Edition 43: Summer 2008

Although I’ve been lucky enough to travel extensively across Africa during the last decade, setting foot in over two dozen of its nations, I have not had many chances to retrace my steps and gauge the extent of change.

My recent visit to Namibia’s flagship national park to research the article Etosha’s evolution (page 102) was planned to give me one of these rare opportunities. While the wildlife and its famous waterholes were just as remarkable as I remembered, the tourist facilities had been wholly transformed. The once basic lodgings set inside the park were replaced by more luxurious options. And dotting the park’s periphery was a series of impressive new lodges. These changes undoubtedly made my overall Etosha experience more rewarding, but the associated rises in price have made visiting it much more expensive for Namibians.

This is a worrying trend, as local involvement is crucial for the long-term survival of national parks. In The crux of Kruger (page 74) journalist Mike Unwin touches on this important issue and how it relates to another southern African treasure: South Africa’s Kruger National Park. He states: “Easy access and relatively low prices now draw an increasingly wide spectrum of homegrown visitors, and surely it is in these local hands that the fate of the park ultimately rests. Kruger National Park is an ambassador for conservation to a new generation of South Africans: the broader its appeal, the stronger the message.”

Should governments ensure that their citizens have feasible access to their own national treasures? Or should they run their parks like businesses, maximising their opportunity to raise necessary funds to run them sustainably?

Even though private conservancies and commercial properties don’t face the same moral dilemma, some, such as those featured in A question of conscience (page 52), believe that local involvement is crucial. They work hard to ensure that the surrounding communities benefit from the tourism dollars their properties generate. They also realise that their relationships with these communities are key to wildlife conservation. The more their pastoralist neighbours gain from safari eco-tourism, the less likely they are to kill wildlife to protect their domestic herds.

The rise of eco-tourism is just one of the more notable trends Bill Adams, co-founder of Safari Consultants, has witnessed in his 25 years in the safari business (page 28). I was astounded to hear how much change he has observed. The safari scene, which now encapsulates a dozen countries across East and southern Africa, has quickly emerged from one that centred almost entirely on Kenya just a few decades ago. Some of the early mobile safaris would take six guests and 25-30 porters deep into the bush for days on end – the charismatic guide would even occasionally shoot a buffalo to feed the staff. Needless to say, some changes are more welcomed than others!

We would love to hear how the evolving safari industry is affecting you, as well as your thoughts on the increasing costs of African travel.

In the meantime, safari njema!