EHRA 8th April, Carol Medcalf
I have had such a wonderful time on my first adventure in Africa.As a lone female traveler in my 40’s I will admit I had a lot of concerns about my safety travelling alone and my physical stamina, but my worries at home were needless. Namibia is a very safe and friendly place, and once I arrived at Walvis Bay airport I was met and escorted by the EHRA group throughout.
Build week was hard work. Working as a team to build a wall around a water pump. It was nice to feel the purpose and to be able to see the immediate results of our labours as the wall grew.
Patrol week was exhausting – following elephants to locate and observe them. We managed to see all of the elephants in the Mamma Afrika’s group, and one of Cheeky’s young bull even came up to explore our jeep.Camping out and sleeping under the stars was amazing. And the food was ….delicious.
Base camp itself is amazing – a real home away from home – far but comfortable and a lovely oasis in the middle of the desert.
I would like to thank Chris, Courtney, Matteus and their support team for making my stay so great. I have loved my first taste of Namibia and Africa, and plan to return next year, hopefully with the rest of my family.
EHRA 8de Abril
As dias sememes de Desert Elephant Foram incriveis!
Vou sentir fetta de dormer sob es ester hes J
Recommendo pra Todo mundo que estiver disposto a se tornar ume pessao mellar
Mvite obrigado!!!
Tha moving stones!!! By Mattias
(Translate)
My 2 weeks were amazing! I ‘ll miss sleep under the stars 🙂
I recommend Desert Elephant to everyone who wants to become a better person!
Thanks you!
Isadora Neumann, (Brazil – 18.04.2013)
EHRA, 8th April – 19th April
Thank you for these fantastic two weeks!
It was great experience to camp in the desert, sit around the fire and talk, and watch the stars from my sleeping bag and then to drive through this magic landscape in the hope to see elephants, to find them finally…
There are no words that can describe it. Thanks again, I am sure that I will come back!
Therese
Last year, I decided I needed to shake the dust off of my life, and get out in the world and do something. To be part of something that was bigger than myself. To experience and live in even briefly, a completely new world. The moment I came across EHRA I knew I’d found what I needed, and what I wanted, in one. Ant it ended up being so much more than I could ever have imagined. During my time with EHRA in 2012, I knew my life would never be the same. I said then that it will change your life, if you let it, and after returning to the desert less than a year later, I now realize how true that really is.
Now my second trip with EHRA has come to an end. Three months of stones, sands and elephants. Hundreds of off-road miles driving, dozens of fire lites, endless sunrises and sunsets spent with people who were strangers and became family, shooting stars, desert rains, clear blue skies and that special African sun. Countless little things have come together to, yet again, change my life and open my eyes to a whole new life, a new world. I didn’t think I’ll ever really be ready to say goodbye to EHRA, to the desert, or to the elephants. But I am so happy and grateful for the days and nights I’ve been able to spend here. I can’t help but smile and be happy about having been here. And, just like I said last year, I know I’ll be back. Someday, somehow. This place, these elephants will teach and show you things you’ve never dreamed possible. Open your eyes and your heart to it, and you’ll be forever changed.
Thank you to everyone who plays a part in making this project what it is. It’s been an incredible journey.
Until next time, Courtney Gallant, Canada
“You’ll never remember the hours you spent in the office, or mowing your lawn, so climb that goddamn mountain”- Jack Kerouac
I knew I had found what I had been hoping for the moment we arrived at EHRA base camp. To me, it immediately looked and felt like a piece of paradise. Sleeping on a platform in a huge tree, underneath the stars … cooking delicious meals over a huge open fire … showering (cold, of course) beside overtowering rocks … relaxing under the platform after the day, keeping mopane bees away by burning one piece of elephant dung after the other … and climbing up the rocky hill to take in the sunset or sunrise…. These are the things that dreams are made of; yet it also seems to me this is how life is meant to be: simple and beautiful.
So this was the framework and background for the real purpose of our trip: Helping elephants and humans to live peacefully alongside each other. I had been aware of this conflict, but I had not been prepared to see evidence of a real battle going on between the two species in some places.
The first week was dedicated to building a wall around a windmill of several farmers’ land – thus protecting their means of sourcing water from the elephants. We left base camp for a couple of nights to live and work even more improvised, e.g. without the chance of having a shower. The labour was hard but rewarding.
After a weekend back at base camp, we went on patrol to track the elephants of this region. What can I say? The experience was amazing. We had the incredible luck to see every single elephant there is in this area, and we had some very close encounters, both of the scary and of the exciting but not quite so scary kind.
However, during these days we also witnessed how cruel the fight can be between humans and elephants, and how much these elephants need EHRA and other friends to look out for them and voice their interests: About a month earlier, farmers had started a fire in a riverbed to scare away the elephants. And possibly on purpose – a baby elephant got caught in it and was severely burnt! A month later, we saw that baby bravely but very slowly tagging behind its herd, looked after by its mother and another female. It was heart-wrenching to see it struggle, not being able to lie down due to the pain it was suffering, and still looking badly burnt and sore.
We were accompanied on this patrol by officials from the MET (Ministry of Environment and Tourism); first Victor, who is sympathetic to the elephants, but on occasions some other guys who, after only checking very briefly on the baby from afar, went all the way back to Swakopmund to fetch a gun and shoot it. Fortunately, we were able to prevent this through the joint efforts of Chris, Rachel and Betsy, who came to check on the state of the calf and who recommended to the MET not to shoot it. From what I heard, this recommendation was made mainly for the benefit of the whole herd rather than that of the calf: The calf’s state is not good, it is suffering and may die…. at present, shooting it would mean the end of its suffering. But there is some hope that it will make it, and the effects that a shooting would have on the mother and on the whole herd are inestimable and could seriously worsen the situation for the herd and the farmers. Fortunately, the MET agreed to simply observing the situation for the time being, so some good was achieved.
Back to base camp yesterday, sadly leaving the elephants and hoping for the little one to get better, but on the other hand experiencing the atmosphere of base camp once more, cooking a delicious lamb potjie and enjoying sitting together, talking, playing funny games.
The people on the project have been great, everyone in their own way. Chris and Courtney have been amazing guides: patient and tolerant, guiding but never bossing around, helpful and considerate, friendly and fun. A huge thanks to them for making these two weeks a success!
Mattias cannot go unmentioned, with his weird and funny songs and dances and his passionate racing through the bush to find “my olifant”.
But so much also depends on the group of volunteers you end up with, and I was very lucky: Carol, Ingrid, Isadora, Lilli, Maartje and Romain (in alphabetical order), were great people to share this experience with!
I am sitting in the car back to Swakopmund, happy to have been part of this project, but also sad that the two weeks are over. At the project, I was able to live in the moment for the first time in a very long time, leaving worries etc. behind… What now?
Anne Urbschat, Germany
Elephant Human Relations Aid Field Blog 