As the grim process of identifying the bodies of the slain tourists wrapped up Wednesday, the warnings started - travel advisories from foreign governments urging their citizens to avoid the troubled region. The Clinton administration issued a warning ''which strongly urges American citizens to postpone their visits to Uganda's gorilla parks because of the current security situation,'' White House spokesman David Leavy said. For Americans, the top international destinations remain London, Paris, Rome, and Cancun, Mexico, according to a January survey of the American Society of Travel Agents and Fodor's . Gorilla watching, while in itself a tranquil matter of sitting quietly in tall grass, also takes stamina. Just to get to gorilla habitats takes hours of driving on badly rutted roads, followed by long hikes on steep, rugged slopes through mosquito-infested jungle.
Travelers sleep outdoors, in campsites.
Acacia Expeditions, a British-based tour group, said Wednesday it was canceling all Uganda tours ''for the foreseeable future'' after four of its clients were among those kidnapped and released. Safety is paramount. All tour operators want to have their clients come back again. You can run into floods, earthquakes, tribal insurrections.