Dear Reader,

Welcome to this issue of the Menengai Holidays Safari e-bulletin

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Publisher:                  Menengai Holidays Ltd

Editor:                       Daniel Njaga

Feedback:                  bulletin@menengaiholidays.com

Website:                    http://www.menengaiholidays.com

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The Menengai Holidays Safari e-bulletin is a newsletter on topical highlights and snapshots on travel, wildlife and environment in East Africa.

This newsletter is distributed among past or prospective customers, business associates or friends. Should you not wish to receive further editions, kindly unsubscribe by following this link or via our website.

In this edition, we focus on Sheldrick Elephant Sanctuary at Nairobi National Park. One of the leading safari attractions in the city faces serious hitch after Kenya Wildlife Service imposed a park entrance fee for visitors to the sanctuary - who previously paid only entrance fee to the sanctuary. The orphanage has reportedly posted a 90% drop in visitation spelling doom for the "beloved sanctuary". We invite your opinion on KWS's move. On destination, we focus on Tsavo National Parks, the biggest in Kenya and among the biggest conservation ecosystems in the world. What makes this wilderness tick? The natural history item briefly discusses the baboon. The ubiquitous primate of African savannas is playful, highly gregarious and naughty. Indeed the baboon needs no introduction!!

Nice reading and have an informed travel always.

                                         In this edition...                       

           Snap Shot: UK Losing Toads? Who Cares!

           News: Elephant Sanctuary's Entrance Hitch

           Destination: Tsavo: The Theatre of the Wild

           Natural History: Baboons Promiscuous Legacy

Verbatim from our Customers

 "Dear Daniel...,

... Thank you for the perfect organization of our trip to Kenya. We really enjoyed our safari as well as our stay at Kilili Baharini in Malindi.

We would like also say that Jack was the best guide we have ever seen. Information about animals and your country which he gave us were excellent. He is also a very good driver. Give him best regards from all of us.

Thank you once again; we have already started recommending Menengai Holidays to our friends...."

Anna Lengiewicz, Warsaw, Poland, November 2007

SNAP SHOT

UK "losing the toads"

So you thought Africa is so rich in species to be a threat to another continents' biodiversity? Wait until you learn that extinction of amphibians in Britain is being ascribed to the hapless continent!!

Recent reports indicate that native toads in Britain are at risk from a fungal infection, said to have been brought in by imported frogs.

And that if it spreads further, it stands to completely wipe out the British toad population, according to recent research news in a Royal Society Journal.

Amphibian trade

Environmental experts have called for tighter controls on the aquarium trade to protect native toads fearing the disease is being brought into Britain time and time again through the world trade in amphibians.

"It is thought that it could have been brought to the UK by exotic pet species, such as the African clawed toad, that have escaped or been deliberately released," said a spokesperson to BBC News (our emphasis).

So What?

There you are: Africa is now the cause of woes facing toads in the UK. By the way who cares if toads are joining the dinosaurs in the grave? To many African children - terrified daily by the sight of amphibians in their gardens and village huts - extinction of the toads would be an evolutionary "milestone" hoping this would give way to more elegant creatures. So what if the frogs jump into oblivion; they would wonder!!

For all that cynicism, herpetologists all over the world, should rest assured they have our blessings to conserve all those ugly species.

Courtesy: BBC News

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Endangered Languages

Elsewhere, languages are dying faster than the "professional" endangered species - the black rhinos, the seas turtles and such like creatures that are causing global uproar. Only that this time round its not happening nor emanating or being caused by Africa. At least not for now!

But on a serious note, its bad news nevertheless as it takes away a rich fund of human knowledge and history.

Field research and data analysis by National Geographic and the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages have mapped the extinction hotspots: 1) Northern Australia; 2) Central South America; 3) Northwest Pacific Plateau; 4) Eastern Siberia; and 5) Oklahoma and Southwest United States.

Faster than biological species

Some 7,000 distinct languages are spoken in the world today, and one of them dies about every two weeks. Harrison, an Assistant Professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College, says that the rate of language extinction far exceeds that of birds, mammals, fish or plants and that language loss often parallels loss of biological species.

Harrison estimates that more than half of the world's human languages have no written form. "If the last speaker of many of these vanished tomorrow, the language would be lost because there is no dictionary, no literature, no text of any kind," he said.

Losing knowledge

Losing languages translates directly into losing knowledge, Harrison added. "Most of what humans know about the world is encoded in oral languages. When we lose a language, we lose centuries of human thinking about time, seasons, sea creatures, reindeer, edible flowers, mathematics, landscapes, myths, music, the unknown and the everyday."

Let us all unite to save our languages and their rich heritage.

Courtesy: National Geographic

NEWS WATCH

Elephant Sanctuary in Entrance Hitch

Visitors to Nairobi are no doubt familiar with the popular home of baby elephant; the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, where infant elephants are cared for and eventually returned to the wild in Tsavo National Park.

