Victoria Falls and the River Zambezi

No ecotourist can visit Zimbabwe and bypass the spectacular Falls and river - see Figure 4.29. The Falls is the world's largest complex of waterfalls. The river, the volume of which varies considerably, depending on the annual cycle of wet and dry seasons, plunges into a vertical chasm that is more than 100 metres deep and more than 1.5 kilometres wide.

Victoria Falls is one of the world's great natural wonders and is inspiring in many ways: huge clouds of mist extend hundreds of metres above the river and the top of the sheer walls of water, the scenic panoramas rival the best in the world, and bird life and flora abound in the wet tropical forest within the spray-and-mist zone - see the photograph in Figure 4.31 on page 118.

Tourists can walk from the hotels - see the pho­tograph in Figure 4.30 on page 118 - through the tropical forest and down into the gorge, hang pre­cariously to the edge of rocks at 'Danger Point' and become soaked by the sheer volume of cascading spray, and undertake canoe safaris on the river above the Falls or extremely adventurous white-water raft­ing below the Falls. Most people take at least one day to see the Falls from both the Zimbabwe side and the Zambia side - see Figure 4.29.

Kenya

Some of the world's most outstanding national parks and nature reserves are visited by ecotourists in this country - see the two maps in Figure 4.32 on page 118. The parks and reserves have been created in an attempt to guarantee the sustained survival of the amazing range of wildlife that exists in this part of the world. In doing this, the areas have become an outstanding tourism-industry resource. Each year, Kenya is host to more than 800,000 tourists, most of whom visit at least one of its many parks. All the

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By Beverley Nettleton

Drifting almost silently through the tall letaka reeds and papyrus which line the twisting waterways of Africa's Okavango Delta, one sees one of nature's great quirks. This is the world's greatest oasis, home to a dazzling variety of bird life and wildlife but set amid the dry woodland of the Kalahari Desert.

It is this delta in northern Botswana that passion­ate birdwatchers must visit at least once to truly appre­ciate the wealth of rare and colourful fishing, hunting and other birds which dwell in the Okavango.

Here the ornithologist's passion is accommodated in an environment of spectacular beauty, created by a unique annual phenomenon. For when the waters of the Okavango River in the north are swelled by sum­mer rains they flow south from the Angolan highlands and, instead of following an outlet into the ocean, empty into the Kalahari. They spread out into a vast shallow delta of a million channels and lagoons which attract birds and animals of every description. It is a region of vast water [life] and bird life but also areas of savanna that are home to herds of zebra, buffalo, wildebeest, impala, elephant and plenty of other game.

Travel through the savanna is by 4WD [four-wheel-drive] safari vehicle although the delta is mostly

by mekoro - narrow canoes poled by the locals - to see not only wondrous bird life on the waters and in the reeds but crocodile and a variety of wildlife as well.

The large crocodiles which bask by the water's edge look like torpedoes when viewed from the air. But a highlight of a leisurely mekoro trip can be pick­ing up a baby crocodile, basking on a lily pad.

The locals know the water system like the back of their hands.

One poler recalled his first journey of any length, taken when he was a young boy, in the company of his father. It took two weeks to travel by mekoro from their village, near Jedibe Island, to Maun, the Okavango Delta's major 'stepping off' point. The same journey takes 45 minutes by air. But for most villagers, air travel is not an option. The delicate ecology of the Okavango Delta has survived the global passion for travel, largely thanks to the Botswanan government's policy of low-_; impact, high-cost tourism, and [is] helped by the fact that the camps in the Okavango are generally inacces­sible except by light aircraft.

The birdwatchers are the keenest visitors; to the Okavango.

[See the photograph in Figure 4.28.]

.

F igure 4.27 Newspaper article (The Advertiser, Adelaide, 11 December 1993)

Figure 4.28 Water, papyrus birds and trailing waterlilies - a common scene on the Okavango Delta, known as the 'sea of land, land of water'

ZAMBIA } MOZAMBIQUE River Zamt

3ribaDarn.'

Figure 4.29 Zimbabwe, showing the location of its three ecotourism sites; inset: Zimbabwe's location in Africa

1

0_____100

17

Kilometres

L egend

1. Hwange National Park

2. Victoria Falls

3. River Zambezi

TOURISM

Figure 4.30 The Victoria Falls Hotel, Zimbabwe

Figure 4.31 The Falls - spray and mist in the main gorge

tourists could be classified as ecotourists, to a vary­ing extent.

