An interesting statement on Kenya as a wildlife destination.

Scroll down to KENYA:

http://www.ultimateafrica.com/travel/comparisons_ratings.html

I knew it's bad. But I would have never expected a TAto ublish such broad statement brushing the whole country with one brush.

In just the 13 years I've been traveling to Kenya - I have seen the disappearance of a large portion of the wildlife I saw initially in 1997. The border areas of the Mara used to be filled with grazing wildlife - now the rapid human population growth has turned these vital and necessary areas into buildings and fenced farms.
The locals have been decimating the wildlife through unsustainable bush meat slaughter for their own use and for commercial profit.

One British biology/conservation study released this year said the Mara had lost about 95% of its wildlife in the last 15 years. And I see that with my own eyes - which is why I don't travel there anymore.

They actually say in your referenced blog that "Amboseli is teeming with wildlife" well, right now its carpeted with carcasses! Though with some additional rains, hopefully the animals rebound, at least to some extent.

Over the past 13 years I've seen the wildlife melting away as rapidly as the snows on Kilimanjaro.
So sad.

Pippa: Thanks for the link to the article. However, I think the article is an extremely deceptive one that doesn't do Ultimate Africa's prospective clients any favors.

I must admit that a lot of what they say is truthful. There has been a huge decline in wildlife over the last 40 years based on what I've read, heard from friends and studying aerial survey counts. However, unless one has been there before and could compare, one wouldn't even know that a decrease had taken place.

Lack of security can and does take place in any African country. Where ever you have a majority of poverty stricken people it can happen.

Their mentioning 20 - 30 vehicles around a sighting of lions or cheetahs is correct, and I think it is something KWS needs to do something about. I agree there are negative things that could be improved upon (but that is also so in any country one visits).

The thing that they did not say is that Kenya, for years and years, has had the best wildlife policies on the books. They don't allow sport hunting, do not cull their herds, do not allow canned hunts (as the southern African countries do) and are still one of the few countries fighting for the lives of elephants by totally banning all ivory sales. Their main problem is that KWS is greatly under funded thus not allowing KWS to do enough to help wildlife. If the government would keep their hands out of the KWS till (money paid by us tourists for protecting wildlife) KWS would be able to do far more in the protection of their wildlife.

As most of you know, I am a Kenya wildlife lover and I wouldn't dream of going to one of the southern African countries because of hunting, culling, canned lion hunts, etc. Yes, Kenya has it's problems, but it also has so much to offer, and, for the first time travelers, there is plenty of wildlife to be seen (provided you plan your trip to occur during the dry season). I leave here the end of January to spend two weeks at my favorite tented camp. I usually see about 1,000 elephants a day right in front of my tent. However, with the late rains they have had, I might not see that many this time.

Despite what Ultimate Africa says, I would highly recommend a safari to Kenya to anyone who is interested in seeing wildlife. I would, however, suggest booking with a Kenyan safari company rather than one in your home country. The Kenyan safari companies are much more up to date on the weather, roads, security, where you might see more of the species you are interested in.

Thank you Kat and Jan for your contribution and thoughts!

I am just in the mood of cancelling our Mara stays for Feb and go to Amboseli or Tsavo instead.

Many camps in the Mara (and most of the Cheli+Peacock venues!, Governors camps etc etc) now have introduced a departure policy which is unacceptable from my point of view:
LEAVE CAMP BY 10.00h! UNCONDITIONALLY! No late flight out! They offer visits to the Giraffe center, beadwork company - you name it. Of course additional costs!

What the heck is going on in Kenya?

You pay a bed night rate which mostly exceeds 400US$ PLUS reserve/concervancy fees and then you cannot do a morning game drive and have to leave by 10!? Not with us!

Enough is enough! Despite I LOVE Kenya - I am not anylonger prepared to feegd that greed.

Pippa:

Though I love Amboseli, I would not recommend it for you for February. When I was there in August the place was strewn with carcasses of animals that had died due to the drought - and I know far more have died since August.

I know Samburu has had rain and is now green and so is Tsavo. I would lean toward those two venues if you wish to cancel the Mara trip. And you too must remember, where there has been late rain, you may have to go and find the animals on game drives instead of them coming to you. There will be food and waterholes all over the place so the animals won't feel the need to go to bore-fed waterholes at the camps/lodges.

This is a rather tardy comment on this topic, but my first thought regarding the anti-Kenya stance is: This agent does not get as high of commissions in Kenya as other places or has had a spat with the Kenyan ground operators. Rather than just drop Kenya as a destination that can be booked by this company, out come the guns to blast the whole country. If they've decided to abandon Kenya, what do they have to lose?

These comments have been part of that website for years.