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....