No worries, Kipper, me too

Wish I had more time to do research and add new features to Bushdrums but something needs to pay my bills.

Carsten work to do....?? On the beach I bet.
Look forward discussing topics on what we can do to promote Bushdrums and hopefully get people to know what to do and not to do.
Unless Kipper has direct contact into the head office of BBC in the UK and Jan with CNN - I guess Carsten we do need to start playing the lottery.
Anyone have the private e mail address of Mr Bill Gates or his telephone number so I can send him and SMS???

Carsten:

I agree that there are tourists who don't care and will offer a driver/guide $50.00 or $100.00 bucks to find all of the big five.

However, from what I've seen, I think there is a much larger group of people who are ignorant or not knowing of how to behave around wildlife. What comes to mind right now is the vehicle which nearly hit the matriarch in the road, she turned and challenged him and was only about 5 - 10 feet from his bumper, and yet the tourists were sitting on the top of the vehicle loudly laughing and talking. They didn't have a clue that they were in what could be a dangerous situation and that they needed to shut up! Even after 12 trips to Africa, I still question my driver/guide in certain situations. For instance when we were that close to the lion in my pictures and videos, I didn't know whether it was safe for me to stand up in the vehicle. I asked and was told it was OK.

That is why it would be wonderful if bushdrums became "mandatory reading" for everyone considering a safari. They could learn so much from those who have been there before them.

Other websites touch on which is the best 5-star place to stay but it is obvious that many of those people are just going on safari for the experience, not because they particularly care about wildlife. The million dollar question, as you and Nico stated, is how do we reach them?

I am glad that Jan shares exactly the same thoughts and comments as I do.

put in restrictions and rules and educate the driver guides. AND don't let anybobdy in the reserves which are not qualified!
government must invent rules! soon!

another possibility would be only people are allowed who stay within the reserve.
selfdrive has to be allowed only in order to reach the camp/lodge and leave the venue. no private cares for gamedrives! all gamedrives must be conducted in vehicles provided with qualified driver by the lodge!

maybe that has been mentioned already - sorry then. i did not read all the posts!

In re-reading the above posts tonight the thought occcured to me.

Kipper's statement "holiday of a lifetime".

Taz's "once in a lifetime trip".

I would suggest that all of us safari repeaters started off on our first trip with the above thoughts, i.e. it would be a once in a lifetime trip and then off to another venue for the next holiday. However, once we encountered the wildlife, the scenery, the people we quickly became addicted to Africa and developed a real love of it, often becoming a thorn in the side of authorities to try and change certain practices. However I know for a fact there are many of us "repeaters" that do care deeply about the country and the wildlife.

As to drivers, I think particularly of when I'm in Tsavo. There are many "day trippers" that come in from Mombasa. Many of these are guys who, when they've been able to get enough money from friends and family, have gone out and purchased a van and then consider themselves a safari company just because they own a van. They either don't know wildlife, or can't be bothered to look for it, because on every game drive they are stopping the Tsavo drivers to find where they can go to see elephants, lions, etc.

These are not people who have taken the KPSGA (Kenya Professional Safari Guide) courses. They do not have a bronze or silver award. But how can KATO Kenya stop them? My guess is that as long as they are able to pay for their van, pay KATO a membership fee and pay the park fee they are okay to go. Anyone have any ideas of how to improve this?