Kenya drought
 

One of my friends found this - a little dramatic,
but still probably too true:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...icle346706.ece

Kenya drought
 

In message
Dave Patterson wrote:

One of my friends found this - a little dramatic,
but still probably too true:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...icle346706.ece

Thanks for the link, Dave.
:-(((

Slainte

Liz

--
Virtual Liz: http://www.v-liz.com
Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos
Photo blog of Make Povery History rally in Edinburgh 2 July 2005:
http://www.v-liz.com/g8rally/protest.htm

Kenya drought
 

In message
Liz wrote:

In message
Dave Patterson wrote:

One of my friends found this - a little dramatic,
but still probably too true:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/...icle346706.ece

Thanks for the link, Dave.
:-(((


Also see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4744812.stm

and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4725152.stm

and the links out from these.

Slainte

Liz

--
Virtual Liz: http://www.v-liz.com
Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos
Photo blog of Make Povery History rally in Edinburgh 2 July 2005:
http://www.v-liz.com/g8rally/protest.htm

Bad Year to Go To East Africa?
 

Any idea of how this affects game viewing in Kenya and Tanzania?

It's obviously a tragedy for the local people and animals, but I am
considering a vist to East Africa later this year. It's so expensive I
want, as far as possible, to avoid going
at a bad time.

Bad Year to Go To East Africa?
 

Michael Kilpatrick asks ...

Any idea of how this affects game viewing in Kenya and Tanzania?

I was in northern Tanzania a few weeks ago and I thought the game
viewing was great ... the dust was hellish at times and the great
wildebeest migration was not up to past standards, but we saw a lot of
cats and elephants ... this is part of what we photographed ...
http://members.aol.com/bhilton665/ta...2006/index.htm

It's obviously a tragedy for the local people and animals, but I am
considering a vist to East Africa later this year. It's so expensive I
want, as far as possible, to avoid going at a bad time.

We decided to go back this year, probably in April during the "rainy
season" since there hasn't been much rain and rates are lower since
it's off-season ... where exactly were you thinking of visiting, and
what were the main animals you wanted to see? We didn't seen 100,000's
of wildebeests as expected but we did see 10,000's of them, and you can
judge for yourself how we did on other species by the images on the
web.

Bill

Bad Year to Go To East Africa?
 

In message
"Michael Kilpatrick" wrote:

Any idea of how this affects game viewing in Kenya and Tanzania?

It's obviously a tragedy for the local people and animals, but I am
considering a vist to East Africa later this year. It's so expensive I
want, as far as possible, to avoid going
at a bad time.

As Bill says, it doesn't seem like the drought is biting Tz as much as
northern/eastern Kenya.

However, I chanced upon a blog yesterday being written by a woman
living with Samburu people, and on 17th Feb she was writing in detail
about the effects of the drought.
Suddenly on 23rd Feb she wrote a throwaway line about the difficulty
of driving to Nakuru 'because we have the rains' - no more detail!

So I looked up the Beeb weather, and both Nairobi and Nakuru are
listed as having 'light showers', though Maralal is dry/hot/sunny.
(only about 18 Kenyan towns listed)

The rains might come yet!

Slainte

Liz

--
Virtual Liz: http://www.v-liz.com
Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos
Photo blog of Make Povery History rally in Edinburgh 2 July 2005:
http://www.v-liz.com/g8rally/protest.htm

Bad Year to Go To East Africa?
 

Hello Again Bill

Really my main reason for going would be in the hope of seeing the huge
numbers of animals in the migration.

Like most other tourists I love seeing the charismatic animals - cats,
elephants, etc - plus almost anything else - but I can see all those for
quite a bit less money in South Africa by visting Kruger and some of the
private reserves close by. You don't see really large numbers of animals in
South Africa though.

I realise there are no guarantees, even in a good year, of being there when
the migration is on, but I have been led to believe July is the best time -
but it's also the most expensive. I'm also a bit constrained in that I
probably can't get away from work until June.

Regards

Michael

Bad Year to Go To East Africa?
 

Thanks Liz

Yes, it could all change - I'm pretty much forced to plan at least 4 mnths
ahead
because of work, so I might just have to hope for the best.

Regards

Michael

Bad Year to Go To East Africa?
 

In message
"Michael Kilpatrick" wrote:


I realise there are no guarantees, even in a good year, of being there when
the migration is on, but I have been led to believe July is the best time -
but it's also the most expensive. I'm also a bit constrained in that I
probably can't get away from work until June.
In June, you'd see the migration in the Serengeti, even if they've
started spilling in to the Mara by then. It'll be moving north by
then, so stay maybe a few days in Seronera and a few days at Lobo, or
other accommodations which may be available in these areas.

If that's your main aim, that would be your 'safest'* bet, even in
early July.

* of course, it's all relative! But I'd think the chances of all the
game being in the Mara even by mid-July are pretty slim. It's a pity
you can't cross the political border which divides the two parks
(unless things have changed again and I haven't heard!) which would,
from the visitor's perspective, be ideal.

Slainte

Liz

--
Virtual Liz: http://www.v-liz.com
Kenya; Tanzania; Namibia; India; Seychelles; Galapagos
Photo blog of Make Povery History rally in Edinburgh 2 July 2005:
http://www.v-liz.com/g8rally/protest.htm

Bad Year to Go To East Africa?
 

Thanks again Liz. That sounds like well informed advice.

How would you get around between the lodges?

In Sth Africa I would just hire a car but I'm having real trouble finding an
option that
doesn't involve booking into a tour, or hiring a guide who would be with me
for the whole trip (which seems a bit of an odd way of doing things).