imagine a major international hotel chain taking a punt on this stretch of sand. But that was before May 2009, when government forces routed the LTTE, or Tamil Tigers, bringing a decisive end to the violent separatist insurgency that had blighted the island鈥檚 reputation for 26 years.聽

As news of the Tigers鈥� ultimate defeat spread, it was inevitable that tourists, formerly deterred by the intermittent bloodshed, would turn to the teardrop island like never before. Just two months after the defeat of LTTE,聽tourism arrivals聽had soared by 28 percent. Six years on, growth has averaged around 30 percent a year.

Rimmed in numberless beaches and surprisingly easy to get around, Sri Lanka squeezes a lot into an area barely larger than West Virginia. In the interior, the mountainous south offers alluring adventures for hikers. The northern flatlands, though less spectacular, are dotted with the ruins of ancient Buddhist monuments. Opportunities for wildlife-watching abound.聽

[quote]If realized, the $4 billion project鈥檚 sprawl of hotels, casinos and entertainment complexes would turn this sleepy backwater into a gaudy Gomorrah, out of keeping with its traditional culture.[/quote]

During my recent trip to Sri Lanka, the sense that the island has arrived at a critical juncture in the evolution of its travel industry formed an ever-present backdrop to the miles of tropical beaches, tranquil temples, and rippling tea-covered hills.

The government has been quick to throw the door wide open. Promotional campaigns have been launched in emerging markets like China and the eastern bloc. A deluge of foreign investment has seen the high-end, resort-style developments normally associated with west coast beaches like Bentota begin to spread outwards. Even the north, the war-scarred LTTE heartland around Jaffna, with its vivid Hindu heritage, is opening up to outsiders.

But all this growth comes with issues. With the government planning to , concerns are growing that the rush to cash-in risks fulfilling Paul Theroux鈥檚 cynical prophecy that 鈥渁s soon as a place gets a reputation for being paradise it goes to hell.鈥�

Nowhere is the conversation over development more pertinent than on the Kalpitiya Peninsula, a narrow isthmus snaking out of the country鈥檚 west coast. A peaceful haven, overlooked for most of the conflict, travellers have discovered the peninsula in recent years. In the south, sit unobtrusively alongside the fishing settlements on Alankuda Beach. In the north, , here to exploit year-round westerlies, have sprung up along the shore.

However, a brasher tourism is breaking-ground. An archipelago of 14 islands splintering off the peninsula鈥檚 northern tip鈥攔anging from small sand-spits to 700 hectare Mutwal鈥攈as been designated a 鈥楾ourism Development Zone鈥�. If realized, the $4 billion project鈥檚 sprawl of hotels, casinos and entertainment complexes would turn this sleepy backwater into a gaudy Gomorrah, out of keeping with its traditional culture.聽

鈥淟ocal communities are apprehensive about the big projects,鈥� warns Dilsiri Welikala, a young Colombo-born entrepreneur whose Robinson Crusoe style surf camp, , opened on the peninsula鈥檚 northwest edge in 2012. 鈥淲e think small ventures that employ locally and respect the traditional fishing economy are much better for Kalpitiya than what the government has planned.鈥澛�

As ever, there are environmental implications too. Once a target for LTTE terrorists, the famous Yala National Park, 378 square miles of monsoon forest in the island鈥檚 south-east corner, is seeing visitor numbers soar. Aided by the 2013 inauguration of the country鈥檚 second international airport at nearby Mattala, which receives daily flights from the Middle East, it鈥檚 a welcome shot-in-the-arm for the local economy. Meanwhile, the question of what the increasing jeep-traffic, and the accompanying noise pollution might mean for the park鈥檚 animals, the world鈥檚 highest concentration of leopards among them, has been relegated from view.

Mirissa, just down-coast from Weligama, is basking in its new-found reputation as one of the best places on earth to glimpse another superlative creature鈥�blue whales. They feed in the abundant waters off Dondra Head, and are fast becoming one of Sri Lanka鈥檚 un-missable sights. Yet there have been widespread complaints that some of the less-experienced operators following in the wake of pioneers like risk distressing the whales by sailing too fast, and too close.聽

鈥淲hen I drove into Mirissa last month it seemed that every ten meters there was an advertisement for whale-watching,鈥� says , a leading Sri Lankan wildlife expert, who helped spread the word about the region鈥檚 blue whales in 2008. 鈥淕ood practices are spreading, but it鈥檚 a struggle to keep up with a rapidly growing tourist industry.鈥�

It鈥檚 hard to divine where tourism in Sri Lanka will be another decade from now. Only last week, , the country鈥檚 uncompromising leader for over a decade, was ousted from office in presidential elections. The development strategy of the new incumbent, Maithripala Sirisena, remains to be seen.聽

One thing is certain: as your whale-watching boat chugs back into the Mirissa dock, Weligama鈥檚 mile-wide beach hazy at the port-bow, the auguries looming ever larger on the horizon are not for everyone.
鈥淭he beginning of the end,鈥� one cynical ex-pat says to me later at the dockyard, nodding in the direction of that Marriott鈥檚 silhouette towering in the west. Time will tell.聽

Get there: Flights to Colombo鈥檚 Bandaranayake Airport are available from several U.S. cities, including New York and Houston via stopovers in Europe and the Middle East. From the capital, an extensive bus and rail network provides relatively straightforward access to all corners of the .

The post The Crowds Are Skipping Thailand to See Sri Lanka appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.