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Politics & Safety in Kenya

A personal viewpoint by Director Gavin Bate

Please read this. If you have concerns about safety in Kenya then this section may help.

We live in turbulent times. Going on holiday now can become as much an exercise in checking the ‘terrorist rating’ of a destination, as it is checking whether the hotel room is ensuite. It is interesting to note that two of the most dangerous locations to go on holiday or live, if you follow the actual list of ‘targets’, is in fact the United States of America and the United Kingdom.

What an irony that neither country places each other on their list of hazardous destinations.  It was not too long ago when we saw tanks rolling outside Heathrow while the extent of security when flying into America now includes having to half undress at the X-Ray machine. Terrorists have the advantage of controlling public paranoia, that much is sure, and after 9/11 Western Governments cannot be seen to ignore warnings, hoax or otherwise.

Of course the depth and extent of security information, and the specifics of intelligence, cannot be reflected adequately in a one-paragraph FCO warning.  By their very brevity and broadness of scope, the Government has little choice but to issue blanket warnings. It would be foolish to try and categorise each and every city or town against some benchmark of terrorist activity, nor would it be remotely possible since they can feasibly strike anywhere.

The reality however is that terrorists play on the paranoia that exists, and of course thousands upon thousands of people travel every day quite safely, and life goes in all of these places every day as usual without any problem. A paragraph indicating a country as being ‘high risk’ can infer a state of national emergency with curfews, armed patrols in a police state. In reality it just isn’t the case.

Of course the Foreign Office must react to intelligence and have a duty to inform the public of situations they deem warrant a warning, and I completely concur with that. I do believe there is room to add some perspective though, pertinent to the specific trips that I offer, the locations of those trips and the level of risk associated with those activities and locations.

Is it over-optimistic to assume that terrorist networks will not be operating in the middle of a National Park in Kenya or on the side of a mountain in the Himalayas ? Of course there may be a perceived danger in the airport or the capital, but surely no more than any airport in the world. And given that most people will have flown out of a London airport, it seems ludicrous to suggest that Heathrow is any less of a danger than Tribhuvan or Jomo Kenyatta.

The truth is that it is all to do with our perception, that all these foreign places are in fact far more dangerous than home, and the possibility of terrorist activity there is much more than here. And yet it is in our newspapers here in Britain that we read every day of activists living in London, organisers and promoters of terrorism so we are told.

It is so much easier to think that Kenya is more dangerous than anywhere else and not only because of an FCO warning, but because it is black Africa and people who have never been there before worry simply for the sake of worrying. So it is my job to tackle that issue and ensure that people have information. It is my job to try and reassure people.

And here is the main point:
I would never entertain taking clients to any country or location where I thought they would be in immediate danger of terrorists, or indeed in any danger, other than the risks inherent to the activity they are undertaking such as mountaineering.

Before you start to think I don’t care, let me stop you. I do care. And I have fifteen years of experience in all the countries where I operate to draw on. I care very much about the safety of my clients because it is my company, my reputation, my responsibility, and my accountability. I do not outsource that. When you come on a trip with me, you can be sure that I am on the end of the telephone line to answer your questions.

I would not willingly or deliberately take people into an area of danger. And I have a large back-up of staff and a huge network of contacts to draw on for the latest intelligence of my own. I firmly believe that the places where my expeditions take place, far from high density tourist areas, do not present a threat. In fact, most people come on my expeditions because they want to get away from the cities, from the hubbub of western life, from the baggage of daily stress; they want to get into the mountains, into the wild, and to experience some freedom. I think I would be very surprised if we came across anything other than other climbers on the slopes of Mount Kenya or in a National Park!

Of course I read the Foreign Office website, and of course I talk to the Embassies in the countries where I operate. And of course I keep my finger on the pulse. I read the Nation Newspaper in Kenya online every week, I scour the internet for the background on all these so-called threats. In fact I am much more informed than most people on the current state of politics and safety in Kenya. If a client is to trust me to organise and lead an expedition for him or her to any country, then I must also be trusted to have an extensive knowledge of that country and the politics surrounding it. That is part of my job and it is inherent in my responsibility for all of my clients that I do not act rashly in respect of deciding where it is safe to go.

Of course I can also offer detailed descriptions of my operations in each of the countries were we predominantly operate and I have done this on my website and in my brochure. Please do read it, it shows I am more than just a commercial concern or a travel agent. Anything but; I facilitate and lead adventure holidays for discerning and adventurous-minded people. Safety and professionalism is my watchword, not just a glib catchphrase. I now have a 100% safety track record in over ten years of expeditions and over 95% summit success rate in all my mountaineering expeditions. That may at least say something, but at the end of the day you will have to come on a trip to let me prove that to you.

Some parents just say “no way, I’m not happy with my son or daughter to go to Kenya; they’ll catch a disease, they’ll be mugged, they’ll get hurt, they’ll get lost”. The list goes on and of course it is based on a protective nature towards their children, and most of the time not on any actual experience. The word ‘slum’ conjures up all sorts of images, the word ‘mountain’ equals danger, the word ‘poor Africans’ means AIDS. But I have been running Africamp for years now, for hundreds of people and nobody has ever had a problem in slums, and this is because slums are completely different to what people think they are, the mountain is not dangerous if someone is there to teach you what to do (and I have recently guided Mt Kenya for my 45th time there with not a single accident in any of those trips) and Africans may be poor, but that does not mean they are all dangerous or riddled with disease to pass on to unsuspecting tourists.

Africamp is about opportunity, education, adventure, fun and doing something useful in life. It’s not about danger, liability, sickness or doing something that will injure anybody. Sometimes it is harder for the parents than for the team members ! “How will we keep in touch?”, “What happens if something goes wrong?” and so on. Don’t worry. We have it all covered, Mobiles work absolutely everywhere for example and I have a huge medical back-up and team with me in Kenya. Accidents might happen, and I’d be foolish to say that the never will, but I have the experience and the facilities to deal with them. And if you have any worries then call me! Everybody has my direct mobile number. It is easy to keep in touch, and I take my responsibility seriously.