The new "fashion" now is that camps charge not only the reserve fee. No, they top it by 20 to 40 US$pppd for "Massai projects"That means they not only get 60 when in a reserve. They get up to 100US$ppp.
Outside the reserve it's the same! Ol Seki charges 100 now. Naibor 80, Kicheche mara 75, Kicheche bush 85.............
I Think these guys are really getting desperate to cash in as long as there is tourism......

If these additional fees got to the Massai. Instead of buying more and more cattle they should provide their animals with water. Digging boreholes etc. and keep them running, maintaining these.

These insane fees keep quality tourism out (guests who stay a week or even two who are interested in conservation mostly) and enhance the one and 2 night safaristi coming from the coast just rushing making pics and penetrating the animals. Generalization - I know. But grossly it's the case.

I wonder how much of this goes to the projects...?

There was a big story of a hotel company on the Coast - I will not drop names that did a weekly Bingo session in every hotel. The money paid by each person to join - roughly around 100 to 200 paying guests per session played Bingo and the price was a bottle of Papaya wine or some dinner for 2 worth X amount! In a nut shell - after a good 20 years (not months but years) of doing this - the Tax man got to hear about this and found out that the hotel company placed all the income straight into their own bags.....
These people should all get audited and controlled just to make sure -

However Pippa - if this is true then it is becoming impossible to go on holiday into the park with a family for 4 to 5 days - that would be US Dollars 400.00 per day just for entering..... for a family of 4 - ?

As residents that might be another story.

And regarding the project: BIG MISERIES mostly and if known sometimes questionable.

Clearly - these guys might have heard the statement the WWF made yesterday:

The Mara river is going to dry out within the next 10 years. So the whole Serengeti ecosystem will be affected leading to the loss of wildebeest, not to mention the migration!, loss of predators etc etc etc.

These guys are just cashing in as their time is running out as tourism certainly will decrease in that part of the country.

I am disgusted - you cannot imagine how much

I agree and feel exactly like you -