Although in recent years the emphasis has been on protecting the parks' biodiversity, other factors beyond their boundaries always have to be consid­ered. Protecting biodiversity in a given area means ensuring that a full range of living plants, animals and micro-organisms, as well as the genetic variety

Figure 4.32 Kenya, showing the location of three of its national parks and reserves; inset: Kenya's location in Africa

within each of these, is maintained there. The biodiverse life protected in Kenya's parks is a price­less part of the country's heritage. It is now realised that the invaluable wealth of wildlife and nature can be protected only if the people who have always been part of the natural landscape can see benefits directly ensuing from the protection.

In Amboseli Masai National Park - see Figure 4.32 - a compromise has been reached between the Ken­yan government and the local tribespeople, whereby an attempt is made to meet the needs of maintaining biodiversity, satisfying the ecotourists and providing the local people with a just economic return. The tribespeople are nomadic herders who are native to the savanna regions of Kenya and neighbouring Tan­zania. In recent years, some of them have begun to have a more sedentary lifestyle, deriving a living from agriculture and tourism as well as the traditional ac­tivities of cattle herding and goat herding.

As well as making agreements with the local people, the Kenyan government is protecting its unique wildlife resource by having introduced meas­ures to eliminate poaching. The illegal hunting and gathering of wild species, sometimes as a food re­source for local people, had also become a huge and profitable industry for other groups throughout Kenya and other eastern African countries. Many of the animals were sold on the 'black market' to buyers of animal trophies and products - for example ivory -

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TOURISM AND THE FUTURE

in the United States, Europe and Asia. Several large mammals, such as the African elephant and the black rhinoceros, have become endangered animals because of the large number of them killed through poach­ing-

Top of the list of experiences for any ecotourist in Kenya is the opportunity to view wildlife and bird life at very close quarters. The country has forty-five conservation areas that make up more than 15 per cent of its total area.

Masai Mara National Reserve

This reserve, located on the Kenya-Tanzania border in the south-western part of Kenya, has been described as 'the jewel of Kenya', 'a paradise and an Eden never lost' and 'a land that has managed to enshrine for the Space Age the wonderment of pristine wilderness' -see Figure 4.32. Observing, noting, counting, sketch­ing, photographing, filming and videoing the 'big five' - lion, leopard, buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant

- as well as plains wildlife and river wildlife (in the River Mara) and a tremendous diversity of bird life are all possible there. See the photograph in Figure 4.33.

The local people can be visited in the villages just beyond the reserve's boundary - see the photo­graph in Figure 4.34. Some Maasai people work in the reserve, either supporting the tourist industry in various lodge and tourist-camp occupations or as workers for the wildlife service, protecting and con­serving the area's animals.

The Kenyan government's wildlife service, the Narok County Council (which is adjacent to the re­serve), and the reserve's staff members, have drawn up a list of regulations for ecotourists and ecotour operators in order to help conserve the area for fu­ture generations - see Figure 4.35 on page 120.

One Australian travel writer, along with a group of other Australians, undertook a safari to the reserve

Figure 4.33 Ecotourists photographing a lion in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

- see her newspaper article in Figure 4.36 on page 121 entitled 'Tackling a safari'.

Figure 4.34

Maasai people in the centre of a village corral adjacent to Masai Mara National Reserve

Lake Nakuru National Park

Although this park does not receive as much public­ity as other Kenyan parks, such as the Masai Mara -see Figure 4.32 on page 118 - its many types of bird life and other wildlife, such as giraffes and antelopes, make it an attractive site for ecotourists to visit. From a distance, the lake appears to be blue with a pink edge. In Australia, these colours would usually sig­nify accumulations of salt or a particular type of al­gae. At Lake Nakuru, however, the pink area is huge, and it moves when tourists approach - it is a mass of flamingoes that inhabit the lake's shallows! The lake supports up to two million of the birds - see the pho­tograph in Figure 4.37 on page 121.