Daphne Sheldrick, the Director, is world renowned as the first person in the entire world to successfully hand rear newborn fully milk dependent African Elephant orphans, something that spanned 28 years of trial and error to achieve.

The centre has also played a very pivotal role in conservation education and community sensitization through various extension services in communities bordering conservation areas.

Human surrogate mothers

The management of the sanctuary has also contributed tremendously to conservation by supporting many KWS projects in both Tsavo and Nairobi parks including anti-poaching capacity building efforts.

The centre is especially popular with travellers who are on brief visits to the country and have no time or money to visit the wildlife areas in the countryside to see natural populations of elephants and other animals. Most fascinating is for visitors to watch the calves bathing in the mud hole and being bottle fed by their human surrogate mothers.

Park fees now mandatory

Over the past two months, the centre has found itself in an entrance hitch as Kenya Wildlife Service decided to impose a park entrance fee to all visitors to elephant sanctuary besides the fee paid directly to the sanctuary.

This hikes the entrance fee from the normal minimum of 7 dollars to 47 dollars due to national park fee of 40 dollars per person. This has effectively swayed away many potential visitors to the sanctuary and it also caught many safari guides off guard causing a lot of bitterness in the tourism fraternity.

Should KWS charge park entrance fees to the sanctuary?

Proponents argue that it is illegal to allow entrance to the park without the fees unless the fee has been waived procedurally. They further charge that presence of the sanctuary inside Nairobi Park should not accord it special privileges including direct collection of entrance fees since this ought to go direct to the host national park.

KWS sharing failure?

However, critics of the move dismiss KWS's move arguing that the centre is entitled to special privileges since it supports numerous conservation projects under KWS itself. They further applaud the centre for its role of conservation education and especially bringing to the world attention the plight of elephants under the cruel hand of poachers and how this disrupts elephant family systems. Further, that its KWS failure to manage Nairobi Park that led to decline in the park's allure, hence the fall of gate revenue from the park. By imposing this entrance fees on the sanctuary, it is argued that KWS will only cripple the operations of the centre and will not make up for lost revenue from the park.

Share with us your views on this debate: bulletin@menengaiholidays.com

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Lake Natron Project Halted 

The Tanzanian Government last month temporarily suspended the controversial multimillion dollar soda ash project at Lake Natron.

This was in apparent response to international and regional pressure from donors and especially environmental lobbyists. Ecologists had expressed fierce opposition to the project charging that it could drive flamingos to extinction since they breed only in Lake Natron.

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Seasons' Safari Bookings

Book your December and Easter Holidays and safaris with us today. There are plenty of elegant hotels, lodges and tented camps across the country to suit your tastes and budget. Click here for some of the recommended safari hotels based on our customer feedback in 2007.

However, readers are advised that this list is subjective; based purely on our associations with them and there are numerous other hotels in every destination which are not included here.

Also look out for our 2008 safari offers - In the next edition.

Drop us a note to place your booking: info@menengaiholidays.com

DESTINATION

Tsavo National Park: Theatre of the Wild

Tsavo National Park is one of the Africa's largest wilderness reserves. It is larger than country of Wales! It was gazetted as a national park in 1948 and later divided into two - Tsavo East and Tsavo West, for administrative convenience. Both parks are bisected by the historic Nairobi- Mombasa railroad where the popular legend of two lions that claimed several rail workers was born, "The Man-eaters of Tsavo". Apart from being inhabited by lions, stripped hyena, impala, giraffe, and others, Tsavo is also a bird lover's paradise with numerous species of weavers, hornbills, sunbirds, rollers, and raptors commonly seen.

Accordingly, we have in the Tsavo ecosystem the biggest elephant population in Kenya estimated at over 15,000 by Kenya Wildlife Service. This is also one of the natural homes of the endangered black rhino and a very successful sanctuary for its rehabilitation is found here at Tsavo West.

Yatta Plateau and Luggard Falls

Tsavo East's vast rolling scrub-covered hills are home to the largest Elephants herds in Kenya. Amongst the most interesting geographical features in Tsavo East is the Yatta Plateau, which being 290km long makes it the world's longest lava flows. There is also the famous Luggard Falls (named after European explorer, Captain Luggard who passed here on his way to Uganda) along the Galana River with its spectacular rock formations. Visitors can walk along the rocks and enjoy a cool breeze as well as relax and view wildlife at the base of the falls. There is also the Mudanda Rock which is a 1.6 km rocky outcrop which is very ideal for walks and scenery viewing especially wildlife that come to drink water at the base of the rock. In addition, Aruba Dam, built in 1952 across the Voi River is also popular with visitors as it attracts many mammals and birds.

