Original von Cody
It is a very sad story however we are talking about wildlife here -

The camp may have made some extra money with regards to the walking tour however to take a 1 year old baby for a walk in the bush is not the best idea at all. Infants talk and have a higher pitched voice that is heard further and can create distress with animals.

When my son was 18 months and I was visiting my dad who was living in the Mara at the time, everytime my son spoke, a lioness would lift her head higher to examine the noise and was uneasy of this noise - we were in a 4 x4.

Elephants are getting killed in big numbers all over Africa and we do not know yet how cleaver they are or how they are able to communicate with each other however I am sure that when they hear humans walking and towards them (let alone with a calf) it is normal that they will react as their life at times in on the line due to poachers who walk up to them to kill them.

I agree with Kipper - leave the walking up to the more expert tourist (what ever we cvan classify that as) and we MUST remember that in the bush you are on animal andf wild life areas which they have protected for millions of years, it is NOT our area. When ever out in the bush we risk getting injured by animals, snakes, insewcts - it is like going to the tropics and getting malaria; it is part of the risk and it is up to us to use intelligence and to protect ourselves.
I am sorry for the family of course as it must be very hard on them - but we must learn from this; camp owners and tourists.

Cody
As you say it - I have also noticed when small children are around on game drives (e.g. in Kruger) lions get very curious as soon as they hear their voices. Som,e their killer instinct seems to become alert.

You know i never looked at it that way but he did look like the huge wild hogs i have been seeing lately on the news. He was sold at the market and eaten by someone i am sure of that I have always had a deep down i don't trust you with animals because of that but it is a healthy thing to have. They are great to view at a distance but don't push. On safari i have seen people tell the driver to get closer and that is wrong. I know the rangers must have lots of close calls to talk about. I think the reason I love africa so much is the freedom of the animals.

Every time I have walked in the bush it is for a purpose, not just for the sake of it.
I would never advocate walking in the bush without an experienced guide who is qualified to lead a walk & Benson Siyawareva is the best & my friend. Google him & you'll see why.

I would never ever advise inexperienced tourist to do so or take children walking into the bush.

OK I do not know the camps or lodges of Kenya, having never visited but in other regions I know of Leopard, Hyena, Lions & elephants visit them on a regular basis.
I do not want to be locked away in my "European bastion of cottonwool luxury"
I want to sit & wait a couple of hours for the elephants to finish their nap outside my tent, listen to the hyena as it checks out my camp site or listen to the morning without the polution of lodge noises.
There are many economies reliant on bush walking.
How else can you see Gorilla or Chimps with out trekking in the bush??

Experienced bush walker? Not I! I just love being part of Africa, it is not only about animals.

Kipper I know what you are talking about!

We also LOVE being in a tented camp when Elis visit our tent at night munching the leaves around our canvas or hearing the leopard's cough at night...............

And yes as you say one has to walk to see the great apes but that's a different thing compared to the "leisure walks" at camps and lodges. I even don't want the trackers to use the stick to "discipline" apes. It just sounds unjust to me!

I was talking about the "regular" bush walks which are offered to any bloody tourist after the morning game drive. Mostly offered as kind of "exercise" and nothing to worry about.

The briefings are the problem. Not serious enough, not stressing the risk.

Generally speaking - if one is prepared to pay the price for being in animal kingdom (being it on foot, car or sitting around the fire at night) - go for it!

I have a problem with folks who invade the bush requesting right of way!

I think we all have to understand it's "THEIR" land - not ours!

If one takes him/herself the liberty to enter my garden and gets drowned in my pond. Wouldn't it be unjust if I get sued for it? Because it's my property? The same with all activities in the African bush.

Yes, Kipper - walking is required to see the mountain gorillas, chimps and to do camel trekking which is walking through the bush with the camels carrying tents and luggage which I have done in the beautiful Mathews Range in Kenya - along the way we met local pastoralists tending their livestock - were invited to their villages and saw some spectacular mountain animals like the Klipspringer, Greater Kudu, and Leopard.

I actually believe bush walking is one of the LOWEST IMPACT activities in the parks and reserves (except for perhaps never leaving the lodge). Once out with vehicles there is the possibility of scaring off the wildlife or preventing it from hunting - like the poor cheetah who needs to hunt during the day in order to avoid the larger night time predators like hyena and lion - and are constantly surrounded, much too closely, by dozens of vehicles with roaring engines and shouting tourists. I have seen Leopards in trees with a kill that being surrounded only a foot away by 30 vehicles....take their hard-earned kill down from the tree and into thick bush where they could eat in peace where vehicles could not follow.

And, we all have seen tourist vehicles go off-road in pursue of their quarry. I was passed by a speeding tourist van in Amboseli in 2003 which moments later hit and killed a female lion which was attempting to cross the road. The vehicle was traveling at about 3 times the park speed limit!

The bush walkers leave only their footprints and some gather some wonderful memories. I do not think these walks should have children and the adults all must sign waivers that they understand the risks and will not sue the lodges. The incident regarding Il Ngwesi which Jan reports of a woman being injured by an elephant and then suing and winning a large amount of money, was a total screw-up by both the lodge and woman. They did NOT have her sign a waiver....and she wouldn't wait for a guide...and decided to JOG around the bush with earphones on LISTENING TO MUSIC! Such idiocy should not have be rewarded by the courts giving her millions of dollars as she was equally culpable.

Next time I am going on Safari I want to be with Kat - that is what I call living in Africa... whow what great stories.

Pippa - I would not have a problem at all walking with Kipper in the bush.... youwill be very safe. Animals simply run or do not show up.

We were together to try and get some deer, badgers, wildboar here in Tuscany and the minute good old Kipper showed up with his super camera gear - gone... no animals to be seen anymore So, anyone want a safe safari - Kipper is the man to be with. For an exiting one - Its Kat all the way!