ETHICAL TRAVELLER:'WHY IS EVERYONE ignoring the signposts, Mam?" I heard a little girl say recently as she stood at the stone barrier at the Cliffs of Moher, watching tourist after tourist walk on to the cliff-top path past signs requesting visitors to go no farther. Her mother said she didn't really get it, either, but wisely decided to stick to the rules. The howling wind and spray from the waves below were good enough deterrents for me. Those and the sign of someone falling over the edge, of course.
One of the visitors blithely crossing the barrier was a New Zealand farmer who told me he thought it was fine because everyone else was doing it, admitting, sheepishly, "although I know back home we wouldn't get away with it".
When I asked a French girl if she knew why the signs were there, she suggested it was "because we might fall off". I explained that the land was private, that cliffs are created by natural erosion and that constant trampling of the fragile edges will accelerate this process, putting their existence at risk for future generations. "Ah. I hadn't thought of that. I am sorry," she said.
But I wasn't looking for apologies. I was just trying to understand why so many tourists ignore signs. They are usually there for a good reason, after all, not to annoy people trying to have a good day out.
Uluru, which was known as Ayers Rock until the Australian government handed the land back to the Anangu Aboriginal people, in 1985, is another case of sign blindness. Climbing is prohibited to everyone except senior men initiated into Anangu culture. Under traditional law, that is.
Although the Anangu now possess the deeds to this sacred ground, and form a majority of Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park's management board, under the terms of the handover they have no power to turn climbers away. Instead, they have erected signs aptly marked "We don't climb", asking visitors to respect their traditions and walk around rather than up this ancient monolith. Yet every year almost half of the 400,000 visitors ignore their hosts' request.
The Australian department of the environment states: "Anangu have not closed the climb. They prefer that you - out of education and understanding - choose to respect their law and culture by not climbing. Remember that you are a guest on Anangu land." But it also reminds visitors that "the climb closes when weather conditions are predicted to exceed certain safety thresholds, during emergency situations, and occasionally for cultural reasons". When the Anangu closed the path for an elder's 10-day mourning period, in 2001, it drew protests from tourism and governing bodies.
Perhaps tourists consider trips to such sites as personal pilgrimages and believe that they, too, have a right to go where and when they want. The Peruvian government put a stop to that in 2001, when it drastically cut the number of visitors to the Inca trail to 500 per day, because of trampling and excess litter. The four-day trail is completely closed every February for conservation and vegetation-regrowth reasons. Experts recommend booking a trek between two and six months in advance.
But government intervention on this scale can take generations. In the meantime, it is not a big ask to read signs. In fact, don't just read them: find out why they are there in the first place, so you also gain a greater understanding of the heritage of the place. Like the girl at the Cliffs of Moher, it is good to ask why and not just follow the rest of the crowds like sheep. Baa humbug.
macktourism@yahoo.co.uk