atravelynn

<i>LAleslie on Dec 26, 09 at 4:18pm
And why do I sometimes get the feeling these days that half the people on this forum are not just plain regular folk (i.e., not in the travel industry)?
Sigh...</i>


LA Leslie, in the interest of full disclosure. I am both plain and regular.

LAleslie

I can tell that Lynn. Tho I doubt you are plain and I'm happy to hear your gastro-intestinals are in rhythm.

Bushkid, I'm actually not against people in the indistry offering advice on this board if they are transparent. It's just that lately (with the crappy economy I suppose), there seems to be an imbalance. I wish there was a little icon to call attention to the agents and such.

Some are very upfront, which I appreciate. Safari_Craig, for example, always "outs" himself. Same with Eben, and Tanzaniatouroperator. How much clearer can the latter be!

Bushkid0

Hi LAleslie,

I fully agree with your comments. I don't think it has much to do with the crappy economy. I think it is is plain parasitism. These forums are/were not intended as marketing or self-promotion vehicles (or maybe they are).

I am in the trade. But you have to look very hard in most of my forum activity to find that out, and even harder to find out how involved I am. I become a forumite simply because I had a passion for travel and for real Africa. I remain a "plain and regular guy" to most forum users. I don't "out" myself, every time I hit the forums, simply because it's not relevant. It has nothing to do with transparency.

In fact, most of the "transparency" is sheer self-promotion (take a look at Tripadvisor's Southern Africa forums - every second poster blatantly advertises their company name or their services). They have thier little icon. I too think that there is an imbalance, and some TA/TO's are virtually spamming the forums, but very cleverly.

I'm not sure if my company name has ever appeared on a forum. In fact, my identity is just as hidden. I thought last week that somebody had exposed it, but I was mistaken. It's there, but you'd have to look extremely hard to find it. It's simply irrelevant.

My first forum was GAP's Wateringhole. I joined the discussions because there were many myths surrounding a particular product that I was intimately involved with. And simply got hooked.

safarimama

We've been all over the board with this thread, which is good. I'm happy I started it. Just to follow up; here's a good blog to follow and a place to donate to help keep the wild lions alive in Africa. It was posted on Facebook by The Lions of Africa:

African lions protection - Lion guardians blog
lionguardians.wildlifedirect.org

Protecting lions in Africa - This is the blog of Lion Guardians, a team of rangers working to save the endangered lions of Maasailand.

In collaboration with the local communities of Mbirikani ranch, the Living with Lions project (LWL) and the Maasailand Preservation Trust initiated a program called “Lion Guardians” in November 2006.

The impetus to create this project was in response to the slaughtering of over 150 lions in the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem since 2001. Retaliatory and traditional spearing by Maasai warriors (murrans) is the greatest threat to the survival of lions in Kenyan Maasailand today. The Lion Guardians program attempts to reduce the pressure on lions by employing their greatest enemy to conserve them rather than kill them. Since the onset of this project there have been no lions speared on Mbirikani ranch.

safarimama

LyndaS,
Here's a place you can safely visit

Drakenstein Lion Park in Cape Town, South Africa is doing some amazing, positive work in aid of lions who are in need of sanctuary, from all over the world.

Please pass this article on - about why not to visit places that pet lion cubs: The truth is that these lions are the product of factory farming. The cubs are taken from their mothers so that she can produce another litter in six months time, as opposed to two years time, if she had the opportunity to raise her own offspring.

Take a look at the positive work they are doing at Drakenstein. Please support them when you visit the Cape. Great work to all of you at Drakenstein.

See more about Drakenstein Lion Park at www.lionrescue.org.za

Bushkid0

Hello Safarimama,

Nice link you posted there. It does expose the "cub petting" problem quite nicely.

What I would like to see is a little more than 50 acres (20ha)of land allocated to "all the animals". That sounds like a grown man/woman being confined to his/her nursery for the rest of their lives. Lets hope that the vision has got a broader range.

spassvogel

I strongly support safarimama's link!

Paul Hart does a fantastic job rescuing lions from abusive and miserable conditions.

Of course his capability to enlarge the enclosures are not endless but when one evaluates where the lions came from must nothing but appreciate they now have a decent life for the rest of it.

Paul Hart strongly supports the campaign against canned hunting.

He also has great inside knowledge on organisations which "claim" to rescue but abuse.
He might most probably inform if one approaches him with the appropriate question.

