The Milgis Trust

This Elephant is sending a clear message!

‘PLEASE HELP MILGIS TRUST PROTECT ME AND MY ENVIRONMENT’……..

The Milgis Trust has now been operating in the Samburu District for over five years. It has built a wonderful rapport with the tribal communities, chiefs and elders and it works hand in hand with the communities in regards to all its operations…

BACKGROUND…

In just five short years the success of the Trust is visible in all our conservation objectives….

We now manage 22 full time scouts all employed from the local communities as well as 2 radio operators all of who work around the clock 365 days a year creating and sustaining an invaluable security network not only for the people but for the beautiful African wildlife that lives in the Milgis ecosystem.

Along with our scouts and manager we have gathered a Community Conservation Committee made up of chiefs and elders from all the surrounding villages,

as well as an Eco-Screen Awareness Team that coordinates conservation screenings each month.

None of the projects we do, would be possible without the stable structure of the Milgis Trust Headquarters and the team that keep it running. Without our loyal team we would not be able to support the unforeseen situations that regularly arise in this remote and tough land, from emergency hospital transfers to elephant rescues.

Our radio station is always alive with communication and activities that need the assistance of one of our scouts who are always ready at hand 24/7.

This warthog was found down a deep well, it jumped down too thirsty to think how it was going to get out… The scouts rescued it but it was too late.. It died after it had spent the whole night and most of the day down there…

There are five distinct areas to our core operations:

1. The Milgis Trust Radio Hill

This is where our two radio operators live and work manning the radio waves and coordinating activities;

CORE OPERATIONS

2. Our 22 Scouts and local Manager…..

Each of whom works full time in their allocated conservation range equipped with radio, GPS and binoculars ; as well as patrolling which they all do on foot, they create monthly records and reports on communities, livestock, wildlife and land degradation, whilst actively promoting and conserving the areas they patrol.

logging important data..

3. Project Coordination…. The trust now always has a conservation project on the go and heavily relies on the team at the headquarters to manage and coordinate all activities on site, be it the building of the school or the opening of an elephant kisima (water hole).

When the water table goes too deep for the Elephants to dig then the scouts help out, and open the wells for them so that they can get in and out safely…

4. Awareness meetings & Campaigns… The Trust holds several monthly and quarterly meetings with the scouts, the Community Conservation Committee as well as with the KWS and other conservation conservancies in the area. On top of this we regularly integrate the surrounding communities and believe it important to incorporate them in all our plans by holding village meetings.

5. Contingency Operations… Every day we receive emergency calls or visitors, be it for illness, wildlife emergencies, poaching, deforestation or fires. We always need to have the resources available to be able to deal with the situation quickly and effectively. In the last five years alone we have had to coordinate five baby elephant rescues to the DSWT orphanage in Nairobi;

The Milgis Trust Core Operations Team in just five years has built 1 primary, and 2 Nursery schools and provided drinking water to 3 schools and 2 centres. We have refurbished the local clinic, and employed a nurse…Amoungst many other small projects..

PROJECT IMPACT…

With the Milgis Trust’s gentle support the ecosystem is now regaining its balance. Already elephants are responding to the security presence provided by our scouts, which is exhibited by their increasingly relaxed behaviour and their expansion into parts of their former range . Our habitat which supports other key species including the Greater and Lesser kudu, Grevy’s Zebra, DeBrazza’s Monkey and many of the large predators including the endangered African Wild Dog, are rebuilding in numbers and thriving. A harmonious relationship is slowly being created between the wildlife and people of this area, and the communities are becoming excited and more accommodating to the creatures they once used to live in harmony with; thus reducing issues of habitat loss, competition for resources and human wildlife conflicts which was the main cause of wildlife deaths in the area.

All patrols are done by foot..

following and monitoring tracks..

On patrol in the mountains..

WILDLIFE HAS NO BORDERS, AND THE MILGIS TRUST NEEDS TO KEEP UP WITH ITS SUCCESS… WE CAN’T LET THE WILDLIFE DOWN! If there is any one who can help support just the core ops, or even better to support a new scout, you would be helping conserve one of the most AMAZINGLY SPECIAL PARTS OF THE WORLD…We need to increase our scouts, as well as support the existing ones … Read more about how you can support the trust by going on safari!!!!http://www.responseabilityalliance.com/html/support_our_scouts.html…

If there is any one out there that is willing and able to help out, please contact me… helendd@uuplus.com

Thanks to the TOTO trust UK, for raising the money..

