Archive for March, 2008
For the last one week, it has been raining every day. Rain is usually a blessing here in Africa, but its great force really prevents you from lots of things. Mainly, safe and reliable travel plan. Roads get muddy and impassable, river gets high and bridges become flooded.
Quick U-turn is necessary as river overflows over the bridge in matter of 30 minute, preventing us from returning home. Rain starts around noon so not much work we can do while the weather is like this…
I just got a call from car salesman saying that they will not be in a position to tell me the exact day of the car delivery till the previous owner comes back from UK in mid April… Wonderful lady called Izabella let us to use her car during this month’s vaccination and we really appreciate her assistance in our project!
We have just finished vaccinating 3,200 dogs in Trans Mara! I only got couple of more days till I complete my 2007 vaccination work (which delayed into 2008 due to post-election problem), but our work has so far proven to be a success in reducing rabies and canine distemper in domestic dogs around the wildlife reserve (according to local resident and hospital staff here in this area).
I just got an monthly report for my current donation. I believe there are other donations which came in, but it has not been reflected on my report yet. I will update the rest of donation as soon as I receive my next monthly report. Thank you everybody for all your support! Sherri S $20, THERESA S $250, THERESA S $100
The rainy season has returned and it has returned with a great force. It has been raining continuously for almost two weeks here in the Mara, filling up my water tank but at the same time flooding the Maasai land. On the news, I saw that some parts of the country are heavily flooded with this rain too. Early last year, Mara Triangle suffered huge damage due to heavy rain. Bridges were washed away, houses were flooded, and most roads were impassable. Tourist could only fly into Mara, did limited game drive (mostly around the lodge) and they got stucked in mud many many times during their stay.
Although it is not as bad as last year, roads are literally turning into clay bed and a vicious car trap… No road works go on till tourist revenue return, but if the rain continues like this, no tourist will be able to go on a game drive…
Today my friend Naitoi, Mara Conservancy Ranger, came to say hi to me at my house. It was then he told me the story of how people were trying to kill a leopard yesterday. It has killed one goat and carried away another one, leaving owner with loss of two animals. It took long time for Naitoi and Warden to convince the community leaders to not to kill this particular leopard, which they have already started tracking down on foot in an attemp to kill it.
Since the financial crisis set in here in the Mara, one lion was killed in Narok side by Maasai and another lion was tracked down on Trans Mara side (saved by Mara Conservancy Ranger), and now it is leopard. The Maasai community living along the reserve has now let go of lion and leopard. People are not happy since they are losing their livestock, letting go of livestock killer and not getting paid for their financial loss. In one year (2006-2007), Mara Conservancy compensated for 239 livestock attacks along the wildlife reserve border (150 leopard attacks, 67 lion attacks, 15 hyena attacks and 7 elephant attacks). Without compensation, all 239 cases could potentially result in dead carnivores.
I was told that Kimojino has left home to attend his brother’s funeral. Kimojino comes from area called Emarti where land dispute between Maasai and Kipsigis (Kalenjin) has resulted in a decade long fighting. I was told his brother’s death is also due to this tribal crash. Here is what is happening in Emarti and Shartuka where people are fighting daily since the election. It is as though tribal/land dispute is gun powder and election was the fire causing the explosion of the underlying problems…
My new car is not ready so I am going back to Mara tomorrow. I heard enough stories about how car dealer is having “technical difficulty” bringing in the car from Mombasa for the last seven weeks. I have to finish the dog vaccination by the beginning of April so most likely have to borrow a car in Mara to finish off my work. It would have been much easier if my new car was delivered, but it is life… I am leaving my Suzuki here in Nairobi. My car now breaks down even with one way trip from Mara and no longer capable to perform in bush. After welding the exhaust pipe three days before departure, it cracked on the way coming to Nairobi. It will finally have a peacefull retirement in my friend’s parking lot in Nairobi.
I am back in Nairobi and things are already not going as I originally planned. After flying into Nairobi, we went straight to car dealer to pick up my new project car. After waiting and searching for the salesman dealing with my car, he comes and tells us that ‘We are still working on your car’. It has been 6 weeks since we closed the deal…! I am so crossed, I cannot even think of words to say… I am going back to Mara on 21st and we are trying our best to push the car dealer to bring up the car from Mombasa by then. I have checked the price for the autoclave. It is USD 1,050 (65,000Ksh) and it is sold locally in Nairobi. I just got myself a generator so I can sterilize my surgical equipments if I can get an autoclave.
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