SV

safarimama

Here's another good article "Canned Hunting Ban: Breeders Threaten Mass Lion Slaughter", Written by Jace Shoemaker-Galloway and Published on December 29th, 2009 in About Animals, In Africa:

http://ecoworldly.com/2009/12/29/can...lion-slaughter

pixelpower

Hey all,

Just a quick intermezzo about "hidden identities" & the likes.

Personally, I see it like this: I think anyone should be allowed to make a valuable contribution, as long as they are clear in their intentions. The essence is indeed: clarity! No hidden agendas!

In other words; if you are in the industry, you should tell us. You want to hide your business name, because that business is not the prime reason for being here? Fine. But then still; just tell us that you are in the industry, without specifying how.

So thanks, Bushkid0, for being at least honest about that.

It's a fine line between honest and dishonest forum members. To me, people who are in the business and hide that fact, even though they might be good contributors, just cross that line. There must be a reason why they hide their link to the industry.

As far as I can see the Fodors staff pretty much sees it the same way, as I've seen plenty of bans of people who were dishonest. And they seldom return. While other people, even if they are in the industry, can stay because they are very good contributors, and because it shows that they're honest and that they do not promote their business.

Now, everyone needs to realize; there is absolutely no way in the world for forum admins to completely block users who have the wrong intentions. A forum is open to the world. All people can post on it. If someone with a hidden agenda posts on it, there's no way for an admin to know.
Tagging every login with an "icon", or user-category, or similar tool... does not improve the situation in any way. People may still decide to hide that "business icon", or to register as "regular user" instead of choosing the "TA category".

So the question one has to ask oneself is this; on what forum are my interests as a regular user protected the most?

Well, I can tell you: it's HERE, on Fodors. What I really would like is for everyone to realize this.

Why? Because a lot of times I read the opposite. I read it in emails, in PMs, and even openly on this forum! And of course I read it on other fora when they decide to have a little Fodors-bashing round.

In essence, it's the same as saying "the forum admins do not do a good job". And it is so very wrong to say that about Fodors. The forum admin is the keeper of the gate to hell. He is the only barrier between us, and the "sharks". And on this forum, we've all seen him/her at work. They do their job, to the best possibility.

Imagine a guy who owns one the biggest safari portal on the web. A portal where money is made by referrals to book stores. A portal that allows you to book accommodations directly. A portal that also has plenty of direct links to hunting concessions.

Now imagine that this guy hides his identity. he does not even want people to know he is in the business in any way.

What if I told you that this guy is active on the most popular of these Fodors-bashing fora? What if I told you the admin there knows this and decides NOT to intervene?

Now THAT should be a flashing red light to any one of us.

I'm sorry for being so anal about this, but I've had it up to here! Over and over I read complaints like "perhaps half the people on this board are not regular people". It is starting to sound like a mantra. Enough already! At least here admins are intervening when they spot forum leeches.

Perhaps we should start asking ourselves; how come these concerns pop up so much? Is it perhaps because people from other fora are trying to lure people away, into the arms of forum leeches on other fora?

There. "End rant" as they say. Sorry.

Ciao,

J.

Bushkid0

Hey pixelpower!

I absolutely agree. To the last word.

I agree that admins do a great job, on all the forums I contribute to, and I really appreciate that. They are, as you say, the "keepers to the gates of hell". Protecting us from the sharks.

I became a guide because I have a passion for Africa, it's wildlife and it's people. I try to share that passion. Sometimes I get a little carried away about the things I feel strongly about (canned lions for one, ultra-contrived game viewing, baited animals, driving over a thousand trees to photograph a leopard, unethical "breeding programmes", fabricated "volunteer programmes", to mention but a few ...).

I could say a lot more! But think you've said it all!

Thanks!

LAleslie

PP: I was only suggesting an icon as a quick read, an easy way to spot travel sellers at once, so you don't have to read through many posts inorder to figure out that some posters may have ulterior motives.
Of course you're right, it won't stop all the sneaksters. But it might quickly sort out who's who so we can weigh the credibility of the information from the get-go. There are no perfect solutions in this anonymous world.
I wasn't suggesting, nor did I state, that Fodor's was any better or any worse at keeping out the nasties. I have no idea, nor do I care, since I don't use any other you "fora" (though "forums" is the preferred plural, see Webster's), except for maybe quick glances at Trip Advisor when I'm looking for a hotel.
I was merely noting that on this Africa forum, which has been quieter lately, that sometimes it SEEMS overweighted with safari business people.
Sheesh, calm down.