Masai rob British tourists at gunpoint

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...324779,00.html

The Times August 23, 2006

Masai rob British tourists at gunpoint
By Rob Crilly
A raid by tribal bandits at a luxury camp site near the Masai Mara
brings Kenya's crimewave to the bush


IT WAS meant to be a dream holiday. Lazy days spent watching Kenya's
plentiful game roam the African savannah would be followed by evenings
in a luxury tented camp that might have suited the big-game hunters of
old.

But the spirit of African adventure was shattered for two British
couples early yesterday as armed Masai warriors barged into their tents
and escaped with cash and cameras.

Witnesses said that six men, some with AK47 rifles, took a member of
staff hostage at the Mara Porini Camp, close to the Masai Mara game
reserve, before firing in the air to wake terrified guests. Police
named one of the couples as Ruth and Colin Garthwaite, from Bradford.
Mr Garthwaite is a freelance photographer.

The attack is the latest in a string of high-profile robberies to
affect a nation gripped by a rising tide of crime. Ambassadors,
government ministers and even golfers have been attacked.

Gurmukh Jabbal, operations manager with Gamewatchers Safaris, said that
the raiders had the distinctive elongated earlobes and bright red
cloaks of the Masai tribe.

They broke into the camp shortly after midnight and moved through the
tents holding a member of staff at gunpoint. The camp's guests were
sleeping after a long day watching the lions, cheetahs and elephants
that make the Masai Mara Kenya's leading tourist destination.

Gunmen woke British guests in two tents before stealing cash, travel
documents, cameras, jewellery and sunglasses.

"They were about to go into a third and asked their hostage whether
there were armed police nearby," Mr Jabbal said. "Thankfully he
said 'Yes', and the attackers ran off into the bush. Everyone was
very shaken but at least no one was injured."

Five American guests were also in the camp, he added, and all nine
would continue their safari holiday.

Police with sniffer dogs were at the site yesterday.

The Mara Porini Camp has only six tents, making it one of the
region's most exclusive destinations. Tents, pitched in the shade of
yellow-barked acacia trees on the banks of the Laetoli river, come
complete with en-suite bathrooms.

Lodges and tented camps are at their busiest at this time of year, when
the reserve is filled with animals on their "great migration". As
many as two million wildebeest, zebra and antelope arrive in the Masai
Mara from the Serengeti to the south.

Visitors are told to remain alert to the risk of violent crime. Last
year two Japanese tourists were injured when armed bandits held up two
tour vans. A similar incident was reported further north in Samburu
National Park.

Security officials at western embassies in Nairobi suggest that
criminals are getting bolder, particularly in towns and cities.

Latest travel advice issued by the Foreign Office warns tourists:
"There have been a number of armed attacks on golf courses around
Nairobi. Be extra vigilant while playing in remote areas away from the
clubhouse of any golf courses."

Several golf courses in Nairobi employ watchmen armed with bows and
arrows to patrol distant fairways. Elsewhere, billboards warn women to
protect themselves against rape and offer advice to drivers in the
event of a carjacking.

Small arms left over from civil wars in neighbouring Uganda, Somalia
and Sudan are easily available in Kenya.

Banks and restaurants are protected by security guards and homes in
well-off suburbs stand inside high walls, razor wire and electrified
fences; but money and status do not always offer much protection.
Valery Egoshkin, the Ambassador for Russia, was stabbed on Sunday
during a robbery.

Jake Grieves-Cook, who is managing director of Gamewatchers as well as
chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board, said that game reserves had
largely escaped the escalating crime.

"Incidents affecting tourists are few and far between," he said.
"The number of incidents has declined in recent years in spite of the
increase in tourists and the rise in crime in the country."

MASAI MARA
# The most visited park in Kenya, established in 1961

# At 721 sq miles (1868 sq km) it is slightly smaller than the Lake
District

# Home to Kenya's largest lion population, as well as buffalo,
elephant, leopard and rhino

# The most popular time to visit is July to October for the annual
wildebeest migration, when 1.4 million of the animals go in search of
fresh grass

# Kenya draws 150,000 visitors from Britain each year