Tourist lodges destroyed by floodwaters in Maasai Mara begin clean-up, repair efforts

The true extent of the damage occasioned by the record-level floods in the Maasai Mara National Reserve can now be revealed.

The flooding that affected lodges and camps along River Talek in the Mara has left operators in the region reeling from extensive damage and losses that could take months to repair and recover from.

Wednesday last week saw 14 camps and lodges situated along the majestic River Talek within the reserve overrun by flood waters; at least 40 tourists who were stranded in these camps were successfully rescued.

The water continues to subside, allowing a chance to take stock of the aftermath of that unprecedented occurrence. However, even then, the remnants of those high levels are evident, even to the naked eye.

From the topmost rooms that were occupied by visitors, now pale, muddy shadows of the once-grand opulence, to the floors of the dining and resting lounges, the wrath of the river was utter and complete.

The heavy rains in the Mara had been falling over a period of days, but the floods, when they came, were sudden and ferocious. The events quickly unfolded, catching the camp’s management and visitors unawares.

The evidence of this can be found in the kitchen, where the food prepared for the day’s meals still sits in the dishes, and supplies for other meals now wasted. On the kitchen floors, cabinets, and cupboards - the losses here are irreversible.

Indeed, the entire lodge will need hours of cleaning and repairs before it is habitable again, and that process is already underway.

Workers are on the ground are quite literally cleaning the murk and trying to scrub the memories of that occurrence away.

"We’ve never seen anything like this before, the water was all over, destroyed the camps along the river," Stephen Minis, Chief Park Warden, Narok, told Citizen TV.

While the tourism sector in the Mara reels from this massive setback, stakeholders in the sector, particularly in the national reserve, now say there is a need to revisit its disaster preparedness.

Business owners affected by the flooding in the Mara can only hope that these plans are implemented soon to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.