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Part 1 - Sleepless on SafariPart 2 - Between Two WorldsPart 3 - Oneness in Creation
Our journey to Masai* land was a true homecoming. Personally, this trip was among the most important and meaningful Wildland Adventures I've experienced. It affected the rest of the group members in a deep level as well; I've never seen such emotion from our guests!
July 30, Masai Mara
As I write this journal entry from the Masai Mara Game Reserve in the heart of Masai land in Kenya, an old Masai woman sits before us. Our guide, Meitamei Olol Dapash, walks over, puts his arm around her and introduces our group to his mother. She traveled to our camp with my eldest brother a half-day across the Savannah and forests of Loita to welcome all of you to our family.
Meitamei and I planned this one-of-a-kind safari itinerary for active and inquisitive travelers, those who want to go beyond the looking glass by meeting Masai, learning about Masai culture and wisdom, and understanding the complex issues of ecology and wildlife conservation in Africa. Our design was to go on safari beyond the search for Big Five game that is the single-minded goal of so many travelers to Africa. This is a trip about personal discovery, being a conscientious traveler and giving back, as much as it is about experiencing the awe and excitement of being on safari.
Meitamei has an extensive family reaching far beyond the wilds of Africa. We became brothers ten years ago after his family fled Kenya to avoid persecution for his activism in behalf of wildlife conservation and the cultural survival of the Masai people who have been marginalized by colonization, disease and development. Many members of this Wildland Adventures group from Seattle are the same individuals who helped the Dapash family establish a new life in the Pacific Northwest. Therefore, Meitamei's mother made the hard journey to our camp to thank us for taking care of her son and grand kids in America. She insisted the next Wildland Adventures traveler who comes to Africa must make the trip to their family boma in rural Masai land!
MERC: Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition
After Meitamei arrived in Seattle we formed a US branch of the non-profit Maasai Environmental Resource Coalition [MERC], an African-based grassroots coalition of Masai communities throughout East Africa. Our intent was to help Meitamei and his colleagues at home by bringing international attention and resources to bear for protection of Masai land rights and political sovereignty, cultural integrity, and preservation of the wildlife that has co-existed with Masai for centuries.
Last year MERC and Wildland Adventures embarked on an ecotourism project to reform tourism in East Africa, in part by creating an entirely new kind of safari that would bring our travelers in direct contact with the Masai, engendering a more in-depth, and authentic encounter. By planning our itinerary through MERC's grassroots network, our Masai hosts are prepared and excited to receive us into their villages, schools and homes. They share their lives, teach us how they co-exist in harmony with nature, and describe the hardships they face living among wild animals crowded for space by national parks, uncontrolled tourism, farming and other land exploitation that pushes the Masai onto marginally productive lands. Our collaborative goal is to develop a cross-cultural exchange whereby the Masai receive direct benefits from our visit and our guests enjoy an intimate and honest experience of life among the Masai.
"...never have I experienced a safari like this."
An award-winning journalist of a leading East African newspaper accompanied our group with the intent of writing a feature story about this inaugural Wildland Adventure. He concluded, In my three years of writing about tourism and the environment in Africa, never have I experienced a safari like this that cares so much about the people and gives back so much to the Masai. Another journalist from a different leading newspaper, The Daily Nation, also joined us. We held a mini-press conference on the grounds of the Mara Intrepids Camp wherein Meitamei and I presented some of the destructive impacts of conventional safari tourism on the environment and wildlife of Masai Mara. We discussed the struggle of Masai people to retain their traditional way of life in the face of encroaching Western development, and how ecotourism is the only form of tourism that will preserve the vast Mara-Serengeti ecosystem and provide the Masai with a means to determine their own future. And from the travelers point of view, tourists today have little opportunity to have authentic, meaningful, positive interactions that benefit the Masai.
Hatari!
