Life with Desert-Adapted Elephants

This blog update is dedicated to Chris Fitzpatrick, a friend and colleague, who unexpectedly passed away on 18 February 2009. Chris, you touched more lives than you know. I will miss you and your wonderful sense of humour tremendously. I think of you often. RIP.

Talking About Elephants:

“Well”, I hear you say, ”about time too!” Yes, absolutely. I agree. About time I got around to really talking about the elephants.

What can I say? Where do I begin? Yes, I have seen them before on safari in Kenya and, yes, I thought I knew a little bit about them from watching various documentaries on TV. And, yes, the initial induction talk from the EHRA project managers, together with getting numerous, exciting updates from volunteers who had joined the project before me, gave me some idea of what to expect. But nothing, absolutely NOTHING, prepared me for what I was about to experience regarding these majestic, graceful, wise, silent, beautiful, desert-adapted creatures during my two months in Damaraland, Namibia!

As many of my friends know, my ideal alternative life/job (if I could do it over again) would be that of David Attenborough’s! So, being on the EHRA project, gave me a minuscule insight into what it might be like to be HIM (yes, I know, not really, but humour me on this). Oh, just to clarify, this is the part of the EHRA project that involved tracking and collating information on the desert-adapted elephants….and not the wall-building part! I’m sure David hasn’t built any rock walls in his life, although I need to read his autobiography (which I do posses) to be sure.

I digress….waffle, waffle! So, back to the elephants. I am not going to recount in chronological sequence, our experience with tracking these elephants, but more, just the things that stand out in my memory from 3 months ago.

Preparing:
The tracking part of the project started in earnest by packing for the week ahead. We packed everything we would need to eat, drink, sleep in, wash with, fix things with (punctures) etc. For the patrol we would be taking 2 vehicles to ensure we had sufficient seating space (as we would be spending a lot of time off road) and also so that one vehicle could act as backup for the other should one break down in the middle of nowhere. We needed to ensure we took sufficient petrol and water for a week out in the desert. We would be setting up camp at a different place every night and we would be in remote locations. We would not know where or how far we would need to travel during the day as it all depended on if, when and where we found the elephants. The only thing we had to go on was a debrief we received on Sunday evening at base camp from Dave and Hendrick (the patrol project managers) on our objectives. These objectives would be related to which herd(s) we would be looking for and what we were trying to find out about them.
(Dave giving us the low down on a herd; charismatic Hendrick)

Setting the Scene(ry):
We would set off on patrol on Tuesday morning at 8am and get back to base camp on Thursday late afternoon. From Tuesday to Thursday, we would break camp at 7am latest after a porridge breakfast at 6:15am. The morning routine was precise and there was no time to waste.

I loved patrol week. It was an adventure - the heading out into the African bush each morning, into the unknown! The anticipation of whether and when and where we would find the herds and what experiences lay ahead for us, together with discovering yet some other unseen parts of the Namibian desert (unseen by me, that is), was just pure magic. The route out of base camp was amazing and then everything else from then on just got better.

We normally did our patrol and tracking between the Ugab and Uhab rivers in Damaraland, north of Swakupmund. The elephants would be somewhere in the 200 square kilometres of arid desert containing the Brandberg mountain, many others mountains, as well as vast plains. The scenery was inevitably amber, sandy, and desolate. We were off-road from beginning to end and would not normally come across other traffic or tourists. Yes, we would meet with the local subsistence farmers en route, either at their farms or, whilst they were herding their goats across the land. There were trees only on, near, or surrounding the dry riverbeds of the Ugab and Uhab rivers or their smaller tributaries. Otherwise, there was just barren desert and dried grasslands. The only time we saw water on the ground was in the wetlands – a small oasis in the desert, where the underground rivers were close enough to the earth’s surface to seep through. The lush green grass and trees growing in the wetlands, and the abundant wildlife supported within such a small area, was really remarkable and a stark contrast to the desert surrounding it.

