Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Africa, desert elephant, EHRA, Elephants, Holiday, Namibia, South Africa, Volunteer, Volunteering
02/05/2012
When I look back at my time with EHRA there are two moments that I look back at and smile.. The first being during patrol my fourth week. It was a beautiful day and we were driving through the bush were we came upon Mamma Afrika herd and G6 playing on a hillside. They were completely enjoying the day and looking so free. There were young bulls playing with each other and both herds coming together. You just looked out at this scene and just thought, “this is why I am here’! The other scene was a more personal dealing with the amazing people I have met. It was the end of two weeks, my 5th & 6th and there was this lovely German couple that I helped and got close to. They sat in the back of the truck during patrol so could not really hear what was being said, so I would turn back towards them and inform them what was said. At the end, when we were all saying good-bye, they came up to me and gave me huge hugs and thanked me. It was the sweetest , nicest thing and I will cherish always.
When I booked my ten weeks, I went in knowing that it was going to be great, but I was nervous. I was worried about were we where sleeping and eating. Also I did not know what was expected during building week and if we were going to need to know special information about the elephants going ill. The first briefing put many of my fears to rest, also I realised after those first two weeks that this is going to be better than I thought going in.
If you are thinking about coming on this adventure, just think about the amazing new people from all over the world you could meet, as well as the good you could do for the elephants and the people of the area. My advice would be to come because there is no way you could regret it.
Sam Sharon, 21
Boston, USA
23/04/2012 – 04/05/2012
The 2 weeks certainly have been an experience. The way i expected it to be? Not quite – If i got to choose what was better, building week or patrol. I have to say building week, but properly due to the fact that I had such high expectations of seeing elephants ( and not just 1 or 2) during patrol week, that the disappointment ( that was not due to the lack of trying) was just too great not to see only. The countryside certainly was amazing and getting an inside into the work EHRA does was a priceless experience. I highly recommend to anybody as it makes one think with how little people can be happy with. If I would change anything on the program then I personally would change to a work patrol ratio 60/40. This past 2 weeks certainly have been the best in a couple of years again.
Ingrid Martin
Melbourne, Australia
04/05/2012
I am writing on the bus ride back to Swakopmund. My journey in Namibia has come to an end. I have been with EHRA for 6 weeks and I am going home now. I feel very nostalgic and sad to leave Namibia, this has been one of the best trip I ever did. I’ve enjoyed eery single minute of it. I’ve met a lot of people from all around the world and each one of them was so nice and interesting. Even if the project repeats itself, having a new group of volunteers each two weeks made it completely different. Working on the wall was hard work, but very fun, especially if you’re working next to the incredible wall expert Mattias, who works for EHRA. He sings and dances all the time.(He taught me a little bit of Afrikaans too). The patrol weeks were amazing. Sitting on the top of the trucks, looking at the breathtaking view and suddenly spotting a herd of elephants behind the trees, are moments that I will never forget. So to all future volunteers, I really recommend this project because EHRA truly ROCKS!
Geraldine Ischer, 19
Switzerland
04/05/2012
My time with EHRA marks the end of my 4 months in Africa and 11 months of travelling. I have done quite a lot of volunteering and this program is definitely one of the most impressive and productive programs I have worked with. I was only here for a 2 week rotation, but I felt like part of the EHRA family and loved that short glimpse into the work going on here with the elephants. Build week was hard, but tons of fun and so rewarding when you can see an actual wall as the product of that work at the end. We didn’t get to see too many elephants, but the scenery was stunning and our guides/drivers Chris and Mattias truly tried their best to make it a great experience. The 2 intense weeks really bonded our group of volunteers and made the whole program run smoothly. We cooked for each other, helped whenever needed, and looked our absolute worst after 5 days in the desert, but we enjoyed every moment of it together. It is bittersweet to leave and I will never forget EHRA & the people working for the gentle giants – the desert elephants of Namibia.
