Private cars in Maasai Mara: Facts versus misunderstanding

It does not ban private vehicles, whatever “private” might be taken to mean.

The plan has been 15 years in the making, and it sets out every aspect of the reserve’s management plans for 2023-2032, in full economic, social, ecological and administrative contexts. It is 122 pages long, in text, diagrams, maps, and tabulations, all well-indexed.

Nowhere, in any part of it, do the words “private vehicle ban” (or any equivalent with that meaning) appear contiguously. Vehicle types and their conduct are inevitably a crucial element of the plan but are only a fraction of it. There are dozens of other important issues.

From one quick scan of the document (and even that was a “phew!”) my understanding is that 2WD cars and any car with more than 12 seats (eg overlander buses) and delivery trucks are restricted to the main all-weather transit roads only, and may not use the more intricate network of game-viewing “tracks”. Vehicles which are permitted to use those are 4WD safari vehicles, with emphasis on their conduct, not their ownership – whether TSV, PSV or private.

Clearly, there has been (and remains) a “public information gap” on this issue, which will always lead to confusion fueled by anxiety, speculation, misunderstanding and sometimes even opportunism or mischief.

This is doubly unfortunate because the Management Plan (if you can find it, and the time to read it) is generally very thorough, positive and informative on many levels, and offers a fascinating perspective on how many inter-linked factors are involved in the design and management of this unique area, the pressures it is under, and the (now urgent) imperatives that must be addressed to ensure its quality in perpetuity.

First reports of the roll-out left many with the impression that the Mara would be run like the Ngorongoro Crater in Serengeti, which has banned private vehicles for decades. Only specially licenced vehicles with driver guides are allowed to enter the crater itself. But that is a small and exclusive area with no lodges or camps in it. It does not apply to the whole Serengeti and cannot apply to the entire Mara.

Vehicles permitted to use designated tracks in the Mara (principally 4WD safari vehicles from lodges, camps, tour operators, and private individuals) must stay on the tracks at all times. Broadly, any (!) off-road driving is prohibited, except to approach big cats which are sighted on nearby open ground, at which point already established (but hitherto often disregarded) protocols will then strictly apply:

• Go directly to the point of sighting
• Do not get nearer than 25 metres from the animals
• Do not follow them if they move
• And finally return directly to the track.

If there are already five cars near the animals when you arrive in the area, you must stop and wait at least 100 metres away until one or more of the closer vehicles leaves. When you are close, if there are other vehicles waiting, you must limit your prime position time to 15 minutes (at most).

The 25-metre no-go radius will allow plenty of room for up to five vehicles to get an unobstructed view without constant manoeuvering. While you are watching the animals, rangers will be watching you. Visitors who witness breaches of protocols are encouraged to photograph the culprit vehicles and report them.

If sighted animals get up and move, they are doing so for their own reasons – perhaps to search and hunt, perhaps just to get away from you. Following them across the country in even just one car is a no-no.

Briefly for those who may not be familiar with the Mara, up to a million or more wildebeest “follow the good grass” once a year from Tanzania into Kenya in vast cohorts, crossing the fast-flowing Mara river, which is loaded with very large crocodiles. Quite a sight. Likewise on their return trip. The process is not unreasonably known as the greatest wildlife show on earth, and people pour in from all over the world to watch it.

When wildebeest gather en masse to approach the river banks, the news spreads, and literally, hundreds of lodges, safaris, and some private vehicles converge on the imminent "crossings”. Quiet game drives turn into a cavalry charge, rule books fly out the window, and the result can look like a giant car park playing dodgems for a viewing position, often blocking the wildebeests’ selected route. The process is so unruly that the latest cohort of wildebeests often turn around and charge up the nearest hill to escape it. Tens of thousands of them at a time.

Clearly, something needs to be done to control human behaviour in a way that preserves the event’s global appeal, understands the visitors’ enthusiasm, addresses the drivers-guides’ pressure to please their clients, and allows nature to take its natural course without disruption.

The Management Plan is well aware that lodge/tour vehicles constitute more than 80 percent of the traffic, and that driver-guides are primary transgressors of the codes of conduct. The Plan stipulates much stricter licensing of driver-guides and stricter enforcement of the rules on all vehicles.

During the migration, at wildlife crossing points along the Mara River, there will be extensive demarcated “parking areas” in strategic places next to the track to enable clear views for more cars without blocking or disturbing the animals or other visitors. These areas might have separate ticketing systems, which also means they can be restricted in position and number and will be physically policed.

The principles of the Management Plan address urgent and essential issues. The process is challenging and complex. It is likely that some anomalies will emerge, but the Plan provides for review. Only time will assess the diligence and skill of implementation. But from the outset the Plan is welcome and warrants strong public (and visitor and commercial) support.

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