Tourists and Tour Guides Say the Road To Masai Mara in Need of Repairs

Masai Mara is one of the most renown game reserves in the World with it over 2 million wildebeest migration forming one of the greatest wildlife spectacles in the World. However, the game reserve despite the huge revenue it generates from the thousands of tourists visiting the Country has been slightly neglected.
The road to the Masai Mara has been neglected for quite some time now and the road is strewn with potholes. My Masai Mara safari holiday was a little blighted by the bumpy ride we experienced as one branches off to the game reserve.
Tour guide drivers have renewed calls to have roads leading to the Masai Mara National Reserve repaired.
Addressing journalists in Narok Town at the weekend, hundreds of drivers said a 40-kilometre stretch of the Narok-Sekenani road was almost impassable.
“The situation has been worsened by rains currently pounding the Mara area. We urge the government to upgrade the roads before the long rains expected in April,” the vice-chairman of the National Tour Drivers Association, Mr Andrew Mungatana said.
He added that tourists were fatigued after using the route and sometimes slept in the wild when vehicles get stuck in the mud.
“We are also incurring high maintenance costs, which are driving us out of business,” Mr Mungatana said.
The drivers said they were also forced to part with a lot of money to youth filling potholes at various sections of the road yet they were paying taxes.
A gift shop owner, Mr Leonard ole Kenta, said business was low since many tourists opted to fly into and out of the Mara. Masai Mara fly in safari
When contacted, Roads minister Franklin Bett said tenders had been issued for the road and that repair works would soon start.
Record earnings
The protest by the drivers came even as the government and Narok County Council predicted record earnings from Kenya tourism industry.
Tourism minister Najib Balala said revenue from the tourism sector was projected to hit a high of Sh100 billion with at least 1.2 million foreign tourists arriving in the country.
Narok County Council clerk Pius Mutemi said the council will reap a record Sh1.5 billion from the Mara this financial year, which is set to surpass the record set in 2007. Kenya safari
He attributed this to aggressive marketing by the council, the Kenya Tourism board and the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Mr Mutemi, however, absolved the council from blame on the drivers’ concerns, saying their mandate was to maintain roads within the park, which he said were in good condition.
He projected the earnings will go beyond Sh3 billion after the introduction, later this year, of the smartcard for use in paying bills. Kenya wildlife safari
“This will seal all loopholes and bring out more accountability to the management of this popular destination,” he said.
Narok and Trans Mara county councils earn more than 80 per cent of their revenue from the wildlife resort.
The local authorities gain from the reserve by charging gate entries, royalties in the lodges as well as balloon settings and airplane landings. Masai Mara balloon safari