Delana Eby, 19
Alaska, USA
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Africa, desert elephant, EHRA, Elephants, Holiday, Namibia, South Africa, Volunteer, Volunteering
Wow, time run so fast! I’ve had a feeling that the last two weeks were over before they begun. We arrived at EHRA-Basecamp on Monday, while the new volunteers were finding out how everything is working at the campsite, a few volunteers- that were already used to camp- helped me with the dinner. After dinner we got to know each other a little and after that we had the briefing about what to expect on the building week. Everyone went to bed early, saving power for a week of hard working!
Next morning, early birds! We had 2 building sites on our agenda, a wall that was halfway finished and a new one. We finished the first wall in 2 days. It was a lot of fun to get to know each other while working, hiking up the nearest mountain, sitting around the fire with a lot of stories and looking at the stars… Everybody had a different background and a different input into the EHRA-team. We had a few really cold nights, waking up in a ‘wet’ bed caused by the dew. It made the coffee and tea even better to warm us up!
The next building site was the same story, although a little heavier… The stones we had to collect where far from the wall and let’s call it an ‘interesting’ shape. Also the sand was rough; it was harder to mix cement with a good texture. We worked hard and after the building week we felt like real (body) builders! As we were leaving this place rain came and we saw a beautiful ‘white rainbow’ com up. Magical feeling! After taking a lot of pictures, we were back in the car and it started raining again…. As soon as we were back at the EHRA-Base camp we did a bit of work; cleaning up all our camping stuff and checking the vegetable garden (There are herbs in it now!). After finishing we could enjoy the weekend. Everybody was in the relaxing mood! I jumped in the Elephant-pool. The best you can do, especially with wonderful people around you, a Savanna dry and a lot of tadpoles! On Sunday we had to go to Uis to get fresh supplies for our patrol week. We had to be ready at 7.45… And we were…actually twice with the time change!!! We woke up, doing our morning business and then I went to Chris; what to do with our next hour? Confused!!! (It was the 1st of April…) ‘Why?’ ‘Well… time has changed… And this is not a joke!’ … So I went with some volunteers for a hike-in-a-hurry up the mountain to get back at 7.30 and ready at 7.45 –again- to go to Uis.
The patrol week was one big surprise. We found the elephants very, very quickly. Let’s say 40 minutes…! So before lunch we had already a lot of quality time with them. As they were checking us out, we were doing the same on them; all looked healthy and relaxed. Good news!
We also had news about a wounded elephant that we liked to see, but he moved to another area, so we knew it would be a mission to find him. Although I spent a lot of time a with EHRA and knew what’s going on; it was a really a good day to experience myself about what is going on in a political way, working with others that are involved with elephants and the money that’s also in the game as it goes about elephants… Very interesting! We also had the opportunity to eat some dried Mopani worms. I expected it to be disgusting… But I have to admit; it is a really nice snack! And believe it or not; even some vegetarians were really brave and tried it…liked it! Okay, back to the area we found our ellie’s from the first day. It was good to find out that they still haven’t forgotten the game ‘Hide and seek’, but in the end we saw them again. And Mama Africa gave us a very special goodbye, walking on her own from far far away, to the herd where we were looking at. She spend a couple of minutes right in front of our car, all the time very relaxed, and then walked back to her own herd. Thanks for that beautiful moment Lady!
The last night at EHRA-Basecamp from this slot… We played games, had the luxury of champagne, cupcakes and chips and a lot of dancing till late. A good farewell party for me! The volunteers of this group had a lot of different personalities and made the group a strong all-together-as-one-team. There were always helping hands and everything with a lot of fun in control. Good to see and work with!
Thanks!
Annabelle
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Africa, desert elephant, EHRA, Elephants, Holiday, Namibia, South Africa, Volunteer, Volunteering
I enjoyed build week a lot even though rock and sand runs were very hard work. The staff as well as the other volunteers were really friendly and so the first week passed by enormously quickly. I hope patrol week won’t pass by so quickly. In the build week we finished one wall that was started some weeks before and began to build a new wall around a waterpump.There were only two things till now that i didn’t like. One thing was the flies and small bees which fly the whole day near your head and go into your nose and ears. Even now some flies are annoying me. The other thing was that it gets dark too early. The sun sets already at 6p.m, but except those two things the desert elephant project is awesome and i am glad that i am here. I’d like to come back again!
