I climb a wooden staircase and stretch my right leg across the broad back of the matriarch of the herd.  The handler says something in Shona and the gentle giant creeps ahead.  I sway from side to side as she does.

There is no doubting the appeal of this type of safari.  Beyond the novelty of riding a massive African elephant, the position on their backs offers a completely different perspective of the savanna below.  Rather than being blocked by the brush, tall grass and trees, I look down on my surroundings, I can see everything.

We approach a herd of giraffe.  Though they are aware of us, they aren’t afraid nor are they concerned.  I sit nearly at a level with the long necked creature.  This is the first time I’ve ever seen a wild giraffe and I’m looking at them at eye-level.  They are such awkward animals, but at the same time they have a gracefulness to the way they sway their necks and a peace to the way they look at us.

The elephant lumbers on through the brush not at all concerned about finding a space in the brush.  She presses right through the trees, trampling the forest as she walks.  At a clearing, a pair of impalas sprints from side to side hopping dramatically as they do.  In the trees, a couple orange hornbills twist their necks to look across at us but they don’t flee in fear.

There is no doubting the experience.  It is brilliant.  But is it right?

Does the fact that you’ve rescued an animal give you the right to train it as you see fit?  Are you not trading one human effect for another?  Shouldn’t these animals be rehabilitated to go back into the wild, or at least some sort of sanctuary where they can live semi-free?  Shouldn’t the baby elephant be brought up like a wild elephant rather than ridden around and trained for future use as an elephant-back safari vehicle?

Unfortunately, the answer to all those questions point to the fact that there is a serious ethical issue with what is going on in Livingstone with the elephant-back safaris.  Essentially, these animals are being exploited for the financial well-being of the company that rescued them.  They have no intention of returning them to the wild, but rather hold them captive as to continue earning from them an income.

The devil’s advocate might call this a necessary evil.  For one, excursions like this teach people about elephants and the need for their conservation.  There is a significant educational factor to the program here, and tourists learn the need for elephant conservation.  Secondly, one could ask how we see it fit to ride horses, bulls, ostriches and whatever else people ride but not elephants.  These elephants aren’t just trained, they are domesticated.

At the end of the day, I know that activities like this won’t end anytime soon.  In fact, my guess is that their popularity in Southern Africa will only grow.  And when it comes down to it, maybe excursions like this are necessary to the conservation and education effort.  But for me, I find it more than a little bit difficult not to sit on the back of an elephant and think that this animal should be free.  This animal should be wild.  This elephant should be wandering without a saddle and a camera wielding tourist on its back.

Driving towards Brazzaville, Congo

You see, when I applied for my visa for Congo in Yaoundé, they made me give them near exact days of travel.  I thought I’d travel directly into the Congo from Cameroon and then I’d have plenty of days to get through before my 15 day tourist visa would expire.  My visa would expire on the 10^th of the month.

I ended up in Leconi, staring at my passport on the 9^th of the month.  One day to cross the so called “worst road in Africa” and cover nearly 400km to Brazzaville, and then get across to Kinshasa?  Not a chance.  Unfortunately, I was left with few options.  I could cross all the way back to Libreville, setting myself back at least 2 weeks and more money than I ever dare to think, or I could add a little tick to the 10 on my visa to turn it into a 16.  I did what I had to do, this is Africa of course, rules are never really fixed are they?

I passed through the country without anyone offering even the slightest hint that something was wrong with my passport.  Everything in regards to border crossings in Central Africa is done on paper and pen.  Information about my visa is probably filed away with thousands of other trees in some warehouse in Yaoundé.  No one would ever have a clue.  In fact, throughout West and Central Africa there have been few instances where a little forgery couldn’t get you anywhere you need to be.  Borders are all soft at best, and nothing is done on computer.

In the end, this is, thus, not a story about forgery, but one of development and corruption.  You see, as long as these parts of Africa are left behind when it comes to technology, there will always be ways around rules.  There will always be doors left wide open for corruption and abuse of laws.  The one thing that has surprised me more than anything in Africa thus far is the lack of communication technology, and if Africa is ever to pull itself from the shadow of corruption, this is the aspect that needs to change first.

Of course, what I did wasn’t exactly right, but it raises an issue which I think is important.

What would you have done in my situation?

1. Fudge the visa numbers?
2. Go back to Libreville (cost of 2 weeks + about $1000 in expenses and extra visa)
3. Gone home and quit

I walked into the Lope Hotel and booked a couple tours at a well-priced 60USD.  I was told to meet the guide at the hotel the following morning at 7:30, and I did.

The guide greeted myself and a Dutch couple whose path I’ve been crisscrossing since Ghana.  He immediately asked if we had booked a forest trip in the morning and a savannah safari for the afternoon, which we had.  He followed with an apology for being late, and then whisked us into his vehicle.

After a couple minutes, I realized that the hotel had contracted our tour out to another company.  I was annoyed, but that practice is common in the tourism business, so I let it slide.

We were let off at the forest edge by the driver, and our guide walked us through the jungle.  The forest was really incredible.  We saw gorilla and chimpanzee prints, monkeys, and even a couple elephants.  Other than a sprint through the forest when we got too close to an elephant and had to escape, the tour went quite well.

The Dutch couple… I call them Double Dutch

We reached a log on the path and asked the guide if we were almost done, the tour was meant to be 2 hours walking and we’d already done that.  At that point, he told us we were only halfway and still had to return the same path.  He handed us sandwiches, cookies and juice, as we sat in confusion.  We explained to the guide that we wanted to return, that we were told this would be a two hour walk.  We had plans to have lunch at the hotel and some beers by the pool before our afternoon safari.

