Man ditches moranism for the steering wheel

By Peter Muiruri

He manoeuvres the vehicle out of the muddy crocodile infested river with the ease of a veteran. His driving skill earns him hearty applauses from his passengers after every turn. His mastery of the wild has made him a darling of many visitors to Naboisho Conservancy in the Mara.

Meet Raphael Rotiken, a driver and tour guide with Ol Seki Hemingway Mara. Clad in his traditional regalia, Rotiken, 21, could as well be a Maasai moran busy partaking of all the rites of passage that characterise this group. However, he has chosen to engage in a profession many of his contemporaries find untenable.

But Rotiken is a converted man. He says he understands how important wildlife conservation is and cannot prove his manhood through killing a wild animal.

“There is no way I will take a spear and kill a lion or any other wild animal for that matter since I am now personally involved in their protection. In fact, I would have a big problem with anyone spearing the lions to satisfy cultural expectations. I now see the connection between these animals and the community’s wellbeing,” he says.

He says he could have chosen the life of moranism at the expense of education and implores his peers to follow his footsteps.

Social identity
“Of course this does not mean losing one’s social identity. It’s halting any rite of passage that may harm the country’s wildlife heritage such as killing of lions. Most of my friends are already married after passing through these rites but as you can see I am still single for a good course,” he says.

According to Rotiken, the existence of his community is tied to wildlife conservation. At Naboisho Conservancy, the local community has joined hands with other environmentalists to conserve wildlife while the community uses part of the grounds for grazing their animals.

While growing up in his Ng’osuani village which is adjacent to the world famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Rotiken nursed the desire to become a tour guide.

The tour drivers and guides were his role models and the ‘only prominent’ people he knew.

“I admired them as they headed to the Mara. Sometimes I would help push tour vans out of the mud and get some sweets either from the tourists or drivers. This strengthened my desire to one day be the one behind the wheel.”

With this goal firmly fixed in his mind, Raphael enrolled at the local primary school, thanks to his father who had a soft spot for education. Walking the nine kilometres from home, braving wild animals and crossing swollen rivers was treacherous but not insurmountable. Yet, this was better than the alternative – looking after his father’s livestock all day.

Flawless English
“I needed to learn how to speak English since I had seen tour guides talking to many wazungu in Maasai Mara,” says Rotiken in flawless English.

Yet, he wouldn’t escape duties as a herdsboy during school holidays. This came with serious challenges such as when he almost lost all of his father’s cattle and goats.

“I went out one day to the grazing fields. As I played with other children, all the goats slowly wandered off out of our sight. I could not think of anything to tell my father as I went back home. But when I approached our home, I decided to let out a cry. I told my dad that thieves had stolen all the animals. Everybody in the homestead bought my story and were about to organise a group to pursue the ‘thieves’ when the goats started streaming back into the boma one after the other.”

After completing primary school in 2005, he joined Oloomirani Secondary School further enhancing his language skills.
His peak came in 2010 when he enrolled at Koiyaki Guiding School in the heart of Maasailand. The school was started by Ron Beaton and its patron is Jackson Looseyia, the first Kenyan presenter for the BBC’s Big Cat series who received accolades from around the world for his knowledge of the local wildlife scene. Here, Rotiken sat the Bronze exams on guiding.

At the school, he learnt mammology, an indepth study that involves identifying and classifying various animals found in the Kenyan wild.

“One also has to study the behaviour of each type of animals if you are going to be a proficient tour guide. You must remember that the safety of the visitors in your vehicle depends on your knowledge of the wild animals. Some animals can change their temperament suddenly and you must have this in mind as you drive in the wild.”

The botanist in me
Apart from studying animal behaviour, Rotiken is also a botanist of sorts going by his profound knowledge of the many plants that dot the Mara.

“Knowledge of plants is vital since some animals and birds are known to inhabit areas where certain plants grow. A leopard, for example, is known to hang its kills on certain trees.”

His job as a driver and guide has enabled Rotiken to assist his parents educate his younger siblings and pay a farm help who looks after his father’s cows.