National Resorts For Foreigners And The Rich Only?

LAST Sunday I went with my wife and seven kids for a day visit to Etosha.

We live in Tsumeb and use the opportunity to see Namibia’s wonderful wildlife on day visits to the nearby Namutoni resort. About six times in 2003 we spent a wonderful day with our children in nature at Etosha for an affordable price.N$120 for petrol, N$80 for a braai and around N$75 for the daily entrance fee was an expenditure you still could afford every two months.Last Sunday, however, we had to find out that a new day visit fee has been introduced, N$40 for an adult, N$10 for children, additional to the entrance fee of N$10 per adult and N$2 per kid, pushing the daily fee to N$214, an amount which even for me, as a Namibian GRN officer, is hard to swallow.Is it really like that, that we middle class working people should be kicked out like that from our natural resorts? Should we spend our times in bars instead of showing the beauty of our wildlife to our children?I have sympathy for the managers of Namibia Wildlife Resorts that they want to get a bigger piece of the tourist cake from people staying at Mokuti Lodge etc. and driving to Etosha for a morning or afternoon game drives.But not at the cost of us Namibians! There must other means.We have a right to see the beauty of our country at an affordable price.I used to take many kids from the North for their first time to Etosha, I used to reward my kids for good school results with a day visit to Etosha and I even used to have birthday parties for my kids in Namutoni.Will this now all be over? For the sake of our children, please, my appeal to Namibia Wildlife Resorts and our Cabinet: reduce the fees for us Namibians again to an affordable level and let our natural resorts not become a privilege for foreigners and the rich!- Klaus and Nangula Fleissner – TsumebAbout six times in 2003 we spent a wonderful day with our children in nature at Etosha for an affordable price. N$120 for petrol, N$80 for a braai and around N$75 for the daily entrance fee was an expenditure you still could afford every two months. Last Sunday, however, we had to find out that a new day visit fee has been introduced, N$40 for an adult, N$10 for children, additional to the entrance fee of N$10 per adult and N$2 per kid, pushing the daily fee to N$214, an amount which even for me, as a Namibian GRN officer, is hard to swallow. Is it really like that, that we middle class working people should be kicked out like that from our natural resorts? Should we spend our times in bars instead of showing the beauty of our wildlife to our children? I have sympathy for the managers of Namibia Wildlife Resorts that they want to get a bigger piece of the tourist cake from people staying at Mokuti Lodge etc. and driving to Etosha for a morning or afternoon game drives. But not at the cost of us Namibians! There must other means. We have a right to see the beauty of our country at an affordable price. I used to take many kids from the North for their first time to Etosha, I used to reward my kids for good school results with a day visit to Etosha and I even used to have birthday parties for my kids in Namutoni. Will this now all be over? For the sake of our children, please, my appeal to Namibia Wildlife Resorts and our Cabinet: reduce the fees for us Namibians again to an affordable level and let our natural resorts not become a privilege for foreigners and the rich! – Klaus and Nangula Fleissner – Tsumeb