Vacations Blog

Trouble still seems to be brewing in Kenya’s Masai Mara as the local people block the entrance gates to tourists. The protests have been off and on for 3 weeks in wake of a new deal signed between Narok County Council and Equity bank over a new smart card system that has been implemented in the Game Reserve. The idea behind the smart card was to eliminate corruption and make the entrance process much more efficient. The protests are on-going as the Narok County Council broke the law by secretly doing this deal as the countries constitution states, decisions like this must be made clear to the public prior to any final decisions being made, which was not the case.

Thousands of tourists have descended on the Masai Mara during this festive season on a Kenya safari only to see their path has been blocked by angry protesters. On tourist said “Someone has got to fix this mess; I did not take a loan to come and see Masai people protesting outside the park. I want to see the animals.” Anyone who has the vaguest idea of what’s going on in the Kenya economy will know that the Masai Mara is an important revenue generator for the country.

If you are still to book your festive trip and are looking for a trouble free holiday then a Zambia safari to the South Luangwa National Park is right up your street, and although the Masai Mara is a spectacular Game Reserve, now is certainly not the time to visit in wake of recent developments.

The main reason that so many people have become wound up by this situation is because under the contractual payment obligations if the total annual revenue isn’t more than Sh1.5 billion the Narok County Council must pay 50% of the difference alongside a service fee of the total revenue collected to Equity bank. The problem is that Narok locals say the Masai Mara doesn’t earn Sh1.5 billion annually and therefore the 50% difference plus a service fee will have to come out of the Narok County Councils pocket instead of using that money to improve the local region.

A situation as complex as this simply won’t work itself out overnight and until a compromise is made it would be better if you are looking for a trip to Africa to travel to climb Kilimanjaro in Tanzania instead. Although Tanzania has a similar system in operation they have the right balance and issues surrounding the smart card system throughout the parks in Tanzania are almost non-existent.