The Eye Uganda                                                                                                                                                                                        

The Eye is a free bi-monthly magazine containing listings and directories, maps, reviews, tour and travel information plus articles of interest. It highlights everything to do with Uganda, from hospitals to hotels,shops to sporting events and from embassies to entertainment. It is distributed for readers and advertisers through national and regional airlines and tour operators, the airport information office, foreign diplomatic missions and NGOs, selected restaurants and bars, supermarkets and gift shops, all major hotels in Uganda, the Uganda Golf Club and government offices including the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

THE EYE TURNS 10 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY - By Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome

March 12, 2010

There is a saying that time flies, but this truth was driven home afresh with the recognition that Uganda’s premier web and print guide for travellers and visitors, The Eye – www.theeye.co.ug – has just completed their first decade in existence and is now entering into the next, brighter, bigger, more colourful and more interesting than ever before. When the first edition appeared in 2000, it was only 44 pages strong, printed in black and white and a modest 2.000 copies were printed and distributed then.

Today, the current edition is 122 pages strong, printed in four colours of course and has just reached a record distribution of 14.000 for the anniversary print. It was also learned that after Uganda and Rwanda The Eye was going to spread its wings to Malawi next, visible on the net through www.theeye.co.mw and more countries were on the list for expansion.

The Eye, free for readers through dedicated distribution points, finances itself entirely through advertising sales and has obviously weathered the global economic and financial crisis better than many other publications. Visit the bi-monthly magazine through the website shown above or see the quarterly Rwanda edition via www.theeye.co.rw. It is a must see and read material for any intending visitors to Uganda and Rwanda! And of course, in closing, CONGRATS to the entire The Eye team!

Articles in This Issue

Main Article - Camping & Adventure in Jinja

	Review by The Eye Camping is an outdoor recreational activity that is jolly good fun. Camping is a key part of the program of many youth organizations around the world, such as Scouting. It is used to teach self-reliance and team work. Camping is also used as a cheap form of accommodation for people attending large open air events such as sporting meetings and music festivals, as well as travelers from abroad who are travelling on a “shoestring” budget. (Wikipedia).                                    More
Restaurant Review : Lotus Mexicana Beach Bar
	Review by The Eye Imagine this for a minute; you’re on a beach and it’s hot. You’re sitting under a thatched gazebo at a bar listening to mellow music while sipping on iced cold cocktails - scantily clad people walk by while others frolic in the sea - sound good? Being at the Lotus Mexicana Beach Bar makes you feel exactly like this... It is a really comfortable and relaxed place to eat and drink and socialise with both friends and family or even work mates. When you get to the Lotus Mexicana Beach Bar you have a choice of sitting at the bar or sitting at one of the tables – we went with the bar option.                                                                  More
Accommodation Review : Kyaninga Lodge (1,000 trees, 1,000 steps)
	Review by The Eye. It has been a long time in the making, but finally after six years we were allowed an exclusive preview. Perched on the rim of a turquoise blue volcanic lake (literally), the lodge is the brainchild of Steve Williams, an interesting character (with his distinguished scruffy mop of hair) who came to Uganda seven years ago on an East African Safari and who fell in love with Uganda and has been here ever since. (He never even completed seeing the rest of East Africa!) Having studied furniture design in England, Steve purchased some land around Lake Kyaninga and some six years ago embarked on his largest design project to date – building a lodge entirely out of timber                   More
Sports & Outdoors : Polo
	Review by The Eye. On the 7th August 2010, history was made at the Kikira Nile Polo Club, when the first international game of polo was played in Uganda vs Kenya. Often referred to as “the game of kings”, Polo can become a thrilling, exciting spectacle that’s hard to look away from to those familiar with the basic principles of the game. Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Players score by driving a small white wooden ball into the opposing team’s goal using a long-handled mallet. The traditional sport of polo is played at speed on a large grass field,          More
General Interest Review : Indigo and Crystal Children
	Bugs - Beautiful, Unbelievable, Gorgeous....... or.......Beastly, Ugly and Gross??. Whatever you feel about ‘’Creepy Crawlies’’, if you take time to look at them closely, you cannot help but be awed by their complexity and their colours and life-cycles. Be they Butterflies, Spiders or Insects, these tiny creatures display God’s Creation at its best. Bulago Island, where we have a holiday cottage, is my bug paradise. A keen photographer, I initially concentrated on the wonderful bird life, but my imagination was soon captured by the amazing bugs to be found as I walked along the many paths.                More
Charity Review : The Sisi Project – Inclusion for Africa
	The Sisi Project, is a partnership between AbleChildAfrica and Black Swan who are working with musicians to develop arts related fundraising Initiatives in Africa with the aim of using the continent’s rich culture and tradition to raise funds for some of Africa’s most vulnerable children. The word Sisi means “US” in Kiswahili. This project is run on the premise that we are able to meet the needs in our community without necessarily looking to the donor community overseas to get it done. The Sisi Project’s first fundraising event will support inclusion for children with special educational needs in schools across Uganda. The schools have been identified by AbleChildAfrica in partnership with their local partner in Uganda, Uganda Society for Disabled Children.                                                                              More
Book Review : Audacity to Love
	by Dr Anne Merriman Audacity to Love is a book of hope, written by the Founder of Hospice Africa for volunteers, donors and students of palliative care, for those who may come to help in Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU), and for anyone who knows in their hearts that we can all make a difference. Palliative care and hospice services for patients with advanced malignant disease such as cancer have developed rapidly since 1967 when Cicely Saunders, founder of the modern hospice movement, opened St Christopher’s Hospice in London.                                                            More