Most of our over-40-year-old group recalls the John Wayne movie entitled, Hatari!, which is Swahili for Danger! Once we left Nairobi and our safari was underway, we all looked back and scoffed, What Hatari!? What was this concern about danger among group members (and their families) before coming to Africa? Several members of the group had expressed unease about terrorism and perhaps some trepidation traveling to the dark continent. However, from there, among the wildlife and the pastoral way of life in this beautiful land, our minds were at ease. There was no feeling of hatari on this Wildland Adventure. Well, some of us weren't so sure about the wild animals outside our camp at night, but there certainly was no danger from any terrorists! In fact, everyone in this group of 14 travelers from ages 18 to 75 felt pampered and safe in the capable, professional hands of our drivers-guides and in the comfortable, well-appointed tent camps and lodges we use on this safari.
It was a relief getting away from the US media, and we learned more from there about US foreign policy and our State Department Travel Advisories. The East African News reported a story about pressure on Kenya from the U.S. government to pass an anti-terrorism bill. Many Africans, especially Moslem's, felt this bill would go too far to restrict personal freedom and allow unwarranted arrest and interrogation leading to torture, all at a time when Kenyans are beginning to enjoy democracy and human rights under the new government. Furthermore, the Bush administration is pushing hard to establish a new military base in Kenya. It is common knowledge in East Africa, and became pretty clear to our group, that the U.S. Department of State is using its warning for U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Kenya more for political leverage than an honest assessment of risk for American travelers especially since the British, Australian and Belgian governments lifted their warnings before we departed.
Sleepless on Safari
We visited three protected areas in Masai land in order to gain a diverse cultural and natural history experience. In 11 days we traveled to the Masai Mara Game Reserve and Amboseli National Park in Kenya, and to the private wilderness camp of Sinya in Tanzania. Although the trip was well paced with plenty of time to fully experience each place, this group of Seattleites felt a little Sleepless on Safari just because each day was so full of incredible experiences from dawn to dusk that we were bushed by nightfall.
Our first accommodation on this trip was Siana Springs Camp, a permanent tented camp with spacious tents, en suite shower including flush toilet, spread out on lovely grounds surrounded by acacia, palm, and bamboo. The common dining area accommodated up to 60 guests with a plentiful buffet, bar-lounge and many tables. It was just right for the first several nights out of Nairobi as it offered a camp atmosphere in the bush but with an extra margin of security and comfort, including an electrified fence to keep the real wild game out.
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| | Wildebeest graze in front of the Amboseli Serena Lodge at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro. |
Next we stayed at the Amboseli Serena Lodge, one of many properties in Kenya and Tanzania owned by a conglomerate East African enterprise. The Serena lodges, although catering to more conventional lodge-bound safari travelers, is noted for its higher standards of environmental management. Compared to the Siana Springs Tent Camp, this was a step up in comfort, food quality and spacious grounds with a spectacular view overlooking flooded grasslands where zebras, hippo, elephant, gazelles and other wildlife graze. Some of us enjoyed the pool and we all spent time relaxing and meeting on the lovely grounds. We also stayed here because we could walk with our local MERC Masai guides to the nearby village in our program.
In each area we would usually go on game drives in the morning and late afternoon, then meet with Masai during the day. The first day out of Nairobi we found ourselves on a game drive in the Masai Mara. In the golden light of a waning day we turned off onto a side road to find ourselves in the middle of a herd of elephants with no other vehicles in sight. With the engines turned off, we watched and listened to them breathing, chomping, and treading lightly through the tall grass. And to think I was just walking around Green Lake [in Seattle] last week! whispered Janet in awe.
We moved on to another area where a few other cars had congregated but we couldn't see anything. Out of the tall grass of the African sunset arose a very large lioness. She sat up, looked out over the tall grass and then disappeared again. How many other lions were in this pride lurking in the cover of high grass? Then, one driver of another tourist group couldn't resist and started driving off-road through the vegetation to give his guests a better look. Our group protested because off-road driving is damaging the habitat and harassing the wildlife in many popular parks. The driver finally stopped but we reported him to the ranger on our way out. He will be fined, or if its his second offense they will ban him from the park. Our drivers understand off-road driving in parks is not permitted, and we encourage all of our clients to watch out for and report errant drivers.