A colourful ceremony was held in may, to open the Nursary school..
People came from far and wide… The Women from Ora, climbed the mountain in all their finery for the occasion!

When this very isolated group of Samburu people on Suruan came to us to request help for the 60 children up here, that had no chance to learn to read or write , at the top of the northern end of the Ndoto Mountains, … I thought oooooo this is going to be interesting… This is such a beautiful place and it was our job NOT to ruin it… Not to ruin this amazing unreachable, by modern ‘means’ part of the world..The only way up is on one own two legs! ., nor to ruin these beautiful people who have lived independently, with out help…

Together we have tried!…

This is a beautiful little eco-friendly Nursery school, where ever possible the important message to ‘look after your environment’ will be conveyed!

The whole building is built out of fallen or dead Ceders… The roof out of bark.. All built by local people, with the support of Toto Trust… What they needed was support… A teacher, food for the children, a black board…

Every thing has been carved by hand… Even the little benches…

The Ndoto Mountains are basically in three parts… You have the Grassy glades of the Northern end, the dramatically vivid, peaks in the centre, and the deep forests of Manmanet…

A few years ago, I took a woman who had just climbed Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, up the Ndoto mountains… Half way up and several times again, especially after a rather unpleasant night on the edge of a cliff, night befell us before we could find a flat spot!, she told me that it was much more difficult to get to the top of the Ndotos, than it was to Climb Kili!! The Ndotos are just so dramatically scenic, and incredibly steep mountains… Every direction you look there is a view to die for!.. We have just finished what I can probably say is one my best trips, 4 days warming up with the Camels from the Base at Elkanto to the foot hills at the north End, then we took 20 porters, right over the top from North to south, then we met up with the camels again at the end.. …

The peaks… Alimission and Upe.. From below and ‘a par’

Upe ‘fired’ up by the last of this days sun… Ndoto Peaks Catching the morning sun

Watching Elephants… 20 of them down in the valley… Or some of us!

The porters getting organised to leave, and crossing the extraordinary Ndiikirr Gaina.. Where I swear the Elephants have to pull their stomachs in to get across… If not its a fall of 3000 feet to the bottom on both sides!

The Butterflies were unbelievable, just every where!

the forest with its carpet of Impatiens flowers and moss covered trees,the birds amazing…

And last but not least!! Goose on safari… Standing on a VERY old Cycad trunk… He walked a least a third of the way! If he wasn’t walking he was sitting in his basket, watching where we are going!

BUT The Milgis still has alot to do… These trees died after a terrible fire raged through in March 2009..

While we had the opportunity we pointed out to all our 20 porters, and talked alot about it… Even the Women who greeted us all, with beautiful singing at the school, said that they will spread the word… Our guests who climbed the mountain with us, promised to give us the money to employ two scouts!!… We thought that we would take on 1 hunter gatherer from the slopes of the mountain, who knows the mountain back wards, and then 3 women, would be sponsored to be ambassadors for the Milgis!!

IS THERE ANY ONE ELSE THAT WILL HELP US CONSERVE THESE SPECIAL MOUNTAINS, or to help the elephants safely return to their old stomping grounds… THE BEST THING ANY ONE COULD DO IS HELP US EMPLOY SCOUTS.. PLEASE!!..

Mt Nyiru from the south…

Around 40 years ago a terrible slaughter of Elephants, and other wildlife took place on Mt Nyiru, the massive mountain to the South East of Lake Turkana,, where the Samburu say god ( Ngai ) lives… The Elephants were poached until there were none left… Some escaped, but many, many were killed, their ivory smuggled out… 2 generations of people living up on this mountain have not seen Elephants… Today ‘The Milgis Trust’ has some very good news!… Nyiru, has been graced with the Elephants return, 3 of them in March this year… They did not stay long, but they found out something they have been wanting to know for so long!… MT NYIRU IS SAFE FOR ELEPHANTS AGAIN!! For the last 3 years our scouts have been reporting that the odd Elephant had been seen heading north of the Ndoto mountains, but always turned round… Our scouts think that apart from not knowing what will happen when they get to Nyiru, lack of water en route is a big problem, which Milgis Trust with the help of the International Elephant Foundation is addressing at present.. The local people think, even hope, that these 3 Elephants have gone back to collect the rest of the herd, as they found things to be very peaceful in the forest, at Gosi Gosi.!.. 2 went back past Kurungu, and to the East of the Ol Donyo Mara range, and 1 ‘Sangalai ‘ ( lone bull ) returned via a route to the south.. This bull has been has now been seen in the North end of the Ndotos…

Mt Nyiru… Very steep to Climb!!..

