BY KIPCHUMBA KEMEI
It was the first time for Judy Hewitt-Bullock, who was eager to go on Safari to the world-famed Masai Mara Reserve, to visit Kenya .
Her heart was throbbing with big expectation as she left Jomo Kenyatta International airport for the nearly 200km journey to the reserve .
She wanted to reach her destination early so that she could enjoy every moment of the visit she had yearned for more than 12 years.
But what Bullock, from Virginia US, did not know after saving every penny for the journey was that the tour would last longer than she expected.
"Some few kilometres from Narok the journey turned into a nightmare," she says. "Along the way we had several mechanical breakdowns because of the poor road, which forced us miss the four o’clock game drive," she says.
Hugh Fraser-John from Manchester City, UK says: "Mara has been receiving good publicity internationally as the best tourist destination in the world, but what I experienced made me change my perception. The rugged roads resembling cattle tracks were a let down."
International publicity
Patrick Njagi, a software engineer with a Nairobi brokerage firm, was recently forced to spend a night in Ngoswani area with his wife and two children after the road that links Narok with Sekenani gate in Mara was rendered impassable by rains.
"We were heading for the reserve for Christmas on early morning. We thought we would have our lunch then proceed for the afternoon game drive, little did we know we would not make it," he says.
He adds: "Our vehicle stuck some 40km to our destination. It was raining and the area was flooded. It was dangerous because deep in the night we saw lions hovering around the vehicle. We kept on praying."
Njagi says he was forced to cancel the journey the following day after being rescued by a tractor he hired for Sh3,000.
Most roads leading to the famous destinations in the park are terrible.
It is difficult to access lodges and camps on the western side of the reserve because of the roads, which are difficult to drive on in both wet and dry spells. This has meant proprietors of the lodges and camps record losses.
Owing to the bad infrastructure, tourism sector players are worried about attacks by bandits and ask the Government to give attention to the crisis.
Narok and Trans Mara County Councils annually earn almost Sh3 billion from tourism in the reserve.
Last year, the country earned Sh69 billion in tourism and the figure is set to go up with the positive image the country has received for holding a peaceful referendum. But there is little to write home about since the roads will turn the tourists off.
Roads in the Mara received bad international publicity in December 2006 when tourists on Christmas and New Year holidays could not reach their destinations because rains rendered roads impassable.
The torrential rains cut off most sections of the road, leading to massive visitors’ arrival cancellations.
Kenya Tourist Board then advised tourists who were willing to visit the famed reserve, whose annual migration from Serengeti plains to the Mara was that year named as the seventh wonder of the world, to spend their holidays elsewhere.
"The roads in the Mara have been neglected for long. It is now raising international concern over the Government seriousness in fixing it once and for all," says Andrew Mungatana, the spokesperson of the tour guides and drivers.
The chairman of Masai Mara Curio Dealers Association Sam Munga says bad roads have affected the business and says despite several pledges to fix them nothing has been done.
Mr Munga says many tourists prefer flying to their destinations, denying its members business.
This year alone, tour guides and tourists have twice protested over the poor state of the road.
Narok Chief Roads Engineer Peter Cheruiyot says the Government has tendered improvement works for the Narok-Sekenani road and a site visit by engineers has taken place.
