The Milgis Trust

Category: Health, Northern Frontier District | Date: Jun 20 2009 | By: milgistrust

You may be wondering ‘why the silence’, on my part… No blogs, but this ordeal ‘got’ to me thats for sure!!… Imagine this situation!!… Friday 5th June 9.30 pm, we are at Elkanto.. miles from nowhere.. We were meant be leaving on a dream safari to climb over the Ndoto Mountains… But it wasn’t to be.. Pete Ilsley, my partner and a trustee of the Milgis Trust, had just finished his open air shower, standing there drying his back, when he feels a tap on his leg, and then a second tap… Its full moon, but his leg is in the shadows, and he can’t see what it is, so he finds his torch, thinking it may be a big cricket or something else like that, thats landed on his leg!! Not a man to panic, as sometimes brushing things off your self can be more dangerous…. BUT Ha Ha… It was a five foot copper coloured collared spitting cobra, literally chewing on his leg…

This is a juvenile copper coloured spitting cobra… Not the one that got Pete!

A sight he will never forget!!.. Unbelievably frightening, he hit it hard with his towel twice before he let go… He shouted ‘Helen, Helen I’ve been bitten by a snake… ‘ By this time, I was fast a sleep, I was really tired… but the moment I saw the bite marks I knew there was no more sleep to be had, and that we had to move fast !!.. OUR NIGHT MARE HAD BEGUN!.. The most important thing is not to panic! … I was given some BLACK STONES 25 years ago, by a Belgian guy who came on safari… I have carried them on every single trip since then and never used them!….. So the first thing I did was cut through the bite marks to make them bleed, and stuck the black stone on both bites… Do they work?? We believe they do!! many people are divided, from absolutely NOT, don’t know, and they DO work… We are definitely in the ‘believe in them’ category, after what we went through!!.. All the Samburu ran to help, and we made a decision that we had to get to a hospital, AS QUICK AS POSSIBLE!.. So ten guys picked him up in a blanket, and headed down the mountain side to the vehicle… We wrapped the whole leg in crepe bandages to try to stem the flow of poison to the rest of the body… and we set off… The excruciating pain that followed, was like somebody peeling off his skin, and rubbing salt in… It is only 91.5 kms to Wamba Hospital, but it took us five and a half hours of hell, to get there…there is hardly a road to start with, and the part of the road that exists was badly washed away, in the last rains… Not this year!! Pete was complaining of unbelievable pain in his stomach, which we later found out was the poison [enzymes] literally digesting Pete’s insides… 3 am we eventually arrive and Pete tells me he can taste blood in his mouth… Wamba hospital can take full credit for saving Pete’s life, but it was a battle, also to get the pain under control, and eventually they ‘knocked him out’… Luckily he knew nothing until Sunday morning… But we had a very worrying Saturday…

I am so sad this has happened…I LOVE those snakes.. I have lived side by side with them all these years, why did this one get so angry. It was not cornered, was it chasing a mouse, or looking for water, or just crazy with humans, and all that we are doing to destroy our world?? I was born and brought up living in the bush, I enjoy it so much because it is not possible to get lonely, as there is always something around , be it a lizard, mouse, snake, bird, dikdik, cricket, scorpion, hyena, Genet cat what ever… all the beautiful things that live in the bush, and now I feel let down… Now every one tells me you can not live with snakes??… Two weeks later Pete is doing well.. sounds like hes a snake hater now!!.. and I don’t blame him.. He still has a very swollen foot, and who knows which way it will go, but amazingly no necrosis, which we were warned of… I think that was because of the BLACK STONE!

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Category: Water holes, elephants | Date: Jun 04 2009 | By: milgistrust

I blogged this news on the 14/5/09… and on the 16/5/09 … The little elephant is safe at DSWT.. We have only managed to get our hands on the photos lately so here with…
The water holes are so vital to the elephants survival, and yet these little guys keep falling in…If you try a clever way so that they can drink but the babies can’t fall in they pull it apart… Or if you cover them up completely they go crazy… This is how Kudup was found… The latest baby Elephant to be rescued.. Actually the main herd was not drinking out of this hole, but this little Ely went round the back, probably playing, and down he went…

The poor mother went crazy, and tried and tried to dig her youngster out, but left the scene… lost and sad..