Hyenas play Capture The Flag with zebra tail!
Throughout the rest of our journey, especially on game drives in the Mara and Amboseli we witnessed spectacular wildlife encounters. We learned that vultures circling overhead or crowded in a tree was usually a tell-tale sign of a lion kill. The first one we encountered was hidden in the bush so we didn't get a close-up look. But a few days later in Amboseli we came upon two zebras killed by a pride of 14 lions right next to the road! Just 20 meters away we watched, listened and photographed as they took turns crunching and gnawing on their fresh kill. But the most entertaining scene at the kill was watching the jackals and hyenas move in to take over as soon as the lions abandoned their prey. At first the lion walked away in hesitation. The hyenas moved in cautiously. When the lion casually turned his head to look back, the hyenas scattered in the dust! Then a bold little jackal moved up to the kill and grabbed the bushy, black zebra tail. Seconds latter he was chased down by a bully hyena who stole the tail and ran. When the rest of the hyena gang saw this it was like kick-off to a hybrid sporting event combining Capture the Flag and Rugby. The whole lot of them, about 20 frenzied hyenas, raced about the grassland trying to capture the scruffy tail from each other. It must have been a matter of pride because the tail certainly didn't have much nutritional value. However, it had high entertainment value for all of us observing the games!
Gazing across the cosmos.
On several occasions we came upon huge herds of elephants, a family of more than 40 individuals with babies just weeks old. We could see them approaching from the far horizon and drove ahead into their path. Spacing our three Land Rovers out to give them plenty of room we turn the engines off and wait. This passive approach to game viewing, letting them approach us rather than the other way around, makes me feel less intrusive as they pass by at a comfortable distance, which for some confident males and playful teenagers was an arms length from the vehicle, close enough to look into their eyes and feel their cautious curiosity as they cross the road. Watching these large herds of elephants lumbering across the African wilderness, especially the elephants of Amboseli National Park known for their very large tusks, is a timeless experience, like gazing across the cosmos millions of years ago when mastodon roamed the earth.
Throughout our game drives in the Mara and Amboseli we saw herds of gazelles, impala, wildebeest, zebras, giraffe and buffalo. We viewed several prides of lions, saw jackals, hyenas, and hippos. Our list included Vervet monkeys, baboons, warthog, cheetah, ostrich, the beautiful Crowned-crane, impressive Secretary bird, and much more, particularly when taking into account the hundreds of species of spectacular birds.
The Little Five You really don't experience the real Africa without getting out of the vehicles and going for walks in the bush. We make sure every Wildland traveler takes a bit of African soil home on his or her sole and in their soul! Typical tourists to Africa are herded around in vehicles through the parks and wildlife reserves hell-bent on seeing the Big Five: lion, buffalo, rhinoceros, elephant and leopard. But our resident naturalist guide at Siana Springs Camp, Haroun Parsoi Kamoye, a Masai from that area, prefers to show guests what he calls the Little Five. Creatures like the Ant Lion and Dung Beetle. Several of us joined him on a morning nature walk outside the fenced boundaries of the tent camp, accompanied by an armed ranger. Outside the camp, where elephants roam and lions and hyenas were heard the night before, we walked slowly, spotting birds, identifying scat and tracks in the volcanic soils, learning about the 40 species of acacia and the varied insect life. Haroun sacrificed a black ant by dropping it into the small crater of an ant lion so we could watch the ferocious predator emerge to grab its prey unable to climb out of the deadly sand pit.
* The correct spelling of the name ''Maasai'' is based on the political-tribal groups of Kenya and Tanzania referred to as the ''Maa'' people who are ethnically related or who have over time assimilated to the Maa culture and language. However, on our website, we have spelled the term by the common misnomer of ''Masai'' because that is how most travelers spell it when using the term to look for safaris on Internet search engines.
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