Crombecs and Servals

So I guess its been quite a while since I've posted anything, and I know no one really reads this anyway, but I figured I might as well share a little about life here in the mara.

The other day, sitting in the mess tent at dinner with all the guests, a Red Faced Crombec flew into the mess from the open front of the tent. It must have been around 8:30pm, a time when I would never expect to see a diurnal bird like a crombec, and it seemed a little confused about its whereabouts. It perched itself on the basket-weave lampshades and sat still for a long time. After a while, however, I guess it decided to capitalize on the situation and began darting off, catching a couple of insects, which were very visible on the white cotton ceiling between the lamps.
Obviously entertaining for my guests, and fascinating for me, I was still a little worried that he was being blinded and confused by the lights and all the activity below him. When I left the mess at around 9:45, he was still there, flitting from one lampshade to another. But when I came back in the morning, he was gone. What happened to him, or why he was there in the first place will remain a mystery, I suppose.

Then just yesterday, having dropped a couple of guests off at Olkiombo airstrip, I was on my way back to camp, when I came across a beautiful serval, standing on the side of the road in the long grass. He seemed quite unperturbed by my sudden appearance and, actually, a little curious of the car. He stood and watched me fumble for my camera, pulling it out of the case and shoving the batteries in as fast as I could. As soon as the camera was on and ready to shoot, however, he was ambling his way past my door to smell the front bumper. Eventually he started walking up the road for a 100m or so before veering off to the left, ears erect and hair standing on end.
I followed until I dared not get any closer and switched off the engine. He had almost completely disappeared in the long grass and was inching forward, obviously with something in his sights. So I sat patiently for about 10 minutes, until I realized he wasn't moving forward anymore. I moved forward a couple of metres only to find him relaxing in the grass, obviously having given up on whatever he was stalking. Instantly, though, his ears pricked up again, and he stood up slowly, intent on something in front of him. Watching his lithe body moving in extreme stealth, as he stalked his prey was something I've never witnessed before with a serval. I waited for a pounce, with my camera at the ready, but when it actually happened it was over within a split second and my finger hadn't even pressed down the button! Anyway, he missed, and a very distressed cisticola flew out from under his chin, and off to freedom.

If I had some good pictures, I'd post them. I don't, so I won't.

Tanzania, Tanzania

What an utterly beautiful country.
I've been there several times before, during my life, but I've only recently felt the urge to write about it.
It's absolutely massive compared to Kenya. Driving anywhere just takes such a long time. But the scenery is amazing almost everywhere.
How unfortunate, then that all Tanzanian officials, be they park rangers, police, or immigration officers, are complete fools. Their undying need to assert their authority over all with whom they come in contact gives a very negative impression to many an impressionable tourist. Every one of them, with the exception of maybe two, is on an everlasting power-trip. Even if they're not trying to get extra money out of you (which is rare), they're still rude, obnoxious and pompous.
Unfortunately, more often than not, they ARE trying to get extra money out of you for committing non-existing offenses or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I suppose the average tourist doesn't usually have to deal with them directly, as their guide takes care of almost everything for them, but if they had any indication of what was going on behind the scenes, they would vow never to come back.

Now, I suppose the same is true for Kenyan officials, but at least Kenyans do it with a smile. Tanzanian "offisa's" are permanently straight faced. Having travelled through Ngorongoro Conservation area three times, Serengeti once, and the Kenya/TZ border twice, I don't think I had a single interaction with them that did not get my back up (and that includes police checks, of which there are many).

