Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
But the experience of other philanthropists suggests that African parks can be a constant
money drain that modest tourism cannot satisfy. Nicky Oppenheimer, the chairman of
the De Beers diamond company and scion of the wealthiest family of South Africa, owns
the Tswalu Kalahari Reserve in northern South Africa near the Botswana border. Oppen-
heimer has poured millions into returning the 250,000 acres of farmland and highland
back into the wild; in his words, “restoring Kalahari to itself.” With a net worth of over $6
billion, Oppenheimer and his wife Strilli can afford the investment and are willing to op-
erate at a loss.
They succeeded in attracting lions, hippos, antelopes and other wildlife to the savannah
and high desert and restricted tourism on their huge property to two lodges. The Motse
Lodge charges $960 a night for “bare-foot luxury,” which is an understatement. Butlers are
as numerous as guides. Visitors can ride on horse safaris or opt out and order a gourmet
lunch al fresco in the midst of this immense private reserve where cheetahs, antelopes and
seventy-five other mammal species abound. The effort is so extraordinary that the Oppen-
heimers have won the prestigious World Wildlife Fund's Lonmin Award for environment-
al conservation as well as prizes from Condé Nast Traveler for responsible tourism.
The Oppenheimer reserve underlines how the open spaces and wilderness are becom-
ing the biggest luxury on the crowded planet. After a lecture in Washington, Oppenheimer
told me that despite all the hurdles, he believes that preserving and expanding wildlife
parks is “absolutely vital.”
“South Africa is way ahead of the game on that. We know it is incumbent on us to set
apart what is required for the animals,” he said. “Wild animals are more important than
almost anything else in the world; certainly more important than minerals.”
Conservationists are divided over the long-term effect of allowing tourists into wildlife
areas. In Kenya, Richard Leakey, the former wildlife head, said he sees tourism as offering
only the short-term benefit of preventing development. Eventually the best protection
would come from educating the African public to love the animals and protect them.
Huge areas of parks would be put off-limits to that most invasive of species, the human
being.
“Ecotourism is an oxymoron,” he said. “Tourism is a short-term benefit, but in the long
term humans and wildlife don't mix.”
The islands of Galápagos have learned that hard truth. Darwin's original wildlife labor-
atory is a U.N. World Heritage Site and one of the most popular tourist destinations on
the planet. The millions of tourists have trampled native species and brought with them
invasive plant species that are strangling the island. Simply raising common hens to feed
tourists fried and baked chicken has spread avian diseases. Wild birds have been stricken
with canary pox virus and penguins with avian malaria.
After pleading by environmentalists that tourism was imperiling the wildlife paradise,
the government of Ecuador has agreed to place restrictions on the number of tourists on
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