Bwana Brummel

Ever since British settlers and visiting aristocrats began potting away at elephants in the pristine wilds of East Africa at the turn of the century, the world's biggest unwalled zoo has been an almost exclusive preserve for the rich, the idle and the professional romantics, ranging from the sturdier of the Riviera set to Ernest Hemingway. But the airplane has made Africa accessible as never before, and since World War II a veritable army of hunters has swarmed into Africa's safari lands.

Nine out of ten of the newcomers are Americans--Madison Avenue admen, Texas oil tycoons, Air Force, Army and Navy brass, and such public personalities as Arthur Godfrey and William Holden. Increasingly, safari firms are catering to a more middle-class trade, in recent years have found doctors, lawyers, dentists and business executives among their steady clients.

Blase Beasts. Last year safari activity accounted for more than half of East Africa's $17 million tourist revenue, and is still growing. There are seven safari firms operating out of Nairobi this year (v. one in 1939). Once confined to a 100-mile radius of civilized Nairobi (pop. 230,000), the quest for big game has spread from northern Uganda to southern Tanganyika. The white hunters who lead safaris are making more money than ever--$7,000 a year is average and $14,000 is not uncommon for the popular hunters. Luxury is at an alltime high too. Today no high-class safari leaves Nairobi without comforts that range from a special scout car for the client and his white hunter to five-ton trucks that haul the amenities of gracious living--tents, radios, refrigerators, portable showers and toilets.

But even clerks and secretaries can afford the camera safari, which provides them with a peaceful look at wildlife in the unfettered flesh and fascinating movie footage to amaze the folks back home. Nairobi's Overland Motor Co. offers a 15-day tour of game areas by car for a comparatively modest $700, including round-trip air fare from Europe. Overland, which expected about 50 tourists at most during the first three months of 1959, now expects the total to top 800 before the season is over. The animals in East Africa's national parks, secure in the protection afforded them by the government, are becoming blase about camera buffs.

Ruark's Regrets. For the old-line purist who wants to do his shooting .450 cal. instead of 16 mm., the tab goes high. Average cost for a single client is $105 a day, plus air fare to and from Nairobi. Licenses in Kenya for a full bag of Africa's big five sporting animals (lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant, rhinoceros) come to another $600. If he brings his own firearms, a hunter may be able to get away with 30 days in the bush for $4,000. With photographic safaris pushing into the wilds, most Nairobi white hunters are now as expert with cameras as with rifles. Their main task is to stand ready to drop the beast if it should charge while the client is snapping a closeup. Says one hunter: "Frankly, we get a trifle bored."

The swarming hunters have forced the local governments to impose restrictions to prevent depletion of game, and many an old hand mourns the change. One of them is Columnist Robert Ruark, who is respected by white hunters as one of the few sharpshooters among the amateurs. Currently on safari in Kenya, Ruark writes: "I should think it likely that this will be my last proper big safari, and the thought grieves me. What I bemoan mainly is the loss of the old, wild freedom when you could take off in almost any direction and find something exciting without having to check a sheaf of papers, fill out questionnaires and worry about your time limits in any one area. The people were wild and the animals were wild and the living was wilder. The Africa I knew and loved so much a decade ago has changed tremendously."

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