Here's what I've learned about East African Offisa's. They're like primary school bullies. They approach you thinking they're scary, and that no matter what they say, you'll immediately be on the defensive, ready to do almost anything to get them off your back. When you come back at them on the offensive, "guns-ablazin", they're taken completely by surprise, and are temporarily unarmed. They're not expecting a "mzungu" to know swahili. They're not expecting that Mzungu to know the laws of their country. They're not expecting that mzungu to not be afraid of them. And they're not expecting someone who is more willing to sit and argue for an hour than to pay a bribe. That is really the reason most people DO pay bribes. They just can't be assed to sit and argue for 10 minutes. It is those people who perpetuate corruption and police bullying in East Africa. If everyone would stop playing the police's trivial games, and just stand up to them, they would have to rethink their strategies.
Anyway, I do have time to sit and argue for as long as it takes. After all, this is Africa, and there's no hurry here. As soon as I get a whiff that I'm being fed a load of bull, I assert my authority as a citizen. The people of a democracy (as both Kenya and Tanzania claim to be) have authority over the government, not the other way around. We choose them (hahahaha, ya right), not the other way around.
When you realize you're being bullied, all you need to do is make a big enough fuss that the supervisor comes around. Then you make a big fuss to him. It really helps to know the laws of the country, in this case, so you can throw some knowledge at them to show that they can't lie to you. If there are tourists and other people around, turn around and look at them while you're arguing. Make the policeman, park ranger, or immigration officer embarassed. Make them realize that what they're doing is possibly going to scare tourists and others away. Basically, just make a scene. They hate that kind of attention.
Two things can happen here. If you are really breaking a law (you shouldn't be arguing in this case), they have every right to cuff you and make you swiftly disappear. If you're not breaking a law, and you both know it, they'll quickly get you to move on. They're bullies, and their not expecting someone to stand up to them.

Anyway, Tanzania is a great place. But my goodness, if you're a tourist, you'd better have some serious cash on you. And be prepared to be frustrated. Their officials almost make visiting even the most famous parts of their country not worthwhile. Idiots. Short-sighted idiots.

Kenya's wildlife needs help

Kenyan wildlife is in danger of disappearing altogether in our lifetime, if we, Kenyans, are not careful.
In the entire country, there are only 2,100 lions left. The ones which remain face angry herdsmen, retaliating the death of their cows. They are either speared or poisoned, using Furadan. Furadan, or Carbofuran, is an insecticide produced by US based company, FMC. It is illegal in many countries, and its use is heavily controlled in the countries where it is still legal. Kenya, however, has no such control over it's use within her borders. Bottles of Furadan can be bought from almost any Agrovet anywhere in the country for a low price. A herdsman or farmer needs only to put a few of the purple pellets on a carcass to kill a lion in retaliation.
Unfortunately, it is not only lions that are affected. All predators and scavengers that take any meat from the carcass will die. This includes Black Backed Jackals, Bat Eared Foxes, Stiped and Spotted Hyaenas, all species of vultures, Black Kites, Tawny Eagles, Shrikes, Mongooses.... the list goes on.

Lion habitat is also being encroached upon. With land use changing rapidly throughout the country, much of their open ranges are being confined by fences for agriculture. The same is true for all wild animals, in fact, and, as agriculture is less compatible with wildlife than animal husbandry, the human-wildlife conflict will only increase.

With the lift of the Ivory ban recently, Kenya's elephants are in deep trouble. Despite the fact that hunting and Ivory trade are illegal within Kenya, the demand for Ivory, in markets like China, is enough incentive for poachers to start on elephants again.

Have you ever bought ivory? Do you know someone who has? Do you like the way it looks, and wish you had it on a necklace?
Here are some pleasant images to encourage you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2pC1lHSqcs&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjk4Xn5y200
There are other videos. Look them up.

Recently, a vehicle carrying over 700 Kg of Ivory (probably representing 50 elephants) was stopped at the Tanzania border. The vehicle, a brand new Toyota Prado LandCruiser, is believed to be owned by someone high up in the Kenyan government. How shortsighted can our leaders be!?? Do they think that when all the wildlife in Kenya disappears, and when tourism dies, that Kenya will continue to be a strong economy? Do they think that if Kenya's economy dies and falls to civil war, they can just escape with their spoils to Europe and live the good life?
The sad part is, they probably could, and will.

Please read through the Wildlife Direct Baraza blog, to see what all is happening to Kenya's precious wildlife, and to see how you can help. http://baraza.wildlifedirect.org/
Kenya's entire economy relies on the conservation of wildlife. Without wildlife, there will be no tourism. Without toursim, Kenya will disintegrate. It's that simple.

Shocking local behaviour

Last week, in two separate parks, I witnessed some shocking behaviour by local Kenyans, the very people who should be proud of our parks, and committed to protecting them.

