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Africa
Safari Guide Accused of Killing Tourist in Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya
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By
JEFFREY GETTLEMANAUG. 10, 2016
Tourists in the Masai Mara reserve in 2015, during the “Great Migration,” when an estimated 1.5 million wildebeests and zebras pass through. Credit Carl De Souza/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
NAIROBI, Kenya — In the vaulted dining room of the Keekorok Lodge, guests gathered Monday night for a feast overlooking one of the most spectacular vistas in Africa: the game-studded Masai Mara National Reserve.
Suddenly an argument broke out at one of the tables, apparently over who was going to sit where. The authorities said an enraged Chinese safari guide whipped out a pocketknife and sank it into the chest of a Chinese tourist, killing her.
On Wednesday, Kenyan police officials said they were holding the safari guide, whom they identified as Li Changquing, 47, a Chinese citizen who speaks little English but decent Swahili, on suspicion of murder.
“I won’t say we are surprised — we are shocked,” said Abdi Jillo Galgalo, a Kenyan police commander. “This is a place where you go to relax with the family and leave the stress behind. We’ve never heard of anyone even slapping someone out here.”
The Masai Mara reserve is one of Africa’s brightest jewels. It is an undulating sheet of wavy grass and thorn trees covering hundreds of square miles, home to lions, leopards, cheetahs, rhinos, zebras, elephants, gazelles, vultures, crocodiles and hippos.
At this time of year, it also hosts thousands of tourists. They flock in from all corners of the world to witness the “
Great Migration,” when an estimated 1.5 million wildebeests and zebras trudge across the Masai Mara in seemingly endless herds looking for fresh grass to eat, while being stalked by lions and other predators.
Mr. Galgalo said that he had spoken to the assailant.
“He looks like somebody who has a lot of anger,” Mr. Galgalo said, adding that the assailant was “strong and stout” and did not show much emotion.
The Kenyan authorities said that Mr. Li also attacked the victim’s husband, who remains hospitalized with stab wounds to his stomach. They said that members of the Keekorok Lodge staff rushed to stop Mr. Li before he could kill him.
The Daily Nation, a
Kenyan newspaper, reported that Mr. Li had a favorite table at the lodge and that the argument had started after he asked the couple to sit at a different table and they refused.
Mr. Galgalo said that when he asked Mr. Li why he had attacked the couple, the assailant replied in Swahili, “They insulted me.”
Mr. Li, who the Kenyan authorities said was a professional safari guide who had been in the country for several years, is being held in a jail in Narok, a town near the Masai Mara. The reserve is about a six-hour drive west of Nairobi, the capital.
Correction: August 10, 2016
An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to Li Changquing at several points. He is Mr. Li, not Mr. Changquing.
Follow Jeffrey Gettleman on Twitter @gettleman.
A version of this article appears in print on August 11, 2016, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Safari Guide Is Accused of Killing Kenya Tourist.
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