Now that all the Teams are here with us, Tommie, our Tanzania Country Manager thought he should give you an insight as to what’s going down with the Team Expeditions…

Camp Tanga:

Did I hear someone say, Diani Beach in Kenya? Nope…this is this is our new ocean location in Tanga. Pretty amazing hah?

Tanga is a small coastal town located 70 km south of the Kenyan border.  The camp is situated in Mwambani village, which is 6 km south of Tanga town.  Our core projects revolve around village life and learning how villagers sustain themselves with ocean related activities such as fishing, seaweed farming and boat building.  It is a special place because the village is situated in a coelocanth marine park.  Our projects  focus on finding a balance to protect and utilize the environment to improve life.  There are two primary schools within walking distance and a secondary school whose expansion where expansion is well underway with Goldaming and Francis Bacon being the first lot to get cracking on the walls (albeit with some teething problems – buy hey, who said building is a breeze?)

Whilst we all love that turquoise ocean, we would not be Camps International without finding ourselves a tall tree in the open savannah to place some tents under and be part and parcel of the wildlife splendors of East Africa…

So welcome to Camp Miti Mrefu – simply translated as “Tall trees.”

And as basic as it may seem, we still have plenty of ground rules (only because we know and respect that this bit of land really belongs to the wildlife)

Conservation and Protection of natural habitats and biodiversity is fundamental to Camps International. In our part of the world where the majority of the population live on less than a dollar a day, it is never as simple as simply saying, “Do Not Poach Wildlife” or “Do not cut indigenous trees” when you have children to feed, school fees to pay, and the drought has destroyed what little crops that have not been eaten by the elephants.

Ndarakwai Ranch where our camp is based has been hit by “poaching for meat” problem for quite some time now. Enforcement through ranger patrols is critical but but equally important is giving the surrounding communities access to basic resources. And that is why camps/ndarakwai are constructing a kitchen for the Ol molog vet School. We have also pledged to provide food rations for the school. This way, the school going kids are at least guaranteed a meal a day as opposed to going hungry and prompting them to hunt for game meat. We have also decided to improve on the infrastructure of the school by painting the classrooms in which the pupils would be learning about conservation amongst other subjects in.

We are not naive and we know that this will take time and resources but you have to start somewhere

“In a nutshell, this is what you’ve signed up for”. My words to Kingdown School.

Meanwhile, what better way to experience Africa than to live in a rural setting where the majority of the population lives especially when it is on the slopes of one of Africa’s highest mountains? This is what Camp Meru is all about. The camp is situated right in some mzee’s (Swhali for elderly man) backyard. The Teams live the African way and go about doing their daily chores the same way the locals go about their business. Tending to cattle, harvesting coffee and learning the whole “shebang” until coffee is put on the table. The students even get to do their washing down at the stream…

On top of it all, this is where the Mt. Meru trek either starts or finishes

And on the slopes of Africa’s highest mountain is our  “mother camp”. This is CT’s main operational point. We use this camp as a point of luxury (well, not quite jacuzzi and steam baths but you get the idea). After having it rough in the other camps situated in Kilimanjaro area, you come to Camp Mbokomu for a running shower but that does not mean there ‘s a whole lot of work going on!

And a whole lot of play too especially when Elphas, our resident drag queen is in da camp!

Over the last few weeks, we have been carefully following the controversial and simply unacceptable plans for the construction of a major highway across one of the greatest natural splendors in the world – the Serengeti. Many of you who have traveled with us to Tanzania will know first hand exactly what is at stake here.

As members of ATTA (Advancing Tourism to Africa), we keep well informed through a network of professional organizations and individuals whom we trust and believe will guide us in reaffirming our own stand. The following press statement was released by ATTA in response to these plans. Please take the time to read all the background material through the links below and sign the petition – the Serengeti is home to one of the greatest biodiversity splendors in the world and we would would like it to stay that way…

TANZANIA PLANS FOR COMMERCIAL HIGHWAY

Travel companies, associations, and travelers around the world are asking the government of Tanzania to stop plans for a major commercial highway across the Serengeti National Park.

The government of Tanzania recently approved a major commercial truck highway across the Serengeti. The US$480 million highway is planned to link Arusha and the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya through the Serengeti National Park, said Isidori Shirima, Arusha regional commissioner.

