UGANDA: The Baker Trail

African Explorer and Anthropologist Julian Monroe Fisher, in conjunction with The Uganda Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife & Antiquities, The Uganda Wildlife Authority, the Ministry of Wildlife, Conservation & Tourism for South Sudan, the descendants of the Victorian explorer Sir Samuel White Baker, Rail Riders Adventure Clothing and Costa Del Mar Sunglasses has announced plans to establish The Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker Historical Trail.

According to www.thebakertrail.com ,The trail will stretch from Gondokoro, the location of the modern day capital of the new nation of South Sudan to Baker's View overlooking Lake Albert in western Uganda. Fisher will be in Uganda to start placing historical markers at locations where Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker camped while on expedition in the Central African region during their two expeditions in the 1860's and 1870's.

In January-February 2013, during Phase Two of The RailRider's 2012-16 Great African Expedition, Fisher and his team that included David Baker, the great-great-grandson of Sir Samuel Baker were accredited with correcting maps of Uganda by establishing the true location of Baker's View, the location where Sir Samuel Baker became the first European to see Lake Albert and to subsequently name the lake for Prince Albert.

The concept for 'The Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker Historical Trail' evolved out of Fisher's two year research of Sir Samuel Baker in preparation for Phase One & Two of 'The RailRider's 2012-16 Great African Expedition'.
Quoting David Baker from Chirton, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, "Sir Samuel Baker and Lady Florence Baker's achievements are to be commemorated by the establishment of a trail through South Sudan and northern Uganda to Baker's view of Lake Albert.

The trail follows the shoreline of Lake Albert northwards to the Victoria Nile and the mighty Murchison Falls and up the river to the Karuma Falls. This is the bold vision of Julian Monroe Fisher who, in early 2013, travelled along the trail in the footsteps of Sir Samuel Baker. It will take energy, determination and resources to achieve this; our example is Sir Samuel Baker, so we are sure it will come about!"

Quoting Fisher, "The Bakers are respected in South Sudan and Uganda for their 1860's and 1870's expeditions and their effort to abolish the slave trade. Today South Sudan and parts of northern Uganda are emerging from years of conflict. In South Sudan the population is struggling to clean up the landmines of the conflicts of the past in order to move forward to a bright future. The future of the region lies in the success of projects like 'The Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker Historical Trail'.

With the support of Honorable Minister Maria Mutagamba, Executive Director Dr. Andrew Ggunga Seguya the Uganda Wildlife Authority, the Baker Family, Rail Riders Adventure Clothing and Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, the Uganda portion of 'The Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker Historical Trail' will be launched in January 2014 to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Baker's expedition. This will be a visual sign of the region, expressing to the world that northern Uganda and South Sudan are "open for business".

During the announcement of the project in Vienna, Austria, Fisher said, "The beauty of the people as well as the landscape should be reasons enough to visit the region sooner than later. 'The Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker Historical Trail' provides the adventure traveler a route through a spectacular scenery and to historical places, that can be accessed by 4 x 4's, mountain bike and also by hiking and will some day be recognized similar to the Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Trail in the USA.