‘Hey you guys.. what do you want of me… out of my way’!!.. This little Elephant… Found in a place called Kudup was not wanting to be friendly and was fairly keen to go free, but as the story tells, the mother is no where to be seen, and in the night they were visited by many hyenas… So to let her free with out the protection of the herd is futile…

Trying to make friends… She was very strong and feisty to start with…

THANKYOU TO WILDLIFE DIRECT AND TO YOU ALL FOR HELPING US TO GIVE THESE LITTLE ELEPHANTS A WONDERFUL FUTURE!!.. Before they would have perished down these water holes… And many did sadly.. or they may have been pulled out by a kind Samburu, to be let go, only to die from hunger, or to be eaten… Our scouts are working very hard to keep the ‘walk in wells’ open for them, and lots of elephants are using them daily… They are not great at leaving things as they found them!!…

Tomorrow we are setting off on a safari over the Ndoto mountains, starting off with camels, and then porters when it gets too steep for the ’ships of the desert’… Hope to come back with lots of stories!

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Category: Desert warthog, Forest Fires, Water holes, elephants | Date: Jun 02 2009 | By: milgistrust

This picture shows things in the good times, plenty of water..

This is the Elephants favourite area, at Ol Donyo Waas.. This special salt water that they come to every day… And lots of cover around.. This is now completely dry, and the well than Nchan was rescued out of is in the middle of where the water is…

and this one shows another elephants favourite drinking spot in not so good times… I gather from the oldest people around that its never been this dry, at this particular spot, in there life time.. It must have been affected by the fires up stream…

And this picture shows just how bad it can get… There are about 200 cat fish, in this stinky mud hole, and each day it gets dryer.. They have their head up to breath… You see them open there mouths, and the air goes in and muddy bubbles come out through there gills… Every two minutes there is a complete frenzy to try to get to the cooler mud below ..Imagine how hot it must get at mid day, in that disgusting smelly mud hole….. yesterday I got a report that they are nearly all dead now… Shame, shame.. nature is cruel…

This beautiful little young animal, the desert warthog is just another victim of these dry times, he was found stuck in the mud, on the Milgis Lugga.. The scout cleaned him up and brought him 15 kms to try to save his little life but he was not lucky… I just wanted to point out the incredible defences he has, at this very young age!! They can draw blood quite substantially with a quick side swipe!…

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Category: Milgis lugga, Water holes, elephants | Date: Jun 01 2009 | By: milgistrust

I think you… YES YOU ALL, are so sweet! Any one who manages to plough through my blog, and to have the time to leave a comment is just so great, THANKYOU……. Sheryl, and Anna especially, but all the others as well… I can see that you spend alot of time thinking and coming up with some brilliant comments… So very appreciated… You have no idea how encouraging it is to receive your thoughts… But even more Thanks to you ‘guys’ actually the latest are girls!!, Wendy, and the two Annas!..We are touched, and VERY GRATEFUL…for you being so generous with your donations… All the funds we get through wildlife direct goes to all the sudden problems that arise… Like rescuing Elephants, and alike..remember the big elephant that was pulled out in September… did you see the photos??. I wish we had more success in finding the mothers of these young ones, but thats how it is, and I gather that Nchan and the latest one called Kudup, are doing well at DSWT..

Unfortunately the pictures of Nchans rescue were too late for DSWT before they put the news on the inter net, the pictures below show what a SURVIVER SHE IS!! …

When her rescuers arrived this was her situation… She had been in this hole for any thing from 6 hours to 15 hours..

Poor little baby… Totally exhausted, and just lay there for quite a while… Just to believe she was out..

Suddenly she realised she was out of her watery ” jail “, She just wants to go, but its no good just letting her go into the bush, with no sign of any Elephants around..

