Business Daily (Nairobi)
2 April 2008
editorial
Nairobi — The northern tourism circuit as depicted in our pages today should be a journey to the cradle of mankind. But for many years this region, which covers the Sibiloi National Park, has been neglected despite its heritage and importance to the global community.
For a start, the region known as Koobi Fora and its hundreds of archaeological sites that range from iron-age to the Early Stone Age is a World Heritage Site. But we have not taken economic interest of that heritage and turned it to our advantage.
Koobi Fora has many more feathers to it. It has evidence of the evolution of both human race and animals and solid traces of changing weather patterns and how it has impacted on the human race.
Hidden in the geological formations is unique evidence of animal domestication, the emergence of fire and also - of all things - we have a fossil forest.
From Ileret down to Loyangalani are extra-ordinary sites that include the Stone Pillars site at Jarigole- a burial cairn that has produced thousands of artefacts- and on the western shores of Lake Turkana there is the ancient Namoritunga pillar site thought to be a unique astronomy site in Africa.
It is in this region that the Leakey family made their name as they scouted for fossils. In our bid to brand Kenya, we should use our strength as the cradle of mankind and offer visitors a unique opportunity to see this region.
Few countries has such archeological sites. Like the Hadar region in Ethiopia, Koobi Fora has produced some hominid fossils that have seen Kenya remain on the world map as anthropologists and environmentalists try to unravel the mystery of the origins and development of the human race.
Of late, the National Museums of Kenya paleontologists have unveiled some of these finds, but we should go beyond the academic and use them to increase interest in the region.
Thus, the current attempt to turn this entire region into a tourist circuit heralds a new dawn for the region and for the survival of Sibiloi National Park with its dwindling number of visitors.
Like Masai Mara which attracts thousands of tourists in a year, Koobi Fora sites could attract as many tourists as well if marketed as a destination for visitors who want to see evidence of early man and sites where famous fossils were found.
But as we do that the government should open up the road network to the region to facilitate travel and also minimise insecurity in the region.
At the moment this is our pot of gold since no other country can take our sites. Like Tanzania's Olduvai Gorge, we can rival any country on heritage. It is a chance we must seize.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 Business Daily. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
