Time to Travel
This week Kicheche, which operates camps in Kenya, shared the following email with us which they’d been sent by clients due to visit them:
“The five of us are really looking forward to our safari at Bush Camp later in September, this year. Can we have James as our guide again please? We have our virus test booked, we have travel insurance and work from home so see no reason not to travel because of this silly unenforced quarantine. We are so excited.”
Kicheche Bush Camp
Kicheche continued, “Our thoughts exactly. None of us would encourage or condone behaviour detrimental to public health, but it’s clear that all-or-nothing government quarantine policy is not only ineffective but also astonishingly destructive to communities worldwide dependent on tourism for their livelihoods.
That so many individuals and families are now conducting their own intelligent, nuanced risk assessments and taking the appropriate and prudent measures to ensure the safety of themselves and others is both encouraging and testament, perhaps, to common sense and shrinking faith in government policy.”
They then went on to examine the Foreign Office advice and the possibility of getting travel insurance when the FCO advise against all but essential travel. “Let’s be clear: the FCO’s non-essential travel advice is exactly that: advice. It is not a legal instrument but a convenient line in the sand behind which some insurers can retreat to cancel cover. By doing so, they force tour operators to follow suit, but if you’re willing to travel, there are always insurance companies willing to offer the cover abdicated by their more risk-adverse rivals.
Wildlife drive in the Masai Mara from Kicheche Bush Camp
This company: Battleface, for example, offers reasonably priced policies allowing you to travel to countries such as Kenya, where, according to European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control data, the 14-day cumulative incidence of reported cases per 100,000 inhabitants is currently 5.94. For the sake of comparison, Portugal’s 14-day score is 41.32. The UK? 28.57. Battleface also covers against puzzling FCO advisories.”
At Aardvark Safaris we respect the difficult work the government and Foreign Office are doing. However, we also respect the decision some clients will come to, having weighed up the pros and cons. We will help those wishing to postpone to do so, but also enable those wishing to travel and enjoy these areas with few other visitors.
If you would like advice or to chat about booking a safari please get in touch by phone or email. We will be delighted to assist you.
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