Spare binos?

[Tom Tarrant <>]

Hi All,

We have recently returned from a birding trip to Uganda.  Uganda
is a country that recognizes that it's wildlife is a drawcard for many
tourists and a means to provide income and jobs for it's people.
However, it's a very poor country with most of it's people living in poverty.

The birding was excellent (we saw nearly 600 bird species and lots of
mammals including Chimpanzee, Gorilla and Leopard) and we met many of
the Ugandan Wildlife Authority rangers who impressed us with their
commitment and their desire to preserve their natural heritage and
share their knowledge.

One of the guides, Samson from Semuliki National Park mentioned to us,
that he dearly wanted to learn more about the birds and becoming more
skilled in bird ID, but that each Wildlife office was provided with
only one
set of binos, which the guides could only use when they took tourists
on a bird walk but not privately to improve their skills away from work.

Young people like Samson, wouldn't have any chance of ever being able
to afford such an item and so we thought it might be a good idea to ask
if any Birding-Aus readers happened to have a old, unused pair around
that they would be prepared to sacrifice and have us forward on to him.

We've created a new gallery of images under http://www.aviceda.org/gallery  It's not finished but there are plenty
of pics to view. A trip-report is in the pipeline!

Please send any response to us directly.

Thanks
Marie & Tom Tarrant

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Tom & Marie Tarrant
Samsonvale, Qld

http://www.aviceda.org
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