Finally quietened down, in the shade, and taking a drink.. Then to wait for the evening in the hope that the mother will come back…

The next morning.. No Luck unfortunately so she is lifted into the vehicle and taken to the nearest runway, about two hours away… To wait for the aeroplane..

Next Blog will show you Kudups predicament!..

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Category: Northern Frontier District | Date: May 29 2009 | By: milgistrust

In all those 100s and 1000s of acres of land, why does this spot get a signal!..

A busy moment in the office…

Sending an email from miles away from no where! Or trying as my last blog tells you!

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Category: Northern Frontier District | Date: May 28 2009 | By: milgistrust

Now you know why the blogging can be a touch sporadic!!… We left Elkanto at 5.30 am, for our jaunt up this hill, armed with mobile phones, and computers to climb 1600 feet higher than the surrounding area to get a signal… Its over1000 feet higher than Elkanto!! We went to see if we could send our emails, and our blogs from here as we are finding the satellite phone abit expensive!…Just recently Safari com, a mobile phone company, put a mast up at Baragoi, and this is the only place one can get a signal around here!!..

The View from the telephone booth!.. Up to the right is the radio hill, and down in the valley is Elkanto with the Matthews Range behind…. This is Lesoloyia trying to send a blog!!! Just in this 4 meter patch is where we should get a signal……

Nobody was lucky this day except the woman who was so happy to hear her son in Mombasa!!… She had come 20 kilometres to make this call… None of us got through!..Hey we walked along way as well..?. We were told by Lolokuria, the man standing on the left, who is one of the radio operators for the Milgis Trust that if its windy it works better… We didn’t wait for it to get windy, as we had a long walk home, and a long climb at the end in the heat of the day…

Stella is trying to send an email, Pete is holding the modem up, in one hand while he trys to make some phone calls himself… Stella is feeling a little crowded, shes got three dogs crowding her in the only bit of shade… The shade is just a few branches that have been cut and and balanced over these bushes! She reckons its better than the concrete jungle [Blog April 18th]she used to work in!!

This woman is speaking to her son in Mombasa.. She prefers to have the phone on ‘loud speaker’, as she can’t handle it next her ear… She is getting good news from Mombasa, that it is raining!… She wants her son to know that things are not so well, at home… The goats are sick, and theres nothing for them to eat… And water is difficult.. But other wise we are fine!… Samburu people are never miserable or negative about a situation like this… The harder the times the tougher they get!!

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Category: Conservation Awareness, Education, Errosion, Livestock, Overgrazing | Date: May 26 2009 | By: milgistrust

As I watch a herd of cattle crossing the lugga below us, with over half of the participants hardly able to put one foot in front of the other, and they still have miles to go, as the owners have decided to cut and run to try to save their ‘ love of their life ‘ [ cows] lives, by looking for greener pastures, is a very difficult situation, even the hardest person can not be happy to see that… Again three weeks ago there was a bit of rain on the west side of the Ndotos, and ‘every one and his goat’ left for the area with their livestock, on a last resort run to save their bank account from collapse!!! or to put it into context, try to save their lives,…They could not stop to wait for the stragglers, they had to leave them behind to fend for themselves, in this harsh country side… knowing that there was not much hope…who’s going to give them water out of the deep wells? and then when it gets dark, the predators will have a field day… I am not sure when it is that us humans will realise that our environment just can not hold any more??

Up here this year, thousands of trees have been cut down to save the animals, and to make new bomas [Koral’s] ,unbelievable over grazing until there is not even a spike of dry grass left…and then comes the erosion…

which leads to the thick, thick mud in the luggas..

