The re-production recently of an article by Aleena Noormohamed of Gamewatchers / Porini apparently created added interest and today it was Campi Ya Kanzi’s Luca Belpietro who shared his own impressions why he loves Kenya. Enjoy his post!
MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2014
Is it safe to travel to Kenya?
Monday morning, with Kilimanjaro staring at me in twilight. Pinkish snow shines on the peaks.
A friend is climbing it and I think of him working his way up the mountain.
Lions were roaring just half an hour ago, the tubing of the mourning doves is suggesting me is time to get out of bed.
Impala are having a grass breakfast outside my bedroom. Blue ear starlings are crowding the small waterhole outside my home, where a leopard is used to come having a night drink.
I cannot think of a better way to start the week, in a better place, in a better mood, and -not being a gazelle who needs to not become food! – in a safer angle of Planet Earth…
Yet, if you are a US citizen, your State Department warns you about Kenya. But if you are a German citizen you are not warned at all, actually you have just been offered more flights into Mombasa, directly from Germany… Interesting…
We (well, you more than me!) live in a hectic World, where media are a business driven more by sensationalism than objectivity, where disturbing things happen far too often (teenagers shooting in schools is one of them…).
Last year I did my instrument rating in Santa Barbara, one of my favorite towns in the USA (with Santa Fe!).
Imagine if my mom would tell me to not do any further training in Santa Barbara, because of the shooting it just happened in UCSB…
Well, not coming on safari in a Maasai reservation because of the recent tribal clashes on the Somalia border would be a similarly debatable choice.
It is not just the hundreds of miles between us and the Somalia border, it is the 2 days traveling distance that matters…And more so it matters being in a Maasai owned reservation of 280,000 acres, surrounded by the biggest National Park in Kenya: the 8,000 square miles of Tsavo.
And what matters even more is the employment of 330 community members, as staff for Campi ya Kanzi, as teachers (50 in 20 schools), as nurses and doctors and as community rangers (101 Maasai, patrolling the reservation).
Here you are hosted as much by them as by me and Antonella, as your visit contributes $100 per day to the to see what the Trust does).
Who is envious of the privileged life that the developed World offers, combats it with terrorism. And terrorism is based precisely in terrorizing people. This strategy has found a fertile ground on the sensationalism Westerners are often inclined to.
Let’s not be indirect supporters of terrorism by damaging community conservation projects like Campi ya Kanzi and MWCT, where tourism plays a vital role in providing the local communities with economic reasons to protect their wilderness, wildlife and culture.
Come to Campi ya Kanzi, come to Kenya: not only you will be safe, probably safer than driving to work every day!, but you will enjoy one of the most beautiful treasures that Nature can offer. From the wildebeests migration to the flamingos, from Kilimanjaro to the Green Hills of Africa, from lions to giraffes, from the gracious hospitality of the Maasai to being on safari exactly were we, homo sapiens, all came from…
Let’s be more sapiens and make the right choice: get a great holiday and enjoy the amazing safari experiences that Kenya has to offer.
P.S. My mom just moved to Kenya from Italy and she is happier than ever. My daughter schools in Nairobi and we feel totally cool about it. My youngest son turned 5 here at camp in May, while me and my wife Antonella were away for 24 days on a air safari. He was at Campi ya Kanzi with a Maasai nanny. Yes, we do live in Paradise, a very safe Paradise. Come and enjoy it yourself!
