If you are a regular visitor to our blog you might remember reading about Kamakota in one of our previous entries.

Kamakota is an outpost that was specially built to allow the crew to monitor a huge area of Mkomazi for poachers as well as illegal cattle barons, who misuse the Mkomazi vegetation to feed their huge herds of cattle. Kamakota looks out on to the flat plains where elephant, zebra, wildebeest and antelope roam free.

From the photo, you can see how difficult this surveillance job is - Kamakota is built up on that hill on the right of the photograph. Being up high means the crew can scan miles and miles of land for any illegal activity.  But the area is vast so it takes the incredible dedication of a small team to keep a lookout 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Kamakota is in the north-east section of Mkomazi, close to where the Kenya border lies. The Kenyan border is where the Tsavo National Park in Kenya meets with Mkomazi. The animals are encouraged to cross this border during the migration season when they are in search of water. Mkomazi needs to be carefully run so that the animals continue making this annual trek as their seasonal visits allow Mkomazi to thrive - This tourist season is vital to Mkomazi!

Sadly, the roof of the Kamakota outpost hut was recently burnt down by angry poachers or cattle barons. Fitz and the crew must rebuild it all over again in order to keep this section of Mkomazi safe and protected - a working outpost means that members of the crew can take it in turn to spend weeks at a time keeping watch from their lookout positions.

You can imagine what a big repair job this is - Kamakota is a very remote and difficult place to get to!

Mishi x