The flamingoes are usually heard before they are seen - they make an amazing 'honk' sound. Apart from being able to listen to them and watch them soaring gracefully through the air, visitors can observe the feeding habits of the two types of flamingo. The lesser flamingo, the smaller of the two and a deep-pink colour, feeds on the blue-green algae, whereas the greater flamingo is a paler pink colour and feeds on tiny crustaceans and insect larvae. Pelicans, ducks, storks and many other water birds may be seen fly­ing and feeding in the vicinity of the lake.

Surrounding the lake are areas of cliff, forest -dominated by the yellow-fever tree, bushland and grassland. As a consequence, ecotourists can see many animals apart from the flamingoes. On the cliffs, baboons and rock hyrax can be seen as they observe the lake bird life from this vantage point. Waterbuck, one of the many types of African antelope, can be seen at the lake's edges: the males have horns marked by distinct concentric rings, and the animals usually graze in pairs on the grass there.

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Т 0 U R I S M

P lease help us to conserve this area for the generations to come by STRICTLY observining

the following regulations

Allow plenty of time to arrive at the Reserve. All gates open at 6.30 a.m. and close at 7.00 p.m. No exceptions can be made.

Do not take any domestic animals or pets into the Reserve. The area is for wild animals only. Do your utmost not to disturb the wildlife. Radios, cassette recorders and gramophones are forbidden in the Reserve. Do not sound your hom, bang on your car or startle the wildlife in any way. You are advised to take a ranger/guide on your game drives. They will help you in finding ani­mals and be there to assist you in case you break down or get stuck. Please make arrangements for hiring a ranger with the Game Office. Do not ex­ceed the speed limit of 50 kilometres per hour (30 miles per hour). Wild animals always have the right-of-way.

Discourage your driver from going too close to animals. Do not expose yourself by standing or sitting on the roof or roof-rack, or by hanging out of the windows.

Please stay in your vehicle, and do not alight ex­cept at recognised stopping places. Remember that these are wild animals and they can be dangerous. Keep to the track and do not cut, break or destroy any vegetation. Remember that scenery and habi­tats are as important as animals. Do not collect or remove bones, skins, horns, teeth, hair, feathers, eggs or shells. Do not light or cause fires. Do not throw out any burning objects; a lit cigarette may lead to the death and suffering of many animals.

• Do not leave litter in the Reserve. Keep it in your car until you can dispose of it properly. This ap­plies especially to film cases, cigarette packets and lunchboxes.

• Keep a distance of 20 metres from any animal. Do not follow leopards, cheetahs or lions when they start to move away. Only five vehicles are allowed to view leopard, cheetah and lion at a distance of 20 metres at any one time, and if there are more than five vehicles, each vehicle should not stay for more than 10 minutes around the cats listed above.

• Cheetahs are diurnal hunters. When surrounded by vehicles, they are unable to hunt, and the tracks created by tour vehicles often expose their young cubs to unnecessary predation pressure. Please make an effort to give cheetahs time to rest and hunt during the day.

• Do not photograph the Maasai people in the Re­serve or elsewhere en route unless permission has been granted.

• Please obey any lawful order issued by the Game Warden or his staff. Feel free to visit the Game Office to discuss the Mara or to answer any ques­tions that may arise. You are welcome.

Remember that in a wildlife-conservation area, the interests of the wildlife are paramount. VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED. PLEASE OBEY THESE RULES AND ENJOY YOUR VISIT. THANK YOU.

- Michael Koikai

Senior Warden

Masai Mara National Reserve

F igure 4.35 The regulations applying to Masai Mara National Reserve

Perhaps the most fascinating type of antelope is the dik dik, the smallest type in this family: it looks like a large rabbit with long legs and is about a third of a metre in height. These are very shy animals, so ecotourists learn to approach them in a very quiet way; if disturbed, they will run off.

Buffalo are usually seen at the lake's edge, either grazing or wallowing in the mud - see the photo­graph in Figure 4.38 on page 121. Bushbuck, reedbuck, Thomson's gazelle and impala may also be seen in close proximity to the lake. Further away

from the water and into the drier parts of the park, giraffes can be seen. Ecotourists learn to distinguish them among the trees - often difficult, because the animals' colourings blend with those of the surround­ing vegetation. The giraffes can be seen grazing on the leaves of acacia trees as they approach the thorny branches from above.

