The anticipated opening of the new US-owned Safari Lodge at the Maasai Mara has hit a sudden challenge after a Kenyan wildlife conservationist moved to court to block it. The lodge was set to open on Friday, August 15, but the move was forced to suddenly stop after Meitamei Olol Dapash, the director of the Institute for Maasai Education, Research and Conservation (MERC), filed a petition arguing that the luxury lodge is a threat to the environment and the wildlife. Guests who visit the lodge are expected to pay nightly rates starting at Ksh451,423 ($3,500) per person.
The rate includes a suite with private decks overlooking a river crossed by migrating wildebeest.
According to the Maasai Conservation Institute, the high-end lodge will damage one of the world's most renowned ecological systems. In a move to protect it, Dapash is now seeking to block the opening, alleging that the site will obstruct a crucial migration corridor between the Maasai Mara and Tanzania's Serengeti.
He filed a petition on August 12.
