Elephants and Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya

My selection of the elephant expedition was partly decided by logistics and my availability. Now I’m SO glad I landed there; I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Every day I appreciate my time there more and more. On the first day, driving in from Nairobi, our vehicle came upon a watering hole, where seven lions languidly observed a group of elephants bathing and playing. As we sat (in the vehicle, of course), the elephant group grew to 34. It was quite a sight to see the animals just hanging out and pretending to ignore each other. Even that early in our trip we knew it wasn’t common occurrence. We came across many and a wide breadth of animals. This is a trip to consider if that’s one of your goals, rather than a deep dive into one species. Sometimes there’d be a Kudu standing behind trees (camouflage), other times eagles would sit on tree tops, still another time an oryx might cross the road and disrupt the flow of two vehicles. We saw many species during our daily data-gathering animal counts, sometimes different views than before. To illustrate my point: I’ve seen giraffe before but have never been so awed by a herd majestically galloping in front of me. At our request, staff added a late night and an early morning animal viewing from the truck, so finally, in the late night I saw bush babies and one hyena (it was on my bucket list). The research team – Mwangi, Simon, Lynn and Anakobe – are very knowledgeable. I learned a lot from them.

Being part of the very first expedition investigating elephant impacts on farmer's crops was an exciting and inspirational experience. From the very beginning, we participants were treated as valued members of the research team. Local scientists tutored us on the plants, animals, and ecology of the area, as well as the carbon conservation programs being implemented. Under the guidance of leaders Bruce and Lynn, we measured and marked field boundaries, prepared fencing and deterrents, surveyed crops and tree damage, and tested camera traps. Surveying Rukinga wildlife from a safari vehicle was thrilling; I never knew what we would find next. We glimpsed cheetah, hyena, elephant, aardwolf, giraffe, buffalo, jackal, various antelope, and many magnificent birds. We had the privilege of visiting the singing, dancing, basket-weaving women of Kasigau village, as well as a local school where the children greeted us with big smiles and open arms. My favorite moments were the peace and beauty of sunrise over Kivuli camp and the joy of our team members at witnessing elephants interacting in their natural habitat. I recommend this expedition to anyone who wants to be part of a community conservation effort to restore endangered wildlife.

Incredible experience! Working, literally, on the ground with subsistence farmers using materials on-hand to promote effective, sustainable, long-term solutions to HEC was most satisfying. The animal transects, recording the sighting of animals, was more exciting than anything imaginable! And, tree transects documenting elephant impacts, just awesome! Kivuli Camp was such an unexpected gem! I'm used to "roughing it." So, I was amazed at the comfortable quarters, delicious food, and impeccable warmth of the gracious staff. And, I learned so much from the kind, dedicated, professional research staff. I have come home with a renewed optimism for our future and what I can do to make a difference. I would do this again, in a heartbeat!