The Total Solar Eclipse November 3rd in Uganda 2013

On November 3rd 2013, the total solar Hybrid eclipse will pass over Western Africa in Equatorial Gabon, Congo, Uganda, Kenya and finally Ethiopia. This is a hybrid eclipse of the Sun with a magnitude of 1.0159. Totality will be visible with the maximum of 1 minute 39 seconds visible from the Atlantic Ocean south of Ivory Coast and Ghana. This eclipse will be experienced in Northern Uganda (Apoka in Kidepo National Park) and Murchison Falls National Park. This eclipse of November 3rd is a Hybrid Eclipse which means that along the central section of the path it will be a very short total eclipse while at the beginning of the path there will be an annular eclipse. Hence the unofficial term "hybrid" being associated with this very special type of eclipse. The reason is that the darkest shadow of the moon doesn't quite reach the surface at those locations. Such a narrow and abrupt eclipse will come with a prominent presentation of the colorful Sinner most atmospheric layer of the Sun (the chromospheres) and a spectacular view along the axis of the Moon’s shadow. Satellite and surface measurements indicate that the weather prospect in northern Uganda and Kenya is the best along the entire 2013 eclipse track.

Check out our tour for the eclipse this November:

http://www.safaritoeastafrica.com/index.php/total-eclipse-nov2013.html. This is a total action-packed adventure programme, crowned by a total solar eclipse low over the remote villages of northern Uganda. It is sure to be a memorable experience with us. Nevertheless, the eclipse is considered to be one of the most awe some and inspiring spectacles in all of nature which is worth traveling to go see. You will observe the sky taking on an eerie twilight as the Sun's bright face is replaced by the black disk of the Moon. The eclipse track begins curving to the northeast as it narrows and the duration of totality decreases. By the time this umbra reaches the western border of Uganda, totality drops to 23 seconds with the Sun at 18° (14:22 Universal Time) and then Sweeps over northern Kenya, crosses Lake Turkana where the central line duration is 14 seconds at 14:25 Universal Time.

Mass Killing of Elephants in Tsavo East- Kenya

It was confirmed that eleven elephants were slaughtered by ivory poachers in Tsavo East National Park in Kenya. After this mass killing, their tusks were chopped off and taken which remarked one of the worst single episodes of poaching in Kenya in recent years.

Kenya Wildlife Services and other conservation fraternity, demand an immediate strong hand response to hunt down those responsible for this latest elephantcide using dogs, foot and vehicle patrols and aerial surveillance. It was the entire family of eleven elephants including the young ones that was wiped out by a hail of bullets before their tusks were hacked out of the carcasses in TsavoEast National Park. Just like any other African country, Kenya has been besieged by increasingly wily and ruthless poachers due to the soaring demand for ivory in Asia. Because of this, more Elephants and Rhinos on the African continent have been poached and killed in order to get money (a pound of ivory can now fetch more than $1,000 in Beijing)

An elephant poached in Tsavo East

According to one researcher in Kenya named Iain Douglas-Hamilton said that he has never seen anything as bad as the poaching of these elephants since 1980’s. He has been studying Elephants for decades and he concluded that if no measure is taken into consideration, Africa is right back where it was during the 1980s as far as poaching is concerned. It’s also reported that several African rebel groups are now using ivory to finance their mayhem, and some American-backed African militaries have also been implicated in wiping out elephants. Much of this ivory is turned into bookmarks, chopsticks and other trinkets.

A recent census on elephant and Gravy Zebra in the north of Kenya has shown a significant decline in numbers and a wave of rhino killings on private conservancies and in parks has resulted in a public private partnership in Laikipia where aircraft and helicopters are now made available by private airlines to take a rapid deployment unit on site as soon as reports of gunshots or suspicious vehicle movement are reported.