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Randy Olson on assignment. This is in the crater area of the NCA. These lions eventually crawled under our car seeking shade. You have to swat zebras on the butt to get them out of the way of the car. This crater is way too crowded and Tanzania wants to triple tourism in the next ten years... The Maasai were kicked out of Serengeti National Park. Then they were kicked out of the crater which is now Tanzania's main tourist attraction. Now they feel like they are squatters on their land and might be kicked out of the NCA at any time. This family cannot cultivate much, can't buy a tractor, can't fence their land etc... etc... because they are in a multi-use area of the NCA. So this family survives mostly on milk. In 2001 the prime minister declared it illegal to cultivate in the NCA, but that didn't work. But it is still illegal to use a tractor or hire someone to help in the garden or to use a plow. The government is a kleptocracy as well as being afraid of putting in infrastructure that would lead to permanent settlements that would stop the migration..The NCA is a multi-use area and there are many people looking after conservation, but very few involved with social services. The Maasai are caught in the middle. Rules are incredibly strict in terms of cultivation, firewood and other basics of a pastoral existence. There are six main communities in the NCA and only two have wells. The Maasai in this area generally share their water supply with their animals and survive mostly on milk and porridge. ..The migration is like the wild west before they killed all the buffalo. 1.5 million wildebeest are like a train with 200 cars and each car dumps 20 tons of dung a day. Fertilizer for the entire ecosystem. Just the saliva from their mouths is enough to keep the grass hydrated...Contact info:.Peter Jones 347 968 6978 USA Mobile.255 744 293 387 TZ Mobile.His email: jones@habari.co.tz or Ndarakwai@aol.com.http://www.tanzania-safari.com.www.ndarakwai.com.Phon
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