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Tourists endangered species in
violent Kenya
Sat 2 Feb 2008, 12:49 GMT
By David Lewis
NAIVASHA, Kenya (Reuters) - Gilbert Korir has spent the last two
years learning to rattle off bird species ranging from pelicans
and yellow-billed storks to cormorants and African fish eagles so
he could be a guide at a Kenyan country club.
But with his country embroiled in post-election violence that has
killed over 850 people and brought a $1 billion a year tourism
industry to its knees, the ornithologist worries whether his new
job will last.
"You can see there are no boats out here," he said, as he
navigated towards hippos emerging from the glassy waters of Lake
Naivasha, in Kenya's Rift Valley.
"Normally, when there are tourists here, you can find 10 or 15
boats on the lake in the morning."
It is high tourism season in Kenya, but the only visitors at the
Lake Naivasha Country Club are fleeing refugees or journalists
covering ethnic clashes just outside its gates.
Earlier this week, metres from the lake, army helicopters opened
fire to disperse crowds of armed Kikuyus who were trying to attack
people from several of Kenya's western ethnic groups.
The clashes around Kenya began after Dec. 27 elections, which were
officially won by Kikuyu incumbent President Mwai Kibaki but
rejected by his rival Raila Odinga. What started as riots has
degenerated into a cycle of killings and lootings which the United
States has called ethnic cleansing.
Tourism has suffered before here from bomb blasts and political
violence, but the scale of unrest over the last month, which has
displaced more than 250,000 people, is unprecedented.
"From what I can see they will have to close (the hotel) as the
violence is going on," Korir said. He said he and other staff no
longer left the site because it was too dangerous.
Hotels on Kenya's pristine Indian Ocean beaches -- where tourism
only recently recovered from the impact of the 1998 and 2002
blasts in Nairobi and Mombasa blamed on al Qaeda -- are also
beginning to close and lay off staff.
"Even those that are open have maybe 10 percent occupancy," said
Michael Mathenge, who runs a tour firm targeting European visitors
to nearby Nakuru, also a lakeside safari hotspot.
"We have lions, flamingos, African heritage. Now all the tourists
have fled, especially the big spenders. The only foreigners are
press people -- and you don't spend much."
The rival sides have agreed to try and seek a political solution
but, even if one is found, it will take time for Kenya to draw
back tourists like before.
Korir steers his boat around an island where wildebeest and
waterbuck graze. A piece of land jutting out into the lake is home
to impala and giraffe and was used in "Out of Africa", a film that
highlighted Kenya's tourism potential.
"There were so many tourists last year. We used to have 30 or 40 a
day. Now we are just hustling," he said.
(Additional reporting by Tim
Cocks; Editing by Nick Tattersall and Michael Winfrey)
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