Mzima Springs and Shetani Lava

Tsavo West's rolling volcanic landscape with its recent volcanoes and lava flows make it ideal for geological and cave exploration as well as hiking. First, we have Mzima Springs, a must-visit for any nature lover and more so with interest in earth sciences. The springs produce 50 million gallons of fresh sparkling water daily and are the main water supply for the Coastal region. A unique underwater observatory built under the springs gives you an incredible view of this crystal clear underwater world, where massive hippos glide silently through the shoals of barbell.

There are also numerous rocky outcrops, like Roaring Rocks, while large sections to the west are of recent volcanic origin with large lava flows. Shetani Lava flow, estimated to be 200 years old is quite stunning and worthy attraction to Tsavo West.

But don't forget the Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary. It is a rehabilitation sanctuary for the black rhino but an ideal habitat for other wildlife offering some of the best photographic opportunities for visitors. Large herds of elephants and giraffes plus other plains game are often encountered here.

Accommodation

Accommodation in Tsavo is diverse ranging from simple ground camping to self catering bandas and from luxury lodges to exclusive and pricey tented camps

Contact us for travel arrangements and hotel bookings to this fascinating wilderness: info@menengaiholidays.com

NATURAL HISTORY

Baboon: Promiscuous and Proud of It 

Primates is a category of animals  that include man, with 185 species ranging from those that don't resemble humans like the bush babies to those that closely resemble us like chimpanzees. They also range widely in size from the small 60 grams bush baby to as big as the 200 kg gorilla. Africa has 51 species of primates inhabiting different habitat but mainly forests and savannah woodlands.

In general, all primates are characterized by a large, complex brain, long gestation periods and lifespan and slow maturation. This animal group is confined to the tropics and 80% of them live in the rain forests where they tend to be dominant mammals. East Africa has few patches of tropical forests where we have the great apes, but the entire region has host many other primate species especially monkeys.

Tree dependent

Primates are very dependent on trees and very few have managed to leave the trees and venture into savannah and semi-desert areas. These include the baboons, vervet monkey and the chimpanzees. Accordingly, these three are more commonly seen by travellers in East Africa than other primates. But all primates still depend on trees or cliffs for security. Only man and gorilla sleep on the ground!

In this article, we focus at the most ubiquitous primate in our national parks; the baboon. It is a very common primate in East African savannahs. They weigh up to 50 kg and males can weigh up to twice the females. Their limbs are sturdy, nearly equal in length while hands and feet are short and wide with stubby digits. The females have very prominent sexual swellings.

Most widespread

Because of its adaptation to terrestrial life, the baboon is the most widespread African primate, found virtually in the savannah and even arid habitats where there is water and trees or cliffs. Most travellers will see baboons on the highways in different parts across the region. They have also successfully been able to live outside national parks and are serious crop pests and even classified as vermin in Kenya.

They feed on all accessible edible plants within their range, which is supplemented by animal foods. The plant menu includes grasses, flowers, fruits, seeds and shoots. During dry seasons, they can even uproot grasses and feed on the underground stems, a niche they share with no other mammal except the warthogs.

Stalking Visitors

Because of their strong taste for fruits and human food, baboons tend to stalk visitors in national parks in search of fruits or their peels and other foods. On the highways, they come out not only to solicit food from humans but also feed on insects that are trampled on by vehicles. In some cases they feed on vertebrate prey like fish, lizards and young of ground nesting birds, bird or crocodile eggs.

Baboons live in troops ranging from 8 to over 200 animals but typically averaging about 40. Adult females are more in a troop and most troops tend to avoid one another but may occasionally share resources. Their social organization is highly complex and variable, with a communication system that can display emotion and motivation. Females remain in the troop, with a reproductive strategy based male supremacy.

The males hop from troop to troop after adolescence in search of mating chances and room for social dominance which largely accounts for mating success.

Many people on safari who encounter baboons have noted some unique traits. We focus on just two which we have been asked frequently by many:

First, male baboons so promiscuously display their reproductive organs. This is seen especially when adult males are positioned at vantage points with thighs spread and the penis prominently displayed for all to see. This is thought to be a communication warning off other males to keep off the troop.

Secondly; what accounts for the regular change in colour and texture of the sexual skin at the hind of the female baboons. Again it's about reproduction. During pre-oestrus, the skin is black with a pink background. Oestrus follows which lasts for about 10 days during which time sexual skin is bright pink and fully swollen. Fading and deflation starts 2-3 days after ovulation and end in 7 days with sexual skin black and flat.

ECO BITS

Did you know?

::   That the baboon's scientific name is Papio cynocephalus? Did you know that cynocephalus means "dog-headed," because the animals dog like heads?

::   That baboon males have one of the fiercest sexual competitions in the animal kingdom?

::   And that this aggressive competition is thought to have contributed to their significantly larger size compared to females?

::   That besides their vicious and highly aggressive fighting, baboons are also among the most playful and sexually active (promiscuous) of the primates? More than human beings, you ask?

Next time to come across a baboon troop, observe them closely and send us your comments and observations: info@menengaiholidays.com

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