Conservation organizations have warned that the highway would be destructive to the Serengeti ecosystem, as it cuts across the path of ancient wildlife migration routes. The Frankfurt Zoological Society, which has been the main supporter of the Serengeti for the past fifty years, stated “The entire Serengeti will change into a completely different landscape holding only a fraction of its species and losing its world-class tourism potential and its status as the world’s most famous national park – an immense backlash against the goodwill and conservation achievements of Tanzania.“

Responding to the threat, an online petition by travel operators and associations asks the government of Tanzania to stop the highway. It warns that, in addition to damaging a priceless World Heritage Site, it would damage Tanzania’s tourist industry, jeopardizing billions of shillings in foreign exchange needed for economic development.

Tour companies and associations interested in signing the petition should go to the following web site:
http://www.savetheserengeti.org/issues/stop-the-serengeti-highway/

On the site, there is a link to the travel industry petition, as well as information on how individuals can get involved. The website also has background information on the highway and its impacts, as well as links to articles and official positions by the African Wildlife Foundation and Frankfurt Zoological Society. Also included in the site is information on an
alternative route around the southern part of the Serengeti that preserves the ecosystem and provides service to a greater number of Tanzanians.

The Serengeti ecosystem is a geographical region located in northwestern Tanzania and southern Kenya. It hosts the largest and longest overland migration in the world. Some two million wildebeest, zebras, and antelope make the annual trek each year between Kenya’s Masai Mara Reserve and the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is widely regarded as the greatest wildlife spectacle on Earth, and the Serengeti National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The African Travel & Tourism Association
ATTAK Newsletter – http://www.atta.travel

It’s not often that our Project Coordinators get the chance to sit behind a computer. Steve Mwasi is particularly difficult to pin down to a seat for more than a day – he needs to be in a surrounded by elephants otherwise he gets all jittery but I finally managed to get him to sit still for a few hours. Steve recently went through the rigorous Ecotraining and received his certification with flying colors making him one of a handful of Kenyan Field Guides to have completed FGASA (more about that HERE). As many of you know, Camp Kenya has been working within Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary for quite a few years now and we have been making tremendous progress. I asked Steve to share a little bit about what our gappers have been up to this year:

Wildlife Conservation in Kenya has been a challenging issue and achieving the required results takes time and patience. I have been working with   the company for the last three years and primarily involved in conservation projects. For the last one year I have been directly involved with conservation programs within Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary. We have planned and executed quite a number of conservation activities in the sanctuary.

This year, we have been focusing on improving the roads of the sanctuary by pouring red murram on the damaged parts of the road. The gappers, as always, were ready and eager to start digging out trenches to drain all the water which flows on the road. Tour operators claim they fear taking tourists to the sanctuary simply because they might end up incurring additional cost in maintaining the safari vehicles and tourism is critical to the sustainability of the sanctuary which is entirely owned by local communities from within the area. No tourism = no revenue = no safe home for the elephants. Our volunteers were determined to finish there ear marked portion of the of the road despite working under the scorching heat and after three days of hard work they managed to complete the required section of the road and all felt there work was really rewarding. So we welcome more efforts so as to make the sanctuary user friendly and ensure more tourists visit the sanctuary.

Then the moment arrives which everyone really looks forward to: the time of chasing goats and giving them deworming medicine. Some thought it was all fun throughout but a moment of reckoning came when some goats could not swallow the medicine and vomited it all  up on the faces of some gappers! Those who thought they were strong runners decided to give the goats a chase and it was constant running battles. Well, I never imagined imagine some could talk to goats in order to plead with them to swallow the medicine  and just when we thought it was working, the goats decided to spray all the medicine  back on to our faces! Healthy livestock in the area is equally critical for the surrounding communities who are really dependent on their livestock for income and thus the program has really has really obtained goodwill from the local community and they really appreciate it. In fact the exercise has been broadcasted and advertised in the local FM radio station which has positively enhanced Camp Kenya’s conservation and community initiatives in the area.

And if there is one activity that everyone loves to get involved in…is of course one which does not involve much movement. Over the past six months we have been painting a host of educational murals on the walls at Ngozini Primary School. They loved it and so do the school kids! Drawing and painting the learning diagram aids at the school has been really helpful to the students as they have such limited resources and visual aids. Ngozini Primary has one of the most active environmental and wildlife schools I know of and the children here are the custodians for this strained ecosystem where humans and elephants have little choice but to learn to live amongst each other. Hopefully, we are all making that a possibility.

Steve Mwasi

Camp Kenya