The amazing thing is the route they used to climb the mountain, from the Horr valley is the one that has not been used by any one for years!!.. Some Samburu maidens went out to collect firewood, but found some very strange ‘car tracks’, on the path, so came running home to tell the men… Who were amazed to see Elephant tracks!… The Elephants followed the track that they used to use, before they were savagely decimated way back in the 1960s-80s… The Samburu people, who are very excited about this new development were amazed that they remembered the way!…

‘PARADISE FOR ELEPHANTS’ The Forest…

With fences going up all over the place further south, and with the recent Elephant fence being erected, across Laikipia, to ease human/Elephant conflict, it is nice to know that the Samburu people on Nyiru are happy to see their friends back… It is also mind blowing that the Elephants remember these special mountains in Northern Kenya, The Matthews, Ndotos, Mt Nyiru, and Kulal.. Its great that they are able to escape the human encroachment further south! Mt Nyiru, which is the 3rd one in these magnificent ‘Islands in the desert’, has suffered from terrible fires, lit by people who misunderstand the repercussions, either burning to clear the thick bush, and hoping to increase the grazing for their cattle, or to open up the forest so the cattle can move.. The Milgis Trust scouts keep explaining, actually this can be done by the Elephants, and very well, as they have discovered in the Ndotos!!

ONE OF MILGIS TRUSTS AIMS IS TO HELP THE SAMBURU CONSERVE THIS UNIQUE LINE OF MOUNTAINS, AND TO GIVE THE ELEPHANTS SAFE PASSAGE ‘HOME’ TO REAL ELEPHANT COUNTRY.. Mt Kulal we hope, will be their next destination!!…

In February 2010 and up to last night!, as you probably all know Northern Kenya has experienced some pretty incredible rains, and some catastrophic flooding!!! Most of the lodges in Samburu park were flooded or washed away, in Feb, and many people have been washed down flooded luggas, quite a few people drowning… BUT WE WERE WARNED, BY NATURE, AND THIS IS A WAKE UP CALL,in my opinion, TO READ THE SIGNS BETTER…In December 2009, while out on safari with some Canadian people, in the foothills of the Matthews Range, we found we were in the midst of a extraordinary phenomena, which we had never experienced before… The comifera trees ALL shed their leaves together, I’ve never seen any thing like it before… It was all over in a few days…!!

Foothills of the Matthews Range

100% comiferas shedding their leaves…

By February 2010, it had actually got quite dry again, after the initial good rains in October, November, December… But it was the Acacias that knew something drastic was going to happen!… We just could not believe our eyes!

Every Acacia is in full bloom…

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Acacia Bloom… To the full… No space left for another flower…… The air full of sweet Acacia aroma…

We asked around, and nobody remembers seeing a flowering show of such absolute magnitude… It was the MOST magnificent sight, and scent, for as far as the eye could see every type of acacia, was in flower… It was unbelievably beautiful, and something extraordinary was about to happen!!!… And it did!

this is a serious flood, down a normally dry river!

No way to cross this lugga!!

Great did i catch your attention!! GOOD… just look at these photos!… Snow? NO… but just about the closest one will get to it out here!!…

Mt Nyiru behind!!

Along lugga Morran

Road to Turkana..

Masses and masses of white flowers…Heliotropium…. Absolutely beautiful… The aroma in the air was indescribable.. Maybe delicious!

AND…………….Ipomea.. This means more rain!!

We have just spent the last 3 weeks south of Mt Nyiru… We put a camp up for some scientists from Europe and America, who were working in the Suguta valley, where there is usually a lake, size is about 1 or 2 square kms called Logipi… With all the rain that lake is now about 10 kms long, by 5 kms wide, if not more.. Incredible…

Lake Logipi in the Suguta Valley

The local people who live near Mt Nyiru, not only did they suffer the severe drought last year but also the ongoing stock russeling between the Turkana and Samburu has been rife, both suffering the consequences badly… BUT one interesting point… And I’ve always had this view…. Tribal conflict can have a good side of it… It can help land recover from over grazing,… ..

This is what I mean by over grazing, which leads to Erosion!…

South Nyiru, May 2010… There is no stock here at the moment because of the age old tribal cattle/camel russeling, so this grass has been able to seed , and recover, which quite often it wouldn’t have had time to do, before it would be grazed ..

This to remind you how dry it was!!,,, But note the acacias in Flower!… see my next blog!!