Incident 1: this is the letter I have written to Big Time Safaris (the perpetrators of the "crime")

To whom it may concern,

I would like to place a formal complaint concerning the conduct of your driver and guide in Maasai Mara National Reserve on the 29th of April 2009.
While viewing an immature Leopard, lazing in a tree near the road, the person sitting in the front passenger seat of one of your vehicles threw a clump of dirt or a rock at the leopard. I assume this was to get a reaction from the leopard in order to provide a better opportunity for your guests to take a good photograph. This kind of behaviour is not acceptable. Not only is it illegal, it goes against all eco-ethics outlined by the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association.
The vehicle concerned was a Nissan Urvan with the license plate: KAV 866S
Your driver and guide should be ashamed of themselves, and I hope their guests also filed a formal complaint.
I did not report the incident to the park officials out of respect to your company. It is an internal matter within your company that needs to be addressed. All of your guides need to understand and follow a code of ethics that respects nature, wildlife and the environment. This is much more important than trying to get a good photo opportunity for your guests.
If the issue is not addressed, I will make the KWS and Narok County Council aware of your company and your conduct.

Kind regards,

Unfortunately, Big Time Safaris does not provide a telephone number or email address on their website. They have a form for comments available, but clicking the "submit" button only produces a 404 error.
Guides like this should not be allowed back in the park, ever again. They have no respect for nature. They are being paid to bring their guests closer to nature and to facilitate the experience. Yet, it seems all they are concerned with is the money they'll get by getting a slightly "better" photo opportunity for their guests.
It's disgusting. Its unethical. It goes against all park regulations. It goes against the code of conduct for the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association (KPSGA). And unfortunately, it's very common.


Incident 2: While in Meru National Park this past weekend, we were looking for lions that we had been told were between two numbered junctions (28 and 29, if you must know). As we looked ahead toward number 28, we could see 2 vehicles parked, obviously watching what we assumed were the lions we were searching for. By the time we pulled up behind the closest vehicle, a silver Toyota Hilux, 5 minutes later, that vehicle still had the engine running and we could hear music playing. The passengers were making sudden loud noises toward the the lion, who was about 20 m from the road. It didn't take long, after the lion lay down in the grass, for the occupants of that vehicle to get impatient and move on. The turned around and drove off behind us, followed by another vehicle which had joined us since we arrived.
The two vehicles stopped a few hundred metres away, again, obviously looking at something else. The driver of the first vehicle proceeded to exit his vehicle and began waving at us vigorously in an attempt to call us over. Begrudgingly, we drove closer to them to find out what they wanted. On the way, we spotted two more lions, also less than 20m from the road (and from the man, now standing outside his vehicle).
As we pulled up, he spelled out his plan in a thick, humorous Indian accent. They wanted to drive off the road, behind the lions to get a closer look. They all seemed very excited.
After explaining that such an action would be illegal, against park regulations, detrimental to the fragile grassland, and disruptive to the Lions' mating process (they were taking a break at the moment), and that the fact that he was out of the car, so close to the lions, his response was a wave of his hand: "Ok then, we'll go. You wait here and maybe we'll scare the lions toward you."
Great, thats a massive improvement on your originally daft plan. Again, we emphasized the illegal nature of his plan as well as his own stupidity for exiting the car so close to wild lions. Again we were received with an indifferent wave of the hand: "Its ok, ve know these lions"
You know these lions, huh? You have a full understanding of wild lion behavior? Thats pretty impressive!
Anyway, I believe we scared them enough that they did not go through with their plan that day. Perhaps they did it the next day after we had left. We'll never know. However, we did report their vehicle descriptions and number plates to the KWS rangers at the gate as we exited the park.
Basically, its idiots like them that give all muhindis in this country a bad name. They think they are above the law. They think they are above reproach. They have no respect for their fellow citizens. They have no respect for the laws of the country. They have no respect for the very nature they have come to enjoy.

In other news, I'm still madly in love with Meru National Park. Its so wild and remote. Lions and rhino's aren't surrounded and mobbed by hundreds of white minibuses with loud drivers and even louder tourists.
I'm afraid its going to change soon, though. From what the rangers told us, there are at least two lodges under construction there, and who knows how many more are planning to come. Lets hope they're small and unobtrusive. Lets hope they can benefit the locals. If there's one thing I cannot stand, it's big, impersonal lodges built solely for the purpose of making money, with no regard for the surrounding environment. A perfect (and by perfect, I mean infamous) example of this is Samburu Serena. Despite the fact that the Ewaso Nyiro river is dry, they continue to water their green lawns with sprinklers, and continue to run a fountain under the main restaurant. Sickening.

Thats my rant for now....

