Hersch wrote:
I always look forward to your post Jay. This is another great set and great narrative with the images. Tanzania is getting quite a bit more tourism this year because of the unrest in Kenya. We have had to make several changes in our inteniary because of the increased traffic. As with most everything else there are good guide services and bad and many of the guides I have had in the past hate for this to happen but there will prabably always be more of a problem with increased traffic. There are rules against this but not all abide by them and often cause ill feelings between the different guide services.
As you mention this is becoming more and more of a problem within our own National Parks and with forecast of much more visitation over the next few years several of our parks have studies underway to try and find a solution to manage automobile traffic as well as ways to prevent disturbing wildlife. My hopes are that this will be done reasonably and not go way overboard with restrictions.
Thanks, Grant. We definitely saw evidence that people had shifted their vacations from Kenya to Tanzania. We also frequently saw more than the five vehicles that were at issue here, including a few times where it was more than a dozen. However, more important than the absolute numbers of cars is what they were doing. On the day we saw a leopard in a tree, there were probably 15-20 cars in the area (I have a photo I am planning to post in the future). However, the vehicles had to stay on the road and so could not surround the leopard or chase it.
I don't consider myself an expert, but in my limited experience (of one Eastern Africa and one Southern Africa safari) our drivers on our safari in Southern Africa were better at putting us in good position to see the animals in an unobtrusive way. They would observe the animal to get an indication of where it was going and then loop around to get in front of it and then allow the animal to come to us. Granted, occasionally the animal would change direction and we would be in the wrong place, but they were correct most of the time. I am sure it also helped that there were usually fewer vehicles jockeying for position in Southern Africa. Many of the animals did not seem to mind the vehicles and so came quite close. I just always felt more comfortable when it was the animal's decision to close that gap instead of ours.
anthony whitmo wrote:
Yep number 6 is a definite "NO" My wife gives that same look and I can tell it a mile away
Great series and really enjoyed these. Well done capturing these guys and informative to the current conditions. I guess more education to the locals would be appropriate and in order as they are the ones in control............
Anthony Whitmore
Thanks, Anthony. As I told Lil, I was quite confident that that expression meant "NO!!"
To some degree it's a matter of educating the locals, but the tourists are just as guilty. One of the photographers in our group proudly told the story of how he had tipped a driver $50 after a game drive for getting him into the perfect position for a shot and after that the driver always made sure he was positioned perfectly during all future game drives - even if that meant breaking park rules. I can understand his desire to get the perfect photograph; after all, I'm a photographer too. It's also probably true that "just one rules violation won't hurt anything" is a true statement. The problem is that once someone does it, everyone wants to do it and so there isn't "just one" rules violation. Like many other things it's a matter of degree. Something done by one person is no big deal, but because the situation can't handle dozens of people doing it, the easiest solution is to prohibit everyone from doing it.
susan harris wrote:
#s 6 & 8 are incredible!
i can't wait for both my kids to go away to school so i can travel and do this too!
sue
Thanks, Sue. I hope you make it. Despite some of the problems that have been discussed in this thread, I think safaris are a wonderful experience. I just have some concerns about what the best way to keep them that way is. Like many other natural attractions, African wildlife is at risk of being "loved to death."
