Relief

The clouds that had been looming on the horizon look as if they are blowing away - Yipee !

The union involved in the BA strikes have said that there will not be any more during the Summer and the vehicle hire money, that had been lost in the Kenyan banking system, has now turned up.

I think we have also sorted out how we are going to pay the fees to stay in the Mara. KAPS have recently been appointed to collect all fees on behalf of the Conservancy and it looks as if we can pay everything at their HQ in Nairobi. This will save us carrying around almost £2,000 cash for a week until we enter the National Reserve. However, we can't use a credit card and have to pay cash in Yanqui $ as we are foreigners.

It looks as if I can get all my stuff in one 23kg bag, so that I will have plenty of capacity to take stuff out to Sarah at the Mara Predator Project and Mark at Serian. Though both are running out of time to let me have their stuff.
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1,000 Visitors

I've been surprised how many people have visited this site - it was originally only supposed to be a way to help us plan our trip to Kenya.

Now it's broken the 1,000 barrier and many people (>13%) are coming back for a second and third visit.

I'm glad it's been so popular but my only disappointment is that so few people have left a comment. I suppose I will just have to get used to 'talking' to myself.

Reports over the past few days indicate that the migration has already reached the Massai Mara and that today the first few Wildebeest have crossed the Mara River. We initially thought that we would be there too early in the year to see this spectacle but it seems as if we may be lucky !

The only cloud on the horizon is that the balance of the owed money I had transfered to Roving Rovers doesn't seem to have arrived in their bank account ! It's gone from mine and I have paid both my and RR's bank costs but the actual money is missing ! Patrick at RRs seems fairly laid back about this but the last thing I want is to arrive in Nairobi and there not to be a Landy to take us off on our travels.
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Serengeti Super Highway

The Tanzania Government is considering a proposal to drive a major highway across the Serengeti Plains just South of the border with Kenya and straight across the path of the world famous migration.

There is wide spread concern across the world about this road and its impact on both the migration and the wider Serengeti / Massai Mara ecosystem.

You can see articles on this via the following links :
- Frankfurt Zoological Society
- African Wildlife Fund
- New York Times
- National Geographical

There are strong arguments for the benefits such a highway will bring to communities to the West of the Serengeti but these need to be balanced against wider impacts both in Tanzania and Kenya Massai Mara.  Perhaps a different route might be more appropriate.

The Americans already have a petition against this but the UK Government has, unfortunately, withdrawn its  on-line petition site.  If you'd like to feed your thoughts into this debate, sign the American petition, email the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators or join the Facebook site.

"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world" : John Muir
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