Hi Every one!!!.. I’ve got a huge amount of catching up to do… I think its ‘Gooses’ fault!! But hes taught me alot, and hes been a pleasure to raise from 1 day old…His umbilical cord still raw!!.. He is 113 days old now !.. And he’s just run across my computer after a beetle! If there are any spelling mistakes we’ll blame it on him… not my education..

December 30 th was just another day on a camel safari, nice long walk over the beautiful hills near Mara Maroi, towards the south end of the Matthews Range, then into camp..Beautiful spot on the Ngeng River… There was action all over in the camp, there always is on arrival….. 25 camels to unload, people clearing a place to camp, every one rushing in all directions.. But Lemagas noticed abit more action than usual… The camels were all heading in the same direction, after being released, but when they walked past this rock, they took a wide berth, running off, kicking their long lanky legs in all directions!!.. He went to investigate, and there lying in the boiling hot sun was this extraordinary looking beast.. He was crying out as loud his little breath could, biting in desperation at the boiling hot ground… It was an incredibly hot day, and he was being cooked… Lemagas ran to call me…

This is a one day old white tailed mongoose!

I picked the little pathetic mite up, in a cloth… and dipped my fingers in some water, and dropped it in his mouth… He immediately stopped struggling, and started looking for his mother… quickly we got some powdered milk, in a sering, and soon I had him suckling… hes never looked back… Hes now rushing around my office here, nearly 4 months later! He’s completely free, but won’t leave my side!

20 days old…Sleeping in what he knew was his mothers warmth!! his eyes started opening on the 12 day…

For the first 15 days of his life I carried him in my palms, he could not see or hear.. But when he started opening his eyes, and started reacting to noises, then we found a basket, which he still loves.. This is Pete, walking through the African Daisy’s, this is meant to be a desert!, on our way to Ngurnit… with Goose in his Basket!! How many miles has he now covered by foot!…… about 400!

Now hes a , sleek, beautiful, clever, fast little animal… Never misses a beat, and
Will one day return to the wild when he is ready…

Check him out.. Item 11

http://www.responseabilityalliance.com/html/cool_stuff.html

Finding this broken spear covered in Elephants Blood sent a chill through every person present spine…

Unfortunately I did not take the photo well, but you can see the ting of red right up the spear to where the man is holding it… It went in deep… thats what we do know.. But where was the owner of the spear, where was the wounded Elephant…

We were walking across the south east side of the Ndotos, on safari.. 25 January 2010… It had been a long day, we were all tired, and ready to get to camp, when suddenly I saw our leader pick up and hold this spear almost dripping with blood… It had only been a hour or so before that the Elephant had managed to get rid of the spear… They say… what happens when Elephants get hit.. first they run, if they are not mortally wounded of course, with the spear in them, usually breaking the shaft, so only the spear end is in the Elephant, until relative safety, where they will pull it out… This is where we caught up with the scene… We had been hearing unusually noisy Elephants, and we saw some heading rather fast over a ridge, but nothing prepared for this find!!

Reference to my blog written on the 10/12/09… We have walked many miles in the last couple of months, across the Matthews and Ndoto mountains and am happy to say its been beautiful, peaceful, and I hope you all have started 2010 as well as I have!!… I’m exhausted, but as fit as a fiddle now having walked day in day out since then!, hardly covered the same trail twice, almost through the entire area of the Milgis Trust, spent lots of time with all the scouts, and generally ALL IS WELL… Except for this new development…

What did we do???… We called for support from as may scouts as we could catch up with, who called in at KWS ( Kenya Wildlife Service), and picked up one ranger, and rushed to the scene… Our scouts knew that a spear is like a finger print, and the owner would be known very soon… Every one knows every one else’s spear!!… Incredible… by 4 am 38 hours later they found the culprit, red handed, as he had the other half of the spear with him!… At this stage we are not alot further down the road to find who is buying Ivory, as sadly we have lost another Elephant down in the lower Milgis to the same fate… But what I know is KWS have done a major awareness campaign, together with the scouts… Elephant poaching is NOT ON… They have combed the area for any sign of the wounded Elephant, with no luck… We can only hope that it is ok…

What we have felt from this experience is that we have full support from the communities throughout the area, which is incredible… Our scouts will continue to be extremely vigilant… And KWS are ready to support us at any time they are needed…

As I was wondering down a dry river bed, (a lugga) the other day, I came across these interesting pictures, drawn on a rock… They are probably drawn by warriors, who would have used the the shade of the rocks, for a midday resting place, and traditionally they rub their finger into the red ochre in there hair, and say ‘ thank you ‘ to the rock for the shade, before they move on… Usually they would draw a warrior, or a cow, but these ones caught my eye.. The top picture shows two elephants being shot… Although they are abit washed, so slightly difficult to work out, but the top drawing theres actually bullets coming out of the gun! The bottom one looks like his friend is holding the Elephants tail, while the other one shoots… Hope he shot his friend NOT the Elephant!