It is an indication, that its time for the MILGIS TRUST to start a very controversial project, NOW… We need to start talking, and immediately after this dreadful drought I feel is a good time..’ QUALITY RATHER THAN QUANTITY ‘ of livestock is the way forward, although to persuade these Samburu people, is going to be interesting, BUT this year once again they have learnt their lesson, and plenty of people have lost stock… Out here a drought is like a bank robbery to us, the only difference is it slowly bites!!.. This problem, is a problem that we could ignore because it is controversial, it is untraditional, But it means in twenty years time we will call this area a desert… I have seen an unbelievable change in the last 25 years.. Imagine another 25 years with so many more people living off this parched land… Milgis trust is going to take the bull by the horns… so to say, slowly, gently, coaxingly…. Persuade… Funnily enough, already many people we have met lately under stand, its action that is needed, to move on!!

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Category: Grevy's Zebra, Samburu, Turkana, Water holes, elephants | Date: May 15 2009 | By: milgistrust

It started at 6 am with the scouts down at Kudup, [please see my last blog] having had an eventful night, but no sign of the youngsters mother, nor of any herds…sadly, but the lugga came down in a massive flood in the night, so luckily the baby was safe and not still in the well….They stayed the night near
the well in the hope the mother would be back but just one old bull came in to drink, he took a long thirst quenching drink at the well, and did not show much sympathy for the little boy, who was calling, and just wanted to go to him, but there were also lots of Hyenas around keen to have a nice tasty baby
elephant!!, and the scouts stayed awake all night… I strait away got on to the phone to tell DSWT, who were ready at any moment to help… I have just received news from Angela, that he arrived in good form, thirsty for milk, and ‘full of nonsense’! The scouts tell me that he was like that for the whole night!!

As we were settling down to a cup of coffee, We had not slept too much either, hoping that the guys would come on the radio with good news!, The dream outcome.. ‘ The mother is here, and the baby is safely back!’ BUT so such luck…one of the scouts in the western slopes of the Ndotos, piped up on the radio, ‘PLEASE I need help, I am being hunted down by a mad man who wants to kill me because I caught him shooting a greater kudu, I have been hiding all night, he went to my manyatta, and luckily I was not there, but he is looking for me… Please send the home guards to help me, call the chief, come quick in the car’… I quickly answered that the car was miles away in a nother direction, carrying an Elephant!, and that he must find some elders, to help, hope fully there will a home guard,or he must run away to safety, and as soon as we can we will send a team of home guards to help, and have a meeting with the elders on what to do next… Later on he came on the radio to tell me he was safe, the elders had come out ‘en mass’ to help!! Yesterday, the 15th, the team went up to the area, had a long meeting and resolved the problem… last news I had was they will be late because the elders had given them a goat to eat!! [ Who are the Home Guards… they are police reserve, its a wonderful way of keeping the peace in these remote areas, certain responsible people are given a training, and a gun, they live amounst the communities an ordinary life, do not have a uniform and they are called up when there are problems like this or attacks like the next report!]

Next to come up was there had been an attack in the early hours of the night, on a Samburu boma with alot of cattle, near the Suiyan Lugga west of the base!.. One person was shot dead, and one wounded, but the owners of the cattle with the home guards managed to fight off the attackers, and save the cattle from being stolen… Unfortunately unrest between the tribes has reared its ugly head again and there has been quite a few skirmishes north of us, between the Samburu and Turkana… Mostly about cattle rustling, but also old quarrels that have not been resolved.. We had an important meeting that was supposed to take place on the 19th may in Baragoi, on the plight of the Grevy Zebra, which of course is always caught up in these skirmishes.. The meeting has been cancelled..

Last but not least their was alot of relieved talk about rain.. alot of excitement, but its the 16th today, and the rain has gone again… At least we had one good flood down the luggas..And the desert is bursting into life.. little bits of greenery popping out of the ground all around us!! Soon lots of flowers! Today we will be an emergency meeting with the scouts responsible for the wells.. We need to think again of what to do about wells… Its a complicated problem..

The Genet is old enough to be released.. which we did a week ago at Elkanto.. He is very happy in his new home, learning the tricks of the wild again… Hes found all the good places to hide, and we see him every night… He looks forward to his food, but slowly he will disappear off into the wild..

No pictures as we are using a satellite phone, but will put some up asap…There are some great ones of the two baby Elephant rescues!..

