Africa Travel Information

Wildebeest crossing the Mara river in Masai Mara. Picture by BrianScott: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianscott/

In the past few months, one of the most predominant news item from the Kenya tourism industry has been the existence of illegal camps and lodges in the Maasai Mara game reserve. According to the Kenyan government, more than 70% of the Masai Mara lodges, safari camps and resorts are operating illegally. Kenya’s Minister for tourism, Najib Balala, went as far as threatening to shut down all these lodges (see this story).

A twin issue related to this is that some of these camps are said to be intruding in the niches of endangered species like the black rhino, threatening the already fragile ecosystem (see story here).

Of course, if these camps and lodges have not been licensed, shutting them down is a very logical action. But this would present one big problem: a drop in tourist numbers. Currently, there are approximately 108 camps and lodges in the Masai Mara area, with a total bed capacity of about 4000. If you forcefully close 70% of these, bed capacity would probably drop by the same margin (to about 1200 persons). Considering that Masai Mara is the most visited and best known game reserve in Kenya, such a reduction would affect the entire tourism sector in more than one way.

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Egypt is the top-most travel destination in Africa, thanks mostly to the many historical sites from the ancient days of the pharaohs. In today’s post, I highlight five of the most visited sites of ancient Egypt, including their photos. Unless I specify otherwise, all the pictures I have used in this post were licensed under a creative commons license by their creators/owners by the time I was using them in this post.

1. The Pyramids at Giza

The Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza, Egypt. Photo by: Girolame at flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/girolame/

The Egyptian pyramids are probably what everyone thinks of when planning to travel in Egypt. While there are several pyramid sites all across Egypt, none is as popular as Giza. Among the three pyramids at the Giza necropolis, the great pyramid of Khufu (pictured) is the most magnificent. It is the only one of the Seven wonders of the ancient world that is still intact.

Scientists believe that this great pyramid took about 20 years to build during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, with its construction being finished in the year 2551BC. Like most other Egyptian pyramids, the great pyramid was built to serve as a tomb for the then royal family.

If you are lucky, you may get a chance to go into the pyramid when you travel to Giza. But that means you have to wake up early since the authorities only allow 300 people in at any one time.

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Lake Victoria in East Africa

If you live in Africa or keenly follow Africa news, you may easily relate the term “Great lakes region” more with political instability than with tourism and travel. Yet this region has enough unique and interesting attractions to make it rank alongside the traditional African safari destinations as a preferred holiday destination.

Strictly speaking, the “great lakes” refers to the series of lakes in or around the Eastern Africa Great Rift Valley.

Lake Victoria is the largest of the African great lakes, and is shared in unequal proportions by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It is also the largest Lake in Africa, and the third largest fresh-water lake in the world (by surface area). The Lake is one of the main sources of the great River Nile, and a source of livelihood for many communities living around it.

The other great lakes include:

• Lake Albert at the Uganda-DRC border
• Lake Edward at the Uganda-DRC border
• Lake Kivu at the DRC-Rwanda border
• Lake Malawi (shared Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique). It is also the second deepest and third largest African lake.
• Lake Tanganyika (shared by Tanzania, DRC, Burundi and Zambia). Lake Tanganyika is the the deepest lake in Africa, and the second deepest lake in the world.
• Lake Turkana at the Kenya-Ethiopia border

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Young African Elephant Bull

Two African countries, Zambia and Tanzania have requested for a “one-off” sale of their ivory stock piles. Their case will be heard this weekend (March 13).

When CITES imposed a ban on ivory trading about 20 years ago, it was because of the rampant poaching that had almost wiped out the African elephant population in many countries. The ban saved the elephant from extinction.

In November 2008, some Southern Africa countries successfully lobbied for a one-off sale similar to the one Tanzania and Zambia want. For obvious reasons, this created a loophole for poachers to “legally” sell their ivory. Since then, cases of elephant poaching have risen in many countries, reversing the gains made when the ban was imposed.

On this issue therefore, I side with the Africa wildlife conservationists in opposing the request by Tanzania and Zambia.

Surprisingly, this week alone, I have received e-mails from several safari operators and adventure camps in Tanzania, requesting me to sign a petition to voice my opposition to the one-off sale. Which raises the question: in whose interests is the Tanzania government acting, if most stakeholders in the Tanzania tourism business are opposed to the sale?

If you agree with my opinion, you can also sign the save the elephant petition here.

More information:

http://www.bloodyivory.org

http://www.kws.go.ke/info/promotions/detail/Road_to_Dhoha.html

Update 1
Thankfully, participants in the CITES meeting in Doha rejected Tanzania’s and Zambia’s proposal. Read details here.

Pelicans and other birds in Lake Elementaita

I previously posted information about the KWS plans to translocate over 1000 Zebras from the Soysambu ranch in Kenya to Amboseli National park. In the post, I was looking at it as a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

But it seems that nature has not frowned upon this private wildlife conservancy. The Standard newspaper reports that about 400,000 migratory birds (white storks) from Europe have found a temporary home in Lake Elementaita, right at the middle of the ranch. The lake has in the past hosted a few of these birds, but not in such substantial numbers as this time. You can find full details of this story in the online edition of the Standard here.

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Flamingoes in Lake Nakuru, Kenya

Ask most Africa travel enthusiasts, and they’ll easily tell you that Kenya is the real home of the African safari. To this day, the country’s diverse wildlife and magnificent landscapes continue to attract hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. This is despite the rising competition from countries like Tanzania, South Africa, Namibia, and Zambia.

Of course wildlife safaris are Kenya’s biggest attraction, which is why in today’s post, I write about what, in my opinion, are the five of the top national parks and game reserves in Kenya.

1. Masai Mara Game Reserve
Certainly, no other Kenyan game reserve or national park can rival the Maasai Mara in terms of fame and popularity. I can attribute a huge chunk of this fame to the annual wildebeest migration between the Mara and the neighboring Serengeti national park in Tanzania. This great migration takes place between June and September, and remains the top draw for tourists into the Mara.

But that does not mean the migration is all that the Mara has to offer. In fact, you can travel to the reserve almost anytime of the year, and still have a great safari experience. The reserve has a great concentration of animals including all the big five. It may sometimes be hard to spot rhinos and leopards in the Mara, but you can be sure you will see plenty of elephants, lions, and buffaloes all year round.

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