Searching For Those Big, Grey Things:
How and where the hell do you search for herds of desert-adapted elephants in this vastness? By talking to the herdsmen and following tracks. Depending on which herd(s) we were looking to track, we would normally head towards where they were last spotted. We would stop and talk to the farmers we came across. They sometimes would have heard (through the grapevine) of where the elephants were last seen. We were truly off road and the land and drive was rough, very bumpy and often very long. There was not much shade in the vehicles as they had open sides and tops – very exposed to the elements. Our driving speed was slow. This was to ensure that we did not scare off any elephants that may be near by and also because it was impossible to go too fast through that terrain. Often, we would drive through the dry, sandy riverbeds. The driving skills possessed by Dave and Hendrick are something to write home about. Any person less experienced would have had the land cruisers sunk in the desert sands a million times a day. Dave and Hendrick were impressive, not just at driving, but also tracking down the elusive elephants. We learnt how to read the elephant tracks and to determine whether the tracks were fresh or old, to identify which way the elephants were heading as well as working out how many were in the herd. Oh yes, and we also learnt a thing or two about elephant pooh!

Patience is a Virtue:
You need a hell of a lot of patience when looking for/tracking/observing any wildlife (especially endangered wildlife). Needless to say, after 2 months, I had lots of patience! Not as much as some of you would want me to have, but certainly more that I had before I left London. There were LONG drives off-road that had your bum numb after half an hour. Some of our journeys north to the Uhab River were 2 hours long and very tiring. There was many an hour sitting and waiting ahead of a herd of elephants only to see them take another route through the forest where we could not easily see them. Oh, and did I mention the hours sitting under the scorching sun, high up on coppice hills hoping to determine the way the herd was heading. All this sitting and waiting and watching in 40 C heat with mopani bees driving you insane: trying to get in your ears and eyes and mouth. If the elephants were close to us, we had to be as still as possible so as not to spook them and cause them to charge or stampede. This would mean being still even if mopani bees were getting into your eyes and ears. We were not allowed to move. As Hendrick told us…”If the elephants are close and mopani bees are trying to get up your nose, just enjoy them”!!! Yes, he had a sense of humour. But put up with the mopani bees we did. It was either that, or spooking the elephants….uuuummmhhhh! Not much of a choice. Oh, and once you have tracked and found the elephants, you sit in your vehicle quietly and observe them (sometimes for hours). If they are just there, munching away at the Ana trees, taking their time, then you took your time too. We would count the members in the herds, work our who was who, try and find identifying features so we would recognise each elephant again(….and yes, they all look the same in the beginning)! And of course, in the heat of the day, the elephants slept (standing up)…not exactly exciting viewing! So, when the elephants took a siesta, so did we! If you can’t beat them, join them! Once, we were sat high on a coppice hill watching the elephants below (oh, so close below) until dusk, at which point the mosquitoes decided it was their turn to munch (on us). We couldn’t do a thing about it. We were not expecting to be there that long and hadn’t gone prepared with repellent…..so, we just “enjoyed” the mosquitoes. The photo above is one of Maarten having had enough of those mopani bees. The photo speaks volumes of the sheer frustration we all faced with these bees.

Was it all worth the pain and the patience? Take a look at some of the photos below and judge for yourself.

First Encounters:
After all the waiting and suffering, we were rewarded with our first encounters. These will stay with us forever:
- The first encounter of 3 bull elephants walking past our tree-house in base camp (after I had been called out from my shower if u recall)
- the first encounter with Voortrekker, the huge old bull elephant that had been saved from a hunter’s bullet (more about that later);
- the first encounter with Mama Africa (the elephant cow) and her herd just meters away from our vehicle;

(above and around: Voortreckker; the look of sheer joy on Tineke's face on the very first encounter up close with the elephants; Mama Africa oh so close)

