Agnes Nashipae Ntokoiwuan, or as everyone calls her ‘Nash’, remembers the first time she came across various animal tracks on her morning walk to school while growing up in Lemek. As a child, trying to decipher what particular animal every different footprint she and her friends found was always something to look forward to. She was always curious about every animal she saw and relentlessly asked her parents numerous questions about them.
Being just by the periphery of the world-famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve, her home village exposed her to wildlife from a very young age. She remembers vividly that an adult would have to accompany them on the morning walk to school on numerous occasions, and they would still be late because they had to let the wildlife, especially elephants and buffaloes, pass first before proceeding to the school. Thus was her close interaction with wild animals – a dangerous one, I’d say. However, this early exposure to wildlife and the ensuing stories of their dangers did not deter her resolve or even stop her from dreaming and working her way up to being one of the first women tour guides in the Maasai Mara. Right from a very tender age, she knew exactly what she desired to be once she grew up. She was willing to beat all the possible odds, and she promised herself she would find a way, and she did.
Growing up in a highly patrilineal society, she knew from the onset that her decision to pursue this field was a challenging task, but she had resolved that whatever the situation, she would be a guide. Immediately after completing her secondary education, she joined Koiyaki Guiding School, the only guiding training institute within the area at the time. She was one of the only two female students in her cohort, which, unsurprisingly, was predominantly filled with men. While at Koiyaki, the classes, especially those that required physicality and muscle, were challenging, but she was determined through it all.
It was not easy for a woman to take this line of occupation at that time. Everyone, including her parents, was sceptical, citing the numerous hurdles she would face in this line of work. Nash was, however, not perturbed by the naysaying. She even went on to graduate among the top students in her cohort.
Nash is now working with Leopard Hill Camp, part of the Saruni Basecamp group of luxury camps. She is one of only four women guides at the company.
Eight years on, and now with her own family to raise, she still wakes up to this “beautiful adventure”, as she describes her job. Nash believes that tour guiding is an adventure one can never get enough of.
“Meeting visitors, including tourists on holiday, business people on retreats, and researchers daily,” she says, “is an adventure and an everyday learning experience that I wouldn’t exchange for any other occupation.”
Interacting with all these new souls from every corner of the globe has given her a platform to learn about the world. She has made it a code to learn something new herself every day from her visitors as she passes on her own knowledge of the wild to them.
Nash believes that every guide should and must play a part in protecting and conserving wildlife, in this particular case, the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, through their actions in the line of duty.
She describes the Reserve as the jewel of Kenya and Africa’s tourism crown. Protecting and conserving its flora and fauna is everyone’s moral obligation. As a guide, she promised herself from the onset to always work by the set code of conduct and regulations while operating within the Reserve. Blatant, careless driving and off-roading disturb the natural state of things, and she always ensures that she doesn’t flaunt the rules of engagement with wildlife at any time. This discipline, she believes, is the reason she has carried on with her job smoothly for almost a decade now.
Her favourite time of year is the annual animal crossing. This natural phenomenon that sees millions of wildlife, especially wildebeest and zebras, cross the roaring Mara River from the Serengeti to the Maasai Mara is a natural world wonder that never ceases to amaze her. Guiding her visitors into this charged furore of heavenly bliss has been a constant thrill for her personally for the past eight years. She is, however, not amused by the overcrowding of vehicles in particular areas that may disturb the natural order of things and even wishes there was a watchtower instead for tourists to view the exercise.
From where we are seated on a hill in Naboisho Conservancy, one of the conservancies around the Reserve, Nash looks across to the panoramic landscape of the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and its environs with a half-smile and a distant look in her eye. Her love and appreciation for this marvel of nature is quite evident as she closes our conversation by saying,
“The Mara must be protected for posterity and future generations to enjoy its magical gifts. It is our moral obligation as a people to ensure this,” and I couldn’t agree more.
She reflects on a memory that is stuck in her mind: the very first day she drove a cruiser to her village after commencing her initial job. The joy on the faces of young girls and boys as she drove is something that she confesses she is unable to describe in words but that she will never forget.
What more can I say?
