Chapter 51

Two days later Sultar turned up at the house with a notepad in his hand. He followed David into the study and sat down. “As I understand it you wish to keep the statuesque of the land and inhabitants the same. Well, the Maasi and occasional safari are the only human activity that takes place there. The Maasi don’t pose a problem; they don’t hunt for food, and they live off their cattle. The safaris may create a problem. So I would give permits to only professional hunters that we know and approve of. They would have a strict quota of the numbers of animals they could hunt on any safari. Their customers are normally only after the big four, Elephant, Rhino, Lion and Buffalo. Any safari crossing over into the reserve would need to take a Reserve Ranger with them to oversee the quota was not infringed. Any infringement would mean automatic loss of permit.” Sultar looked at David for his reaction to what he had said so far.

David nodded. “So far I approve of what you say,” he said.

Sultar continued, “To adequately police the reserve we would need to have outposts built around the borders of the reserve. These outposts would be the only gateways into it, therefore a fence would need to be built all around it. Each outpost would be responsible for a section of the fence in respect of repairing it in the event of damage. The Rangers would also conduct a census of animals in their section of the reserve which would be reported to a central command post. Which animals could be hunted by the safaris would be determined by results of the census.”

David sat back impressed by Sultar’s grasp of the situation. “Well you seem to have the gist of what needs to be done. At the moment with the tribes up north and no safaris due to the war, it seems the best time to put your words into action. You could use all the Gurkhas to make a start on the fence. In the meantime I shall draft a message for inclusion into the Nairobi newspapers, outlining our proposals for the Reserve.”

Sultar along with four Gurkhas accompanied Martin and the land surveyor when they set of to map the Reserve. They were gone for over three weeks and when they returned, they carried a detail map of the reserve, with prominent features like water holes, hills, trees, and other major features drawn on it. Seventy miles bordered the river, which acted as a natural boundary.

Bert had visited the Crater to update David on the war. “It’s turning into a war of attrition, the one that kills the most wins,” he said gloomily. “The Generals are losing thousands of lives for the sake of a few yards. Gallipoli turned into a disaster through mismanagement and again the foot soldier suffered for it,” he said bitterly. “We had some success in Arabia against the Turks, but the only real good news is the Yanks have entered the war.”