Build week – 4 days of sun, flies and sand/rock runs. After successfully completing one wall started by the previous group of volunteers, we moved on to start work on the next project – another wall. Negotiating with cows, bees and spider hunting wasps for access to the water supply, and undergoing inspections by goats as to the sturdiness of our constructions we managed to build a 3 foot wall around the farmers water supply in a little over 2 days.
Despite the high temperatures and hard work there was a permanent jovial atmosphere amongst the volunteers. Meal times the fire become a social event as personal history’s were exchanged and the days events discussed.
Exhausting our cement supply on the morning of day 4, and after a final rock run for good measure. We headed back to the base camp for a weekend free from mixing cement. Instead – a day trip to Uis and a opportunity for people to charge all this “vital” electrical items to make the important status updates on Facebook and visit the supermarket to stock up on the sweets and snacks. The return journey provided opportunity to stop at a number of road side stalls were dolls, bracelets and other locally crafted items were purchased for both self and loved ones.
The lay anticipated patrol week around on Monday morning, and after a brief highatus whilst repairs were made to the vehicles, we headed off into the desert and search of elephants. Unfortunately despite following a number of promising tracks we were unable to locate any elephants, as we sat round the camp fire that evening, the mood of the group was one of frustrating, dampened further by the proposed of rain and a soggy night under the stars. Day 2 couldn’t have been different, and after a damp start we were treated to a view which we had all been waiting for. A herd of 12 elephants led by Mamma Afrika. The sight of these magical animals weaving their was through the trees towards us is one that will stay with me for a long time. The remainder of the day was proved to be equally amazing as we tracked and i.d’d a total of 3 herds as a number of lone elephants. While at times it has been hard work both physically to the heat, and mentally with the presence of flies around ones head. The past week and half have been amazing and one that i would most emphathically recommend to anyone, not already considering spending time in this amazing environment.
Leaving base camp for the last time after two amazing months with EHRA, and I can’t help but think of everything I’ve learned and experienced here. Driving away from base camp feels like driving away from home. Saying goodbye to the staff like saying goodbye to family, but though I leave with a heavy heart, I will carry my experiences here with me for the rest of my life. This place, these people, the work and the elephants…they get inside of you and change something profound, if you let it I know I will be back , that I can’t stay away now, and so I leave sadly, but excitedly planning my next visit. My four build weeks with EHRA were challenging and rewarding. I think I will forever be scanning hillsides for perfect building stories and riverbeds for the perfect sand. As each building week progressed into the next, I could feel myself getting stronger and more confident. I’ve really enjoyed the work, getting used to working in the heat, discovering and pushing my own limits, watching a group of strangers come together to make a difference, solidifying friendships with cement and sweat along the way. The satisfaction of standing back after build week and seeing the physical representation of all of your hard work is a timely amazing experience. Writting your name in the fresh cement on a finished wall so rewarding. You quickly forget all the cuts, scrapes, bruises and blisters that went into getting there. And of course. what would be a trip with EHRA without the elephants? After a tough build week you appreciate going out on patrol so much more. You can feel the excitement in the air as everything gets packed up to head out into the desert to find the amazing animals. Exploring this beautiful terrain by land cruiser is a feeling I will never forget. The open sky, the mountains and hills, the vegetation…it all comes together to create one of the most breathtaking landscapes. At times, like when the sky is a glance with a brilliant sunset, the beauty of the area is overwhelming. And in this stunning landscapes live the majestic desert elephants. Not only do we track the elephants, we learn about the tracking process itself. We learn about the elephants in general. Their family structure, eating and sleeping habits, the way they communicate etc, but we also begin to recognise and