General
There was one storm on the 3rd, with heavy rain near Ngiro-are attracting thousands of wildebeest into that corner of the Triangle. More rain on the 9th and 10th through to the 16th
We have received five new speed cameras and will deploy three of them in the Main Reserve and two in the Triangle.
I met with the Governor on the 14th and had an excellent meeting, we resolved a number of issues relating to revenue collection and management.
We are progressing well with the design for a Visitor Centre at Oloololo. There were 117 designs submitted. These were shortlisted to nine and have since been cut down to four potential designs. I would like to thank the A&K Foundation for all the hard work and support to date.
Chinese film unit filming live to China, we were visited by the Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife, Ms Rebecca Miano; Governor Patrick Ntutu and Director General of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) D Erastus Kanga – all of whom were interviewed for the programme on the 17th.
Collaboration Agreement
We continue to have a group of people in the County who seem determined to undermine our work. They refused entry for one of our staff – citing delays in the provision and cost of spares. They have appointed a company called Hemlab to collect Landing Fees, in contravention of our Management Agreement. They have authorized people from outside the Reserve to fly in balloons without paying Park Fees, ostensibly if they leave after breakfast.
We never anticipated the number of people using the toilets at Look Out – well in excess of 1,000 people a day. There are times when we have queues of 70 vehicles at the toilets. We are getting through over 60 bales of toilet paper and another 60 of hand towels a month. This has placed enormous pressure on our waste management capabilities and we are having to increase the sewage system to cope and will install an incinerator to deal with all the hand towels and sanitary waste.
We completed connecting water to the new Operations Rooms at Keekorok.
We purchased ammunition, gun oils, cleaning rods and flannelette for the Main Reserve.
We had to overhaul both grader engines as well as a shovel engine. We also replaced the king-pins on two of the Tipper trucks and fixed the electrics on most of the machinery. This equipment is worked very hard and is extremely expensive in time and spares to maintain.
We sent the road team off for two weeks and were to leave a small team to grade the road from Talek to Mara Bridge.
We rolled the Ol Kiombo airstrip and are investigating the possibility of tarmacking the airstrip.
We have started work at Enombuai. The uni-huts have been set and we have started on the roofing.
We officially handed over the Ngararu station to the Police on the 29th, the function was attended by the Governor, senior Administration and Police officials. We have been asked to fence the compound and build a new station for the GSU at Angata.
The new staff houses at Keekorok are nearly complete and we are tidying up the uni-huts occupied by KAPS staff and the women selling beadwork at the airstrip. We have re-roofed the Warden’s staff quarters and are in the process of building a new septic tank to cater for the new housing. We are now installing solar power to all the new staff houses.
We are making a concrete drift at Lugga ya Nyoka, we had culverts there, but they were twice washed away. There is progress on the bridge over the Talek that was washed away in the last rains. It will hopefully be completed before the rains.
We spent a month cutting game viewing tracks in the Main Reserve.
Staff
We completed staff appraisals.
We purchased new uniforms for all our rangers.
We employed seven new members of staff to fill gaps. As always politics then became an issue, with pressure to employ “my people” and threats when we didn’t inform local leaders that we were recruiting and giving them a chance to impose one of their own.
Wildlife
This is turning out to be one of the worst migrations in recent years. It is possible that they may return, but there was hardly a wildebeest remaining in the Mara by the 20th of August, a month earlier than last year and two to three months earlier than we have come to expect. The Triangle hardly had more than a few thousand wildebeest at any one time – the Main Reserve had a lot more for a while. However, the Talek seems to now be a physical barrier – courtesy of all the development. Although there were thousands of wildebeest approaching the Talek, none crossed. A far cry from the thousands that used to cross in the past.
Dr. A Takita removed a snare from the zebra and treated the zebra with a spear wound and warthog with a territorial fight wound during this month.
Dogs
Our young puppies are doing very well, there is only one that seems to be a little afraid. The others are all beginning to track with confidence.
Tourism
Tourist numbers were down on last year by 35.7% (9,011 against 14,007 in July 2023). There could be a number of reasons, the increase in Park Fees, demonstrations and no direct access across the river for most of July.
Tourist numbers have dropped off in the last week of August, much earlier than normal. We have not analyzed the figures yet for August but we can expect fewer tourists than last year.
Security
I have been in contact with the Chief Park Warden in the Serengeti and we have agreed to meet when he returns in September, he will set a date. I hope that we will be able to use this meeting to reaffirm our commitment to working together and iron out any possible problems.
The Ngiro-are rangers set an ambush between their station and Kinyangaga on the 5th and managed to arrest one person as he and a companion came to set snares.
Recovered four wire snares.
Our rangers arrested one person on the night of the 14th between Ngiro-are and Kenyangaga, he and his companion were butchering a zebra caught in a snare. Two snares were recovered.
Our rangers arrested two people on the 18th, they set an ambush along the border and three people came in. Five wire snares were recovered. Until we meet with the Chief park Warden we will continue to concentrate along the border and not patrol inside Tanzania.
One person was arrested between Kenyangaga and Ngiro-are on the 22nd, he and his companion has caught a buffalo in a snare and were butchering it. Seven snares were recovered.
Two more people were arrested by our joint teams on the 24th night. These were people hunting along the escarpment in the Triangle and had killed and butchered a zebra. We had received information that there were people hinting along the escarpment and set an ambush along the top. Three snares were recovered. These people were taken to Lolgorien.
Two people were arrested for cutting trees along the escarpment on the 29th, our rangers set an ambush and caught them at 10.00 pm.
Revenue and Accounts
Despite the fact that tourist numbers were down actual revenue increased by 178% from Ksh 119,926,995 in July 2023 to Ksh 333,630,540 this July.
We have nearly completed our Annual Audit and expect a draft report out by mid-September.
Repairs & Maintenance
We received a new JCB back-hoe at the beginning of the month.
We sold the Chief Executive’s Land Rover for Ksh 3,000,000 (three million).
We resurfaced the roads on Oloololo Game Ranch and graded all the major roads and the minor roads around Oloololo.
We drilled at Kilo 2 and Hippo Pool, both sites have high yields of excellent water. We have installed a solar pump annd connected water to the camp. We haver also installed Star Link and tiled the kitchen.
We have installed additional solar panels at Nigro-are to cater for the Star Link.
We constructed a new fence 100 x 100 meters at the cheetah enclosure.
We have received five Speed cameras and hope to install them in September.
Report on focus for August
Focus for September
· Possibly hold Board meeting;
· Receive one new Suzuki Jimny;
· Develop Addendum to Collaboration Agreement;
· Complete borehole Hippo Pools;
· Start new toilet block at Hippo Pools;
· Install speed cameras;
· Approve designs for top bridge at Purungat; and
· Survey borehole site at Ngiro-are.
Work on Collaboration Agreement
· Develop plans to tarmac Keekorok and Ol Kiombo airstrips;
· Expand sewage system at Look Out;
· Continue with Enombuai;
· Complete housing at Keekorok;
· Continue maintaining roads;
· Plan on GSU housing at Angata;
· Complete solar for Keekorok housing;;
· Complete septic tank at Keekorok;
· Complete drift at Lugga ya Nyoka;
· Continue to pay for fuel; and
· Complete engine overhaul on one grader and shovel.