Giraffe Manor Cancelled? 3 Ways to ACTUALLY Decolonize Travel
Last month Kenyan twitter and instagram was heated over the wording of a couple social media posts announcing the reopening of insta-famous Giraffe Manor in Nairobi, with the phrase “now open to Kenyans”.
This phrase spread around like wildfire, with many people tweeting things like, Oh now the ‘rona is showing them flames, they finally open their doors to the locals.
Scroll down to watch my IGTV video with the whole story and my thoughts on #BoycottGiraffeManor
The hotel itself has always technically been open to whoever is willing and able to pay the lofty prices and book their room a good year in advance – no cap – no matter their citizenship.
BUT.
The thing about it and the reason I completely dismissed this whole thing at first is – Giraffe Manor, like the majority of any safari and wildlife-centered tourism businesses in Kenya and Africa at large, all have their roots and origins in the colonization of Kenya by the British Empire.
Now that we’re here in the height (so far) of Black Lives Matter, statues of oppressors being torn down finally and the global call to better ourselves and our world, how do we take it all offline and above our words?
Here are 3 places to start decolonizing your own travel habits and choices.
1. Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
Fastest and loudest way to do it. Support hotels, tour guides and companies, car rental companies, luggage brands, all of it owned by native and indigenous people of that place. Bonus points for those who also do not blatantly disregard their local community’s needs in favour of Western visitors, money and acclaim.
One of the things I’ve been hearing from the past couple of years is the state of Malindi – for anyone who doesn’t know, coastal town in Kenya which has almost become a Little Italy in the past couple of decades. It became a hideaway and playground for rich Italians, building resorts and private villas, sometimes contributing to the local infrastructure too but generally for the rest of us Kenyans NOT from Malindi, being denied entry into hotels, women being assumed to be prostitutes just by existing and an overall air of racial prejudice like the usual being served after white people who arrive after you at a bar.
Some hotel websites and restaurant menus are written completely in Italian, maybe with a German option and that’s it. Ok, so more recently the Italians seem to have moved on to Zanzibar and Mozambique and Malindi is a ghost town, babes. I’d challenge you to try and persuade any Kenyan to go hang out there for a weekend, given what they’ve heard and experienced there before.
Personally I prefer to hang out in Kilifi ;)
2. Remember “Decolonize” Does Not Mean Replace Settlers with Natives in the Same Positions & Systems
Keep in mind that plenty of people are happy to uphold the positions and systems that stole, disenfranchised and ultimately belittled the local population, like the colonizers did.
Just look at your government, your judicial system, your police force, your EDUCATION system, hello! As they say, all skinfolk ain’t kinfolk and if the owners and stakeholders of a travel business are still set on disrespecting locals by dismissing them as prospective clientele, pandering to Western visitors, profiting off stolen land and appropriated culture with no regard for the owners of that culture, THEM ALSO BEING BLACK MEANS NOTHING.
3. Be Kind to Yourself and Others Still Figuring This Out
The thing about colonial structures and systems, is that they were very intentionally designed and you have to very intentionally seek out the alternatives because they probably won’t be presented to you immediately.
If you have travelled in very much the average mainstream way, choosing a place to stay from any popular booking website, finding advice for what to see and do from page 1 on Google, etc, even if a name or brand has a Swahili or Maasai name, even if it seems to have always been around, you might still be living what you think is your best life on looted land, on the backs of underpaid and disrespected workers, contributing to the wealth of an entity far away from that establishment.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and input on either the Giraffe Manor fiasco or decolonizing travel wherever we are so sound off in the comments or come and chat on my IG stories which is where I usually take these vibes ;)
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