Guernsey Press

Into Africa

AN ELEPHANT migration route between Samburu and Mount Kenya has opened and is in use.It centres on a tunnel under the main Nanyuki-Meru Road (A2) and joins the Ngare Ndare Forest to the Mt Kenya Forest.

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AN ELEPHANT migration route between Samburu and Mount Kenya has opened and is in use.It centres on a tunnel under the main Nanyuki-Meru Road (A2) and joins the Ngare Ndare Forest to the Mt Kenya Forest.

Pivotal in its inception is the management team at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, whose land links two isolated elephant populations.

Lewa Wilderness boasts a quarter of the world's most beautiful zebra (Grevy's), the big five - lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino - and, most importantly, a route from Samburu to Mt Kenya.

Samburu has 7,500 elephants which wander up into Lewa and back again. The main road prevented their movement to join a further 2,000 animals on the mountain.

Richard Branson came up with the cash needed to build an underpass - in effect a bridge - and donations flowed from conservation organisations to acquire land on either side of the road, securing a corridor through farmland.

The underpass was 10 years in the making, gathering little momentum until Virgin founder Mr Branson donated $250,000.

The Dutch government added more money and other donors stepped up. Two major farms allowed the corridor to cross their land.

One of the family farms gave up 671 acres to the corridor. The elephants have already caused $25,000-worth of damage, but farm owner-manager Charlie Dyer said he is 'just overjoyed and really, really satisfied' to see the underpass in use.

On New Year's Day, just 10 days before I arrived at Lewa Wilderness Camp, an elephant nicknamed Tony walked through the underpass and up into the mountain forest.

The route had been spread with dung from a much-respected huge male elephant and the con worked. 'If it was OK for him,' Tony thought, 'why not me?'

I had become depressed visiting southern Africa in recent years.

An increasing number of 'private reserves' are springing up, putting fences through once- wild areas and importing animals for tourists to photograph or shoot (sometimes both activities at the same reserve, although not at the same time).

On one drive I did, we were looking for leopard. I saw one on entering an enclosure, pacing the fence 200 metres away, and told our driver-guide.

'Not yet,' he said crossly. 'We'll do leopard later.'

And so we did. Using a radio detector, a signal was found coming from thick brush, which our 'guide' rammed with the vehicle. A leopard leapt out, climbed up a nearby dead tree and sprawled along a branch, looking at us.

Cameras clicked and the perfect shot was obtained... except that the animal was wearing a radio collar. Only when it stared straight at us did the folds of its pelt hide the collar.

Thinking about the incident later, I recalled seeing that photograph more than once in specialist publications. It's the picture that counts, you see, not how it was obtained nor the welfare of the victim.

These places are to me about as real as Disneyland, only cheaper to run and more expensive to get into. But in Lewa, my confidence in true African conservation has been restored.

I saw my first leopards in years, two hunting impala and warthogs as dusk fell. Three male cheetahs were in residence in a more open part of the reserve and both species of rhino were present in numbers. The white - or more likely 'wide' rhino, after the long, straight mouth - was more common, feeding on grass, which it grazes. Black rhino are also present, their pointed lips used to browse bushes.

Birds are spectacular, too. Africa's biggest eagle breeds near the camp. I saw martial eagles - two adults and at least one immature - almost every time we went out.

Crowned cranes were using one of the marshy areas as a roost and one morning we counted more than 100 of these magnificent birds as they took off to disperse around the area.

A spitting cobra reared up at me in the camp grounds, fortunate to have wandered into an area populated by understanding people. The snake was a baby (although it still squirted venom in my direction) and was gently removed and released in a less-sensitive area.

Its chances of gaining maturity are slim, however. A secretary bird was wheeling over the area as I arrived at the camp. These long-legged birds of prey wander the grasslands looking for cobras and other snakes, which they kill with their talons and eat.

It is not just wildlife that benefits under the Lewa management regime. Five camps are dotted around the vast conservation area catering for wildlife enthusiasts like me.

No more than 100 guests are allowed in the area at one time, ensuring that the animals are not unduly harassed and that visitors experience an outstanding time in the reserve.

Prince William is a regular visitor - staying with the Craig family, who set up Lewa Wildlife Conservancy - and is rumoured to have proposed to Kate Middleton while on safari last October. Their engagement was announced a couple of months later.

Horse safaris can be booked, affording amazingly close contact with animals that do not see a rider as anything other than an odd-shaped horse. Camels are used by some, like me, but still we had close encounters with beautiful reticulated giraffes.

The camps are run by local Masai people who have been trained on the job.

Karmushu Kiama welcomed me - and Prince William's party before me - to the Wilderness Camp. He is an outstanding man whose skills would have seen him successful in any top hotel in the world.

Nothing was too much trouble for him and his staff. Their attention to detail was impeccable, resulting in one of the most pleasant stays I have enjoyed anywhere in Africa. Only his Masai warrior's clothes separated Karmushu from the management team at Claridge's.

(I hope Mrs Earl and our chums will read this, as my plan is to return with a Guernsey party.)

Money earned through these enterprises is filtering down into the local villages, where a welcome break from tradition is coming about.

In the past, livestock has been the measure of wealth. Cattle and particularly goats destroy the wild environment, making enterprises like Lewa self-destructing.

The management team have persuaded local people that they do not need to buy more livestock only to sell them when cash is needed - just bank the cash instead.

This is being done, with the result that people and wilderness are getting richer together.

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