Tourists stranded enroute to Maasai Mara

By KIPCHUMBA KEMEI

Narok county: Tourists and travellers were on Wednesday evening stranded for hours after flash floods cut off most parts of the Narok-Maasai Mara road.

The rains which started at 2pm and continued into the night flooded the Sekenani-Nkoilale section, making it impassable.

Most tourists who were going to Masai Mara Game Reserve missed some of their schedules as the floods caused a heavy traffic snarl along the road stretching up to10 kilometres.

The rains which pounded Mara and neighbouring regions until midday yesterday disrupted morning hot air balloon take offs and game drives.

Disrupted holiday

The rhino ear notching, microchips insertion and collection of its DNA samples exercise was also disrupted as vehicles could not access rhino habitats.

Hoteliers said the heavy rains affected tourists arrivals in the expansive game but expressed hope that the situation would improve for their visitors to enjoy their stay.

“The rains have had some negative effects on tourism activities here. We are putting measures in place to ensure that tourists enjoy their stay and access packages they pay for,” said Moses Indeche, the manager of Sentrim tented camp.

Indeche said the camp will remain full until mid-next month, adding that most of his visitors will be from US, UK, Germany and China.

Other hoteliers who spoke to The Standard on Saturday asked the Narok County government to fix roads inside and outside the national reserve, lamenting that over the years they have been neglected despite paying billions of shillings annually to the county government.

“Because of the poor state of the road network and the dilapidated general infrastructure, tourists have decided to go to Serengeti National Park in Tanzania where the government has invested heavily on improvement of infrastructure in tourists circuits,” said Lily Waddington, the owner of Osero camp within Siana Conservancy, east of the reserve.