The Hindu Business Line : Game for Kenya

Enkare Nyrabe’ means ‘sweet or cold water’ in Masai. The British stumbled upon the place on reaching the Kenya plateau 500 km from Mombasa, where they had set up base in the early 1900s. Eventually the name was changed to Nairobi, and it became the capital of Kenya.

Though situated just 150 km south of the Equator, Nairobi at 1,700 metres above sea level enjoys a year-round average of 20 degrees Celsius, with a minimum of 14 at night and a daytime high of just 26! The sun rises and sets at 6.30 a.m. and 7 p.m. respectively, with only slight variations through the year. With a salubrious climate, fertile soil, rivers, plenty of rainfall twice a year (March-May and October-December), it is god’s own country which the Brits were loath to leave, hanging on for a good 16 years after they left India. It was the juggernaut of the Mau Mau rebellion unleashed by Jomo Kenyatta in the 1950s which finally forced them to see the writing on the wall and they quit.

Between 1920 and 1950, reportedly more than 80,000 Whites had chosen to make Kenya their home, mostly in the coveted ‘Highlands’ with its excellent soil and water, where they set up vast plantations growing cash crops such as tea and coffee.

In 1963, Uhuru, or independence, was not as traumatic for the Whites in Kenya as it was in Uganda, especially after Idi Amin had taken over the reins in 1970. Even now about 30,000 White inhabitants continue to stay in Kenya, though not necessarily in the highly lucrative plantation business. To cushion the post-independence shock, the British government had stepped in to buy most of the farms, enabling White people to get a good price for their property.

Most of the large plantations are now owned by corporate giants such as Unilever, Brooke Bond and Finlay. Some White inhabitants have hung on to smaller holdings, using them as a tourist attraction. Kiambethu, close to Nairobi, is one such place where Fiona and Marcus receive guests, serve them tea and biscuits, give a short talk on the history of tea plantations, take them around the 35-acre property, and round the day off with a sumptuous lunch — all for 1,500 Kenyan shilling (about $25) per head.

The great Rift

The famous Rift valley, a 300-km wide depression running all the way from northern Syria to central Mozambique — a good 6,000 km, is a unique geological feature. Its elevation varies from 200 metres above sea level near Lake Turkana to about 2,000 metres above sea level near Lake Naivasha in Kenya. With innumerable other lakes, it is home to a multitude of wildlife; both Kenya and Tanzania have over the years capitalised on this natural bounty and turned it into a highly lucrative tourist business. Kenya alone boasts no less than a dozen large game parks and reserves; the latter permit rural folks to graze their cattle. The vast 500 sq km Masai Mara, famous for its big cats, is followed by Tsavo (West), Tsavo (East) and Amboseli — with reputedly 20,000 elephants between them — south of Nairobi, and Aberdare in the north. Masai Mara has 33 lodges, scores of tented accommodation and campsites.

With bad road conditions in general, maximum use is made of the 250 airstrips that dot the countryside, and scores of private airlines ferry tourists from Nairobi to various game parks. The Masai Mara alone has five such airstrips capable of landing 50-seater planes.

At the Keekorok lodge, a hippo pool with a large observation platform allows visitors to watch the animals at close quarters, but only at night when they emerge from the water to feed. Incidentally, the lodge owned by a Patel was declared open by none less than Jomo Kenyatta, soon after he took over as the President!

The migration spectacle

The Masai Mara witnesses peak tourist arrivals during the annual migration, when more than a million wildebeests, 200,000 zebras and an equal number of gazelles are on the move. Crossing the Masai river, where the crocodiles lurk, in a wild stampede, it makes for a spectacular sight and has been immortalised on film in National Geographic documentaries.

However, you would need to wait weeks at the crossing sites to be able to witness it firsthand! This is more the stuff of professional camera teams. Ordinary visitors usually drive around the game park and cross over the Mara river to the Tanzanian side, where they can see some of the spots where the herds ford the river during migration. Like well-oiled harvester machines, the herds of zebras are the first to bite off the taller red oat grass, the wildebeest are next, followed by the gazelles which clean up almost to the ground level. After a few months, when finished, they head back to Serengeti in Tanzania, which is nearly ten times the size of Masai Mara, where the grass is ready for grazing. This cycle repeats every year without fail, and while the months may be known — May to July north bound via lake Victoria in the west, and southwards October to December — the exact date and time, and what triggers the migration are nature’s own secret.

The Lakes

Located 140 km north-east of Nairobi, Lake Naivasha has plenty of hippos, while Lake Nakuru at a much higher altitude specialises in pelicans, pink flamingos and the endangered Black Rhino. Besides the big five, namely elephant, lion, leopard, Cape buffalo and the rhino, one can also spot giraffes, hartebeests, impalas, crested cranes, Grant’s gazelles, Thompson’s gazelles, topis, elands, ostriches, zebras, hyenas, sand grouse, guinea fowls and a variety of other birds.

Part of the fun is when the game vehicle gets stuck in the soft earth when trying to approach closer to the flamingos, as happened with us at Lake Nakuru. Contacted on the ubiquitous cell phone, efficient park rangers soon got into action and hauled us out using powerful rescue vehicles before waving us on.

Interestingly, at all the game parks a computerised levy of entry charges and strict monitoring ensures very little leakage of revenue. The entry at $40 per person for foreigners at most parks is by no means cheap, though Smart cards for Kenyan citizens grants them entry at just $10!

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