He agreed and we turned towards the starting point.  After an hour’s walk, we arrived at the starting point – a bit of uncovered savannah.  The heat forced us back into the forest as we waited for transport.  We sat there for nearly two hours in the heat while being attacked by more mosquitoes than I’ve ever met in my life; two hours being told that a vehicle was on the way; two hours being told that things could go wrong and that the road was bad.  Of course, how could they possibly foresee the road, which has been there forever, would be in the same shape it has been all week?

Gorilla Print

Finally, the truck arrived and I crawled in the box and we were returned to the hotel.  Upon arrival, I complained to the lady who was in charge of tours.  I told her that I didn’t want my money back, I just wanted things to be better organized. It wasn’t right that we waited in the forest for 2 hours being attacked by mosquitoes dive-bombing our ears.

It was only then that I was let in on the real problem.

The guide had picked up the wrong passengers.  In fact, the people he was meant to pick up had booked something with a private contractor rather than the hotel.  So he essentially stole clients out of the hands of the hotel.

The hotel manager handed me back the money that was owed owed to Dutch couple and I: 180USD.  I explained that I still wanted to do the safari in the afternoon and handed her the 120USD they charge for that tour.  The guiding company encircled us and started demanding money from their tour.  Moreover, they wanted 70USD per person as that’s their asking price, rather than the 20USD we were to pay the hotel.

Elephant shit wasn’t the only poo flung in Lope National Park

Explaining that we didn’t book with them and we’re not responsible for their mistakes did nothing.  They don’t leave us alone, nor will they accept my offer to give them the 60USD that we were to pay the hotel for the tour.  In reality, the company shouldn’t be discussing with us at all.  They should have be discussing with the hotel.  In fact, they shouldn’t be discussing at all, they should be walking away with their tails between their legs because they f**ked up.  But no, they feel it fair that we pay more than we agreed with the hotel for their mistakes.

According to them we consumed a product and we had to pay for it.  My explanation that they should be asking names, taking payment beforehand, registering clients, etc. holds no value to them, that’s not how they do business.  Well, my friends, if you do bad business sometimes you have to pay for your mistakes.

To my surprise, however, the famous Lope Hotel also turned on us.  Despite the fact they let people come into their hotel and take their clients, they don’t want anything to do with the discussion.  In fact, they try to kick us off their property.  Rather than fighting on our side, or telling the external tour company to leave their hotel, they attack the clients.

This frog wouldn’t do business this way…

My disappointment with the Lope Hotel can’t be understated.  The fact that they did no wrong other than let a company that has nothing to do with the hotel into their lobby to take their clients, they should have been on our side.

In the end, we spent 2 hours on the grass in front of the Lope Hotel being yelled at an talked to like children.  We were attacked like thieves.  We were told that the police would demand money from us, that the National Park people would force us to pay them double for dealing with this.

Now, though I’m used to this business behaviour in Africa by now, I guess perhaps I didn’t expect it happening at an established international property like the Lope Hotel.  Lope sells itself as a destination for wealthy tourist looking for an eco-tourism adventure.  However, it operates like a two-bit used car sales property.

I understand fully the desperation of the tour company demanding we pay.  In these parts of the world there are no savings accounts to help protect from mistakes.  While some people live paycheck to paycheck, many people out here live day to day, tourist to tourist.  Not only did their mistake cost them a day of income, it would also cost them for the transport, the food, the park passes, and the guides’ wages.

However, lessons can’t be learned without paying for them.  I have the money to pay, I could certainly just hand over the money for the tour I didn’t book.  But, then does anyone ever learn anything?  Does the next customer get berated like we did?  Does the next client that goes to the Lope Hotel also become a victim without the protection of the company he or she booked with?

I travel to places like this to expose destinations that deserve the recognition.  When I travelled Sierra Leone, I had nothing but good experiences, for example.  But it pains me to write that Lope National Park lacks organization, communication, and even legitimacy.  Perhaps the park is corrupt, maybe it’s just mismanaged, but at the end of the day when a client had a grievance rather than being listened to, we were argued with, berated, and made feel like children who had stolen cookies from the jar.  Moreover, there was no central authority to mediate.  How can a country strive to drive tourists, if the tourists are not protected?

Sure, Lope National Park has the potential to be Central Africa’s leading eco-tourism destination, but at the end of the day if it continues operates like this, it will fail.  Though the customer isn’t always right, they should always have the right of respect.  We were not respected for a moment in Lope National Park, we were not given a slice of respect from Lope Hotel, and honestly, I now feel like Gabon, a country I’d dreamed of visiting for years, isn’t worth your time.  Skip it, head to Sierra Leone or a country that will welcome you and give you respect.

In the end, I negotiated a price I felt to be fair with the tour company.  A price that would allow them to pay for our park passes, the lunch we ate, and the transport to get to and from the forest.   But in the end, the word of mouth will likely cost them, and the park in general, much more in future business than they ever lost from me.  Both the Lope Hotel and the private guiding company are to blame in this situation, both treated us like second-class citizens, and even if we are second-class citizens we don’t deserve that; no one deserves that.

The funny thing, however, is at the end of the day, I’m not mad at the fact I was treated poorly.  What makes me mad is the realization that this continent so many of us have grown to love desperately will likely always suffer through the bad press it is plagued by.  Personally, I want the world to love Africa as much as I do, but so often it seems to desire to cast a dark shadow over itself.