- the first close encounter - being rocked in your vehicle by Mama Africa’s juvenile son. That little thing was bloody strong and managed to bump the car with a big thump(just to show us who’s boss)! Cheeky!
- the first encounter with curious teenage elephants touching the land-cruisers’ bumper and bonnet;
- the first time seeing elephants at night, by moonlight, oh, just sooo close;
- the first encounter of a herd running past in a near-stampede because it was spooked by the sound of a farmer's wheelbarrow in the distance;
- the first encounter of watching elephants run with joy as they came across water in the wetlands;
- the first encounter of seeing the 4-week-old baby elephant trying desperately to keep up with its mother;
- the first encounter with adolescent elephants playing doctors and nurses and flirting (and sometimes more than flirting)!
- the first encounter of an elephant trumpeting in fear;
- the first encounter of an elephant having a spa treatment: mud bath, followed by a dusting off, followed by some scratching by rubbing itself against a rock (what a sound it made);
- the first encounter of baby elephants playing with each other or chasing birds away;
- the first encounter with watching elephants play-flight;
- the fist encounter of watching elephants get into the defensive position to protect their young;
- the first encounter of being mock-charged by an elephant that was only 6 meters away from where we STOOD (very scarey);
- seeing different herds greet each other when their paths crossed in that vastness (wow). One elephants would put the tip of it’s trunk into the mouth of the elephant it was greeting – very tender.
- the first encounter of 2 bull elephants fighting and then seeing Voortrekker running over to break up the fight (fascinating that elephants are actually pacifists)
- seeing a mothers separate baby elephants that have taken the play-fighting too far;
- watching a very tired baby elephant just slump to the ground and go to sleep in it’s mother’s shadow.
- watching elephants communicating with other elephants from the same herd or with other herds that were possibly miles away (it has been proven that elephants communicate through the ground). When you see an elephant communicating/listening, it will have its trunk to the ground and it will be standing perfectly still for many seconds/minutes. It is amazing to watch;
- seeing elephants kneeling down to get lower and closer to the water in a deep well;
- seeing elephants standing on just their hind legs as they reach up to eat tender leaves high on a tree or reach over the wall of a water dam. I mean, that must take sheer muscle power to lift it’s body weight onto just the hind legs and hold that position for a minute or so - amazing;

- seeing elephants rest one or other of their legs. Very chilled!
- encountering elephants just meters away from you and being as still as you possibly can be! Talk about being up close and personal;
- watching a whole herd of elephants walk past us without making a sound (still don’t understand how such gigantic creatures can be so silent);
- the first encounter with the bones of a dead elephant strewn on that desert floor. Eerie.

- sitting in the tree-house, with an elephant’s trunk just 2 meters away from you searching for juicy, tasty leaves to munch on (boy were we still). This happened at base camp at around midnight on a night of a full moon. The elephant in question took it’s time having it’s midnight snack from our treehouse! We just sat and watched in awe! If it moved in closer by just 2 meters, he would have been munching on us (huddled there in our sleeping bags, frozen from the chill of the night).
- On the same moonlit night, on our last weekend at base camp, we had our first visit from one of the herds, 3 bull elephants and Voortrekker!!!!! We didn’t hear the elephants until they were pretty close. The only reason we knew was because someone went to the toilet and heard some twigs cracking across the riverbed. We were all just sat around the fire around 11pm ish enjoying a few beers and banter. Boy, did we move quickly to get ourselves into a safe area. That night was adrenaline-filled and pretty scarey as the elephants were in camp and they had no plans to leave anytime soon. They walked into the washing line bringing things crashing down, drank from the nearby dam and generally got themselves intimately acquainted with our dining area (whilst we were either on the tree-house platform, or on the lower rocks of the coppice hill at the back of camp, crouching, huddling, trying not to move or make a sound and shivering all the while in the falling night temperatures). The elephants stayed for about 2 hours!

I will never forget that night or any of the other moments above, together with a million other first encounters. Exceptional memories were created, etched onto our brains, over those very special 2 months (more photo memories below).

Sigh! Hope the words and photos provide an insight into “Life with Desert-Adapted Elephants”.

Hugs from a wanna-be David Attenborough xxxxx

Etched:

xxx