In Lake Nakuru National Park, seeing such large numbers of birds and animals in close proximity re­sults in an unforgettable memory for all ecotourists.

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TACKLING A SAFARI

By Louise Evans

Once we got over our first-night nerves, the Masai reserve welcomed us into its parched heart and seduced us with an endless array of treasures.

We quickly became blase about the herds of elephants and giraffe that loped past our open-sided truck each day and the hundreds of zebra, Wilde­ beest, gazelle; and topi which fled when the diesel engine, shattered the silence that hung over the dry savanna.

We fell in love with the big Cats that roamed the dusty plains and marvelled at their handsome faces, their flowing manes, their arrogance and total disinterest in the human audience just metres; away.

From the day they were born, the cats in the Masai have been the object of tourist fascination and fail to acknowledge the arrival of yet another; truckload of onlookers.

Being witness to the rare sight of leopards mat­ing and being close enough to ogle the male giving his partner's ear a gentle chew when the deed was done, was a voyeur's dream. We saw a family of lions retire to the shade and leave the remains of a bloody buffalo to dozens of vultures, which descended rapidly to strip the animal to the bone.

Once they also had had their fill, they waddled away to digest their meal, too heavy, to fly after the gorging frenzy. Life and death were daily events in the Masai.

Figure 4.36 Newspaper article (The Advertiser, Adelaide, 2 April 1994)

Figure 4.37 Flamingoes feeding in the lake's shallows, Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya

121

Figure 4.38 Buffalo grazing in Lake Nakuru National Park

How would you respond? How would you justify this response?

Some forms of ecotourism will undoubtedly domi­nate tourism over the next couple of decades. To­day's students will be the ones who will either benefit or lose from the manifestation of current trends and visions. They will consequently have to make choices between traditional types of tourism and ecotourism or between different forms of ecotourism. Remember that the term ecotourism encompasses a range of approaches to environment-based and culture-based tourism.

Many exquisite wilderness sites that may attract ecotourists exist all over the world - see the photo­graphs in figures 4.39, 4.40 and 4.41 on page 122. The Arnhem Land Escarpment was originally part of an ancient coast and offers the ecotourist unique won­ders to explore, although many are accessible only by air. The Himalayas' sheer, bare mountain slopes beckon the ecotourist but at present are visited by relatively few people. Yosemite's dramatic shapes and wild charm attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each summer; in order to protect the park, some of the tourists have to be turned away. How we care for features such as these, and how decisions about tour­ism are made at present, will determine what will remain for ecotourists to enjoy in days to come. Our future and our world depend on the making of good decisions.

Activity 15

a After 'weighing up the evidence' for ecotourism in all its forms, write a brief declaration on its future.

• Present the declaration as a list of at least five statements of belief and briefly jus­tify each statement.

Activity 15 continues.

Activity 15 (continued)

• Present it on one page under the head­ing 'My vision for ecotourism'.

• Sign and date it.

{Hint: Refer to the chapter .sections headed "The advantages of ecotourism for Australia' (page 113), 'The impacts of ecotourism' (page 114), 'A vision for Australian tourism in the early-twenty-first century' (page 114) and "The search for sustainable tourism in Africa' (page 114). b Have a whole-class discussion about how the declarations could be further used for the benefit of tourism and the world in general.

Figure 4.39 An old coastal arch survives high on the Arnhem Land Escarpment in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory.

Figure 4.40 he dramatic Himalayas loom over the Indus Valley in the Baliston region, Pakitan

Figure 4.41 Too many ecotourists are attracted to the wilderness of Yosemite National Park, California.

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CHAPTER FIVE

Looking around and looking ahead

Finding out and making

decisions

Geographers nowadays continually discover a wide range of issues that reveal that conflict exists between aspects of tourism and the aspects' social and bio- physical settings. For example, at a recent annual conference of the institute of Australian Geographers, papers entitled 'Tourism and socio-spatial change: restructuring of an island economy: Koh Samui, Thai­land, by Peter Williamson, and Ecotourism development in the South Pacific microstates; the politics of sustainable development, by Michael Hall and Brenda Rudkin, were presented on these issues, This interest becomes more important as tourism's potential impact increases. The increased stress placed on local communities and environments is the result of there being increasing numbers of people around the world who are wealthy enough to be able to tour during their leisure time. Because it is now cheaper and easier to travel than ever before, large numbers of tourists are often heavily concentrated in one place, bringing with them the potential for severe impact.

