The sky was still orange and slightly dark. Dawn. We pulled up between two Land Cruisers carrying tourists. Behind us, a caravan of vehicles. When the vehicle engines stopped, there was silence except for the shutters of real cameras. Walking unfazed — like the leopard from the day before — was a magnificant adult male lion. He looked straight ahead. He could care less about us.

So many emotions ran through me. I felt blessed, excited, a bit sad. And more than a bit ashamed.

I looked around at the tourists — all white people leaning out of their vehicles, zooming in. In our vehicle, however, we are “researchers” — volunteer researchers. We are recording the time, the location, the activity of the lion. We also note that he looks hungry, and quite likely another male is near by. On this morning, we watched this gentleman continue his hunt and disappear into the heavy bush.

How is this okay? The tourist and the lion?

It is perfectly okay, Miton said.

It starts with the Wildlife Tourism College of Maasai Mara, the brand new school where I am staying for two weeks with three other volunteers. Among its five certified programs is the Tour Guiding and Travel Operations, the most competitive. The one-year program includes a deep understaning of how to keep the animal in its “comfort zone” in the bush and savannah. The students come with great knowledge. Most are of local families who have grown up learning to live with the wildlife.

Miton has been at it since he was a youg child. He can spot and identify animals from distances so far, it’s incomprehensible. “Where? Where?” We shift, grab phones and binoculars and try to see what Miton sees, as he turns the Land Cruiser and bounces us toward the animal.

Before safari or game count begins, field guides ensure their passengers are responsible tourists. That means: accepting that the vehicle remains a certaince distance, staying seated in the vehicle, silence, never leaving food or litter on the ground. And of course, never aggravating the animal, which would trigger their “alert and attack zones.”

Four other areas of study: Food and Beverage Production, Housekeeping and Laudry Operations, Front Office Operations; and Wildlife Management. Many graduates are using their certifications at the surrounding tourist companies. Others are working in Maasai wildlife research and community education.

The ultimate goal seems simple enough: take down the fences surrounding the landowners’ massive farms and ranches. But what about their livestock and crops? What about predators going after their cattle, sheep, goats and crops.

Answering those questions and convincing landowners is the work of the Pardamat Conservancy (or Pardamat Conservation Area), which uses data from the research and money from the tourists.

Pardamat officials point to the success of the Mara Naboisho Conservancy, which covers an area of 64,000 acres and 850 landowners. Naboisho was created in 2010 to preserve wildlife and the socio-economic culture of the Maasai, while developing sustainable tourism.

Since 2010, most of the fences have come down and the landowners moved their homes and herds. Their moves were supported by the government and the tourism industry. I’ll add here that Naboisho Conservancy is where we saw the 45 elephants on our second day out and another 11 on our third. We also saw 26 hyena and jackals.

Naboisho and Pardamat encompas some of the most important wildlife habitat in Kenya because it borders the Maasai Mara National Reserve and includes one of the great migratory corridors.

Some fences in Pardamat have come down. But the work is just starting.