The Picture below is a warrior shooting an Antelope.. Hes out hunting with his dog!! The only strange thing is the warrior seems to be wearing a peaked cap!! I wonder who its supposed to be!?? Oh well, these are to’ keep us all on our toes ‘

I am going to be on safari with the camels for the next couple of months, with friends from all corners of the world, so you will not see a blog written by me during this time…( hopefully Stella, will keep you up to date) We will be crisscrossing the area that the Milgis Trust covers, so I should have lots of news in February! I will not be “sleeping”, in fact I am on the ‘ground’, will actually be very busy, making sure that the Milgis Trust conservation work is making a difference… Not only what I see, but also what I hear… I will be looking with my eyes, and listening to what the people we meet have to say… I want to know that they understand why we are doing all this hard work… ‘Basically to safeguard the Samburu peoples future’…

I want to say a huge thank you to all of who have donated money, or taken time to read our blogs.. THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT.. From, myself, pete, Stella, Moses Lesoloyia, the manager, and all the scouts… Hope you have a merry festive season, and start the new year in style… Sorry OUR last picture this year is a sad one, but it is the reality out here, and we must NOT LET OUR GUARD DOWN… EVER!!..

Let me take you back into the Matthews Range in the Northern Frontier District of Kenya… We are on a ’safari’, that means we are on a journey, walking with camels carrying our camping equipment, and food…. We are crossing the Matthews, and on the way the plan was to conquer Matthews peak, the impressive cone shaped summit jutting out on the east side of this extraordinary mountain Range, but it wasn’t to be…I’m afraid

It started raining!! Camels just have to smell mud, or wet grass and they are already slipping and sliding..Their feet made for the flat desert can not cope.. It became a disaster.. They couldn’t go forwards or backwards, their long lanky legs doing the splits in all directions… They are truly the ’ships of the Sandy desert’!! We had to stop, find a place to camp … Make a big fire, and have a cup of tea!, and hope tomorrow is going to be better… And by the way it was!, and we managed to get all 29 camels off the very steep mountain safely…

Its a nightmare I’ve had in my sleep before, but never lived it!!…

In the mean time just a few pictures of the beautiful things in the mountains.. This little ‘ perfect ‘ Aloe is only about 6 inches in width.. Growing out of this rock..

The Matthews are famous for their Butterflies, they were every where.. This was the only one that would sit still!… Look at the blue wash around the white patches… can anyone identify this one??

This Cycad, endemic to the Matthews, and Ndoto ranges… Not only do they live for a long time now, but they also lived at the same time as the Dinosaurs.. Beautiful plants, and this little scene, with the Aloes, the cedars, and the rocks beats any home made garden!

Inside the forest..

Is this a Speke’s Hinged Tortoise?? He was up high in the mountains! We did not see alot of game, but saw plenty of signs, and heard Elephant, below is a place they come to dig for salt, you can see their tusk marks in the holes, and wallow in the mud.. plenty of Buffalo, bushbuck, many tracks of small cats, mongooses and Hyenas..

The Milgis Trust is working hard to keep the area that we cover, nearly 6000 square kms, from The Matthews Range, Ndotos and up to Mt Nyiru and all the areas surrounding these mountains, safe from destruction, and to keep the wildlife safe, and we employ 25 local scouts from the the Samburu tribe, they all have radios and GPS and record and report to base, any people destroying, or burning the forests, or trees or poaching of wildlife… We do not arrest and march the people off we call meetings, and we talk, we call it gentle conservation… We have gained great respect, through out this vast area, and I can see myself that we are winning as we have been doing Camel/walking safaris for 25 years, through this entire area, and I see a very big difference…

Please everyone can we ask you to support our ‘gentle conservation’ in the Northern Frontier of Kenya, to keep this VERY SPECIAL part of the world from being destroyed…

This is one of the Scouts meticulously [ he never went to school ] writing out his findings after a days walking through these special mountains His name is Lesongo, [Buffalo.. his identification] he worked for KWS for many years, and joined us when he was retired.. The community chose him as their scout for the area, he is highly respected, by every one, and is very serious about his work…