Responses to the increased pressures tourism places on societies and the biophysical environment are often not immediately evident and may come to our attention only when the issue at hand becomes a crisis, effective investigators will study the issue from the time of the earliest planning stage in order to attempt to avoid problems that may occur as a result of thoughtless development. The effects of tourist activities may accumulate over time and thereby degrade the tourist destination.

As noted earlier in the book, investigating tour­ism issues has to be wide ranging in order to include, as much as possible, all the probable impacts both within and outside the tourism industry. These con­siderations have to include the 'spill-over' effects, in both a spatial and temporal sense.

Tourism's effects may spread to other physical and commmunity environments. Two positive examples of

this are

♦ the extra custom ensuing to South-Hast Asian fishing villages through the establishment of tourist amenities in a nearby town

* the increased employment opportunities ensuing tip rural Australian communities through the establishment of a heritage mine site.

As our book has illustrated, the impacts can be negative if proper investigation and planning are not undertaken. Negative impacts can sometimes be foreseen and therefore be avoided, or Ways for redressing the damage can be found. It is necessary to be watchful and fully expose the potential for degrada­tion that may result from development, because optimistic developers tend to accentuate its positive

Considering the long -term impacts

It is essential that planners and investigators consider tourism developments' long-term impacts. The neces­sity for this sense of perspective can be easily over­looked, and undesirable consequences that had not been anticipated may become obvious only twenty years or so after a development's completion - by which time it is too late to remedy the situation. Looking around us and ahead of us are key attributes of effective investigator.

Either through local action or acting through various levels of government, people often have to exercise a measure of control over tourism develop­ments - the political process of influencing decision making. In some situations, however, ordinary people feel powerless, and whatever the likely impacts,

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TOURISM

the justice of the local community's case, and the clarity of the community's arguments, the long-term harm is sometimes ignored by powerful corporations, governments and/or individuals in order to benefit from short-term economic gain. In other words, the ordinary people have less influence as decisions are made. Often a project's dramatic nature and economic potential obscure the complex negative ramifications for its human and biophysical setting.

Becoming actively involved

As we investigate issues associated with tourism, we may find we cannot simply remain passive observers of the types of issues covered in this book. It may be that the more we inquire into an issue in depth, the more we wish to become involved in its resolution. Our concern for environments and peoples associ­ated with tourism may motivate us to take a stand, which could lead to our being actively involved. Many professional geographers and environmental re­searchers have found themselves actively involved in resolving the issues they are investigating.

Your involvement should not be undertaken lightly but should follow a considerable and careful step-by-step inquiry into all aspects of the issue. In our society it is generally accepted that decisions on controversial issues such as those involving tourism should be reached only after thorough investigation and airing of all aspects and opinions have taken place. Exactly how democratic the decision-making process is depends on how the final decision is reached and who makes it. The process varies considerably from country to country, and complete democracy may not always be the reality, because one or more points of view are often given much more weight than others.

Following are seven examples of tourism issues from around the world, in which the possibility of several points of view are raised.

Monkey Mia, Western Australia What is the issue?

Whether the increasing numbers of visitors will harm the dolphins by scaring them away or destroying their habitat - see the two photographs in Figure 5.1

The Great Barrier Reef, Queensland What is the issue?

How the reef can be protected from the hordes of enthusiastic tourists and the tour operators, and whether the laws and policing policies in the reef and adjacent mainland areas are adequate for protecting the reef - see the photograph in Figure 5.2

Figure 5.2 Around this tourist-operator pontoon near Hardy Reef in the Great Barrier Reef, ropes and buoys prevent snorkellers and divers from straying. Tourists can observe fish and coral through underwater windows and are not allowed to walk on coral.

Yosemite National Park, United States What is the issue?

Who decides who misses out when the numbers of people wishing to visit the park are beyond its capacity to cope, particularly during the summer-vacation months, and whether it comes down to who can afford the most sees the most - see Figure 4.1 on page 89 and Figure 4.41 on page 122

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INVESTIGATING AN ISSUE

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