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 Kilimanjaro Cleanup
Wesley Krause, field director of Mountain Travel Sobek Tanzania, is highly focused on implementing what he calls "responsible tourism" on Kilimanjaro. He has raised funds and actively participated in several cleanups on Kilimanjaro. The largest clean up so far was in May 1999 where the Everest Environmental Cleanup fund donated $5000 and sent two of the fund directors over to participate in the cleanup. It took 110 people 11 nights to remove more than 15,000 pounds of waste.
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 Porter Protection
Wesley Krause is also involved with Himalayan Explorers Connection (HEC) - a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote a better understanding of and respect for the environment and culture of the Himalayan region. HEC has an equipment rental program for sherpas in Nepal and is looking for input to get a similar program organized in Africa.
In Tanzania, Wes is known to be one of the best Kilimanjaro operators to work for. His company screens all the porters they hire, meet with them regularly (picture IDs are issued annually) and encourages and empowers them to contact him directly with any comments or questions they may have. He ensures that not a single group starts a trek up Kilimanjaro without bringing adequate shelter for the porters, cooking gas for their climbing kitchens, and plenty of healthy and hearty food.
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 International Trade in Endangered Species
Iain Allan, Mountain Travel Sobek's field director in Kenya, is deeply involved in supporting the international ivory trade ban. All endangered species are classified in an Appendix 1, 2 or 3 category. Appendix 1 consists of the most endangered, such as panda, snow leopard, whale etc.
The category of the elephant is the most contentious. It is presently listed in Appendix 1, which means that there can be no international trade in ivory. Many countries, however, feel the elephant should be on Appendix 2 because they rely on ivory sales. From the research that has been carried out over the past four decades by researchers like Cynthia Moss, Joyce Poole and Iain Douglas-Hamilton, on the social behavior of elephants, and our recently appreciated knowledge of the incredible intelligence of the elephant, it is believe culling is tantamount to genocide. It is imperative the elephant stays within the confines of Appendix 1, otherwise we could lose the species in the next two decades.
To see the current Appendix status for wildlife, please go to CITES (Convention of the International Trade in Endangered Species)
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 Lion Research in Tsavo
Iain Allan is an honorary warden in Tsavo East National Park - a park famous for its population of maneless lions. Maneless male lions are a rare phenomenon found only in parts of Kenya and in Asia, and renowned in history as the as "the man-eaters of Tsavo" for killing 130 workers during the building of the Uganda Railroad in 1898.
In June 2001, Iain started his own lion identification research project along the Galana River in Tsavo East National Park. Iain and his team are identifying key pride members, and following pride movements, and so far they are extremely excited about their findings. Nobody has ever before studied these lions, and the findings are proving to be of considerable importance in unraveling the mystery of why these lions have such different habits.
The lion identification research project is on-going, and we hope to involve and share these findings with our travelers on our Kenya adventures in the near future.
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 Creating Conservation Minded Youth
James Makau, who leads many of our trips in Kenya, has for the past 12 years worked with the National Museum in Nairobi on programs that introduce conservation issues to local children age 8-17. (In Kenya, the museums function as advisors for the government on scientific subjects.)
James started these programs with a few of his childhood friends and their philosophy is to work with children in their local communities and make them see the consequences of deficient conservation, for example cutting down trees for firewood or doing laundry in the river from which they also obtain their drinking water. "We don't tell the children what's right or wrong - we ask them conservation questions and let them discuss these issues among themselves. That way they go through the thought process and realize the impact of the way they currently live.
The program is for children all over the country, but James primarily focuses on the Rift Valley area outside Nairobi (conservation of water, rivers, and lakes), Western Kenya (conservation of indigenous forests), and the Indian Ocean coast (conservation of marine life).
The Kipepeo project ("kipepeo" is Swahili for butterfly) in Western Kenya is one of the projects to which the children are introduced. In the Kipepeo project, instead of cutting down the trees in the Sokoke forest - a forest famous for its habitation of butterflies - the local people are paid for raising and exporting butterfly eggs to greenhouses worldwide. Another program is a turtle management project at the coast: instead of the local people collecting the turtle eggs for cooking, they are encouraged to sell them to a non-profit organization set up to incubate the eggs and release the turtles into the ocean.
So, if you're ever traveling in Kenya or Tanzania with Wesley, Iain, or James - don't miss the chance to ask them about their involvement in any of these projects. Their dedication and engagement in conservation is an inspiration.
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For more information and reservations, please contact:
Mountain Travel Sobek
1266 66th Street, Suite 4
Emeryville, CA 94608 USA
Toll Free (USA and Canada): 1-888-831-7526
Phone: +1-510-594-6000
Fax: + 1-510-594-6001
Email: info@mtsobek.com |
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