Where is Kenya Headed?

Sometimes I have to wonder if the President, the Prime Minister, and all their underlings are aware of how absolutely disgruntled the general Kenyan public is. How long do they think they can keep looting, pillaging, scamming, lying, and not doing anything for the country before wanainchi start to take action?
Can the not read the warning signs? Do they ever read the newspapers and see all the articles criticizing them? Do they ever read the letters to the editor from wanainchi crying out for change and repentance?
Perhaps an unplanned visit to the heart of Mathare or Kibera would change them. Then again, I doubt it. It seems to me that their hearts have turned so cold and so hard, that no matter how much pain and suffering they witness, right before their very eyes, they'll never soften and feel remorse.
How can they possibly ask for more money, when they are pretty much the highest paid government ministers in the world? What service are they providing for all their high salaries? I haven't seen them actually accomplish something, pretty much since half way through Kibaki's first term. Since then, all they've concerned themselves with is who will run for and win the next elections. Why not actually work towards fixing the problems that the country faces?? Why not show the people that you actually care for the country you want to rule? Well, quite simply, because they don't care. That's why. They own real estate all over the world. They have their offshore bank accounts full. They have their brand new Hummer. What more could they want?
Just like a man cannot serve both God and money, he cannot serve both his country and money. All of them are slaves to money and power.
And when they come through town, all the traffic is swiftly moved to the side of the road, all the street kids miraculously disappear; all the problems with the city or the country just don't show their ugly little heads when the big boys are around. SIP's. Self Important Pigs.

There are many people in this country with money. There's no doubt about that. There's no doubt that there's a huge gap between the rich and the poor. But most of those people are not paid that money with the view that they are supposed to serve the country. Most of them earn or steal that money for themselves and their families.
THE GOVERNMENT IS THERE TO SERVE THE PEOPLE! Why then, are the people serving the government. How is it that government officials can just raise their already bloated salaries on a whim, without even having to pay tax? How is it that even with these massive pay increases, they are still unable to aleviate poverty and hunger? What makes them think they have the right to ask foreign governments for money to help them "aleviate hunger?"

One MP's monthly salary could feed pretty much everyone suffering without food in this country for a week. And he probably wouldnt even miss that money. Its pocket change to him. Besides, we all know it's not his sole source of income.

WHAT IF EVERY MP TOOK TURNS TO GO WITHOUT ONE MONTH'S PAY FOR A YEAR?
I think that would generate enough money to solve the current hunger problem. Judging by the figures I've seen concerning how much they are paid, how much allowance they receive for entertainment, vehicles, travel, etc, I don't think that's too far off the mark.

Which brings me to my next point. What the hell are we doing giving land away to Qatar for farming and food generation when we can't even provide enough food for ourselves!!?? What ever happened to sovereignty of land between set borders? We're whoring ourselves out for cash. Except its not us doing it. It's not the wanainchi. We're the cheap, powerless whores, and the politicians are our abusive, greedy pimps.

I don't know where Kenya is headed at the moment. I do know that no Kenyan that I know is happy or satisfied with anything the government is doing right now. I do know that after such long drought the country is under alot of strain. I do know that people can only take that strain for so long before they break.
Whether Kenyans will unite and fight against the corrupt, selfish, greedy leadership, or whether they will let themselves be bullied into tribal clashes again, I do not know. Let's hope its the former. Lets hope the bastards in power aren't able to divide and conquer again.

Off Topic

In other news, I stumbled across an amazing publication today called "Shootback." It's a coffee-table sized book composed entirely of full page photographs taken by children in Nairobi's Mathare slum.
Having worked in Mathare for a short time, and now considering I'm currently reading "Shantaram" (which I'll get to at another time*), this book struck a chord with me. It was funny, emotional, horrific, and beautiful all at the same time.
You, as the spectator, journey through the slum, experiencing floods, mountains of trash, drunk neighbours, beautiful smiles, the burning tyres of Kenyan mob justice, resilience, determination, despair, tragedy, and hope. I didn't get to finish looking at the book, but I instantly decided it was one of the greatest things I had seen in a long long time.

A quote from one of the photographers, Collins Omondi, a 17 year old boy, read: "But whatever you have, thank God. If you don't have shoes, thank God, because there are some people without legs."

That statement didn't come as a suprise to me. I think I know the attitude required for a life in the slums. It just hit me that it was so profound and so well put. The first part of it could have come straight out of the Bible.