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Category: Milgis lugga, Water holes, elephants | Date: May 13 2009 | By: milgistrust

13 may 2009….Sadly another bad day for elephants, although last night I am extremely pleased to tell you that it poured with rain……EVERY WHERE!!!… .. As the day dawned, beautiful colours, spirits were high, and every one was excited, as the rain was good rain, it had rained all night… but on the radio this morning a report came from the Noongek area, North East Matthews,that there was another dead baby elephant, about one year old.. this is the third one of this age in the last month, I think its just too dry for them and they are struggling to keep up with the big elephants, who are managing to reach the water in most of the wells, but these little ones can’t… We have dug wells for them, up and down the sand luggas, but the big elephants insist on drinking from the deeper ones on the edge, some times angrily dragging the thorns that the scouts have put to try to keep them away… Then at 4 O’Clock an urgent report that another baby elephant is down a well, in the lower Milgis, at a place called Kudup…Why did we get the message so late?… Because after the rain, nobody needed to go to the lugga to give their stock water, as there was water every where, but luckily a passer by happened to hear a strange noise in the direction of the deep well, and went to check it out… Luckily the water in the well was not too deep, but he was concerned as if a flood came it would cover this well… He rushed off to find Lesanju, the nearest scout, who on hearing the news called the base to let us know that he was on his way to check things out.. Base on hearing the news, was very alarmed as he had just heard that there had been torrential rain upstream, and to expect a huge flood…

With the news reaching Elkanto, there was action, every one rushing around grabbing what they may need to spend the night, once again with the hope that the mother would come back… She apparently had tried , in vain, by digging around the sides of the well, to get her young one out…She had done a formidable job, unfortunately the sides were hard, and the well very deep…But Lesanju when he got to the recked scene,was frightened that she may come back while he was waiting for help!!… The 5 man rescue team rushed off, as much as one can rush on these rocky tracks, and were there in an hour an a half… They hauled the baby out, who is fine, rather feisty…. As we speak so to say, they are there…silently waiting for a miracle, and the huge flood has just passed us here at Elkanto, heading East… Hey its GOOD TO SEE WATER, TO HEAR WATER!! Also its good to know that before the days of the Milgis trust, that baby would have been trapped and drowned…

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Category: Conservation Awareness | Date: May 07 2009 | By: milgistrust

After the week of fires, around the 25th March, The Milgis Trust, some of the chiefs and the councillor from Latakwen called a meeting of elders to try to understand what was in the mind of these burners and why… One month later, and BY THE WAY NOT A SINGLE FIRE SINCE!… we called the same elders to the scouts meeting to discuss further what can be done to prevent destruction, and understand what is going on… Every one understood the way forward is to work together to conserve the land…… Below is a report from Moses Lesoloyia… The manager

Conservation committee… On the 30^th April 09 we held a meeting with the committee mainly to discuss their role and the importance of conserving the environment. We had 5 men from different parts of Nkare Narok location, 4 from Nairimirimo and 5 from Latakweny location. Each of the men was asked to say how his area was when he was a child and now and give what he thinks has brought about changes. The following are the responses;

When I was a child there was;

· Plenty of rain

· plenty of water

· plenty of pasture

· Plenty of milk

· Plenty of wild animals

· Plenty of wild fruits and food

· Not many diseases

Nowadays;

• Rain does not come the right time
• All the rivers have dried and dams died
• Pasture does not stay for long
• No more milk
• Wild animals have reduced and finished in some areas
• Very many diseases
• Wild fruits and food very scarce

This change is because of;

• Too many people and livestock
• Burning of forests
• Change of leadership structure from traditional system to government system
• Introduction of guns to the Samburu
• Deterioration of culture due to influence from Christianity and formal education
• Too much use of chemicals, almost in everything there are chemicals including food,(one elder felt chemicals are contributing to this change, he called them Ldewai).

They all agreed that the only way out was to support conservation efforts and try and rejuvenate the traditional systems which were holistic, took care of everything. They expressed their willingness to join hands with us and the community and stop the habitat destruction.

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