*Shantaram is a most excellent book by Gregory David Roberts, an Australian man who escaped from jail in his home country, travelled to Mumbai, lived in a Maharashtrian village for several months, lived in a Mumbai slum for more than a year, set up a free health clinic and schools, worked for the mob, fought with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, and then wrote the book three times when prison guards destroyed it. It gives the reader vivid insights into life in a slum.
If you haven't already read it, you pretty much need to.

More on the Mau

These are just some after thoughts from myself and others concerning the current wrangling over the Mau forest complex:

The mau forest doesn't have a history of such massive destructive fires. These fires are being set by meddling politicians' henchmen and by disgruntled squatters. They're not naturally occurring. In the US, that would mean serious jail time for the offender.
In such dry time, with all the rivers drying up (also not part of the natural cycle of the area), the fires are doing more destruction than they usually would. Areas where fires were set more than a year ago have show little sign of rejuvenation. The Forest service did little (if anything at all) in the way of rehab after the fires, and that land has been lost to shrubbery that will now never turn into old growth forest, unless trees are planted.
Re-afforestation is something that needs to be urgently considered and acted upon across the country. In the last 20 years, the forest cover of the entire country has dropped at an alarming rate. All this is due to charcoal burning, timber, clearing for farms, etc.
1.7% forest cover is pretty sad.

Unfortunately, the lack of firefighting equipment and expertise is not the root problem. Yes Kenya needs improvement in that area. But the core problem is the wrangling of the politicians for land and power and money.
Sooner or later, the politicians will push their agendas too far and the Kenyan people will reach a breaking point.
Whether that means uniting as one to fight a common enemy or breaking off into tribal factions to create chaos, I do not know.

the squatters have no choice, they are forced off of their land by large farms that use all the fertile soil in kenya for cash crops. yes, those tea/coffee/flower farms employ a lot of people, but the percentage of the profits that trickles down to them is so small that it does not help the economy like it should. Instead, the majority of the profits likely end up in swiss bank accounts. this is why the wanainchi have supposedly become 'the bad guy' because they are forced to encroach on parks, reserves and forests, they have no where else to go. its sad that in a country so diverse and fertile as kenya, such a thing as famine even exists. it is simply because most of the land and resources are owned by so few people and the rest are left out in the cold to starve. i don't care what anyone tries to say, growing food to feed our own people would be much better than growing bloody flowers. anyway, all these huge farms have appalling human rights and labor records.

there was a story in the paper a few years ago where a community near the mau forest was tired of the illegal logging and all the corruption so they stopped all the logging trucks coming out of the forest and burned them to the ground. thats what needs to happen. people need to get pissed and take matters into their own hands.

The squatters may not have a choice in where they go, but their lighting of uncontrolled fires doesn't help the situation for other small time farmers downstream who depend on the rivers from the forest. When all that forest is gone, so too will the rivers.
Obviously I realize the social problems with the large scale farms like tea and flowers. A number of those flower farms are not even legal, as far as land rights/usages are concerned. And the flower farms, especially, are pretty much the biggest cause of Lake Naivasha's shrinking size (more so than the drying rivers from the Mau).
Sustenance farming in a country where wealth does not trickle down from large scale farming is definitely the way to go.
All farmers, large and small, need to be educated on the uses and importance of forest. I realize land must be cleared for farms. But if forest never reclaims land, the level of underground water and precipitation will just continue to drop at an exponential rate.

The mention of that story of community members burning logging trucks reminded me of a film I watched called "Hatchet: The Cascadia Free State Story." It was all about locals in Oregon protecting their local forest from big logging sales after forest fires. They would block the road and set up a permanent encampment to deter the logging trucks. They resisted the government and private companies for more than a year. After fighting legal battles back in town, they finally secured the area and protected it from mass logging, to let the forest rejuvenate naturally after the fire.
That was pretty inspiring stuff. And I had thought about that happening here. The only thing I would be worried about is that the Kenyan government (or just those dirty members involved) would not hesitate to bring out whatever armed forces they wanted to get rid of nuisance community members. If they wanted, they could call up their army general friend to come and forcefully move them or kill them.

Even in that Hatchet Cascadia film, the US government made mass arrests, but they never resorted to all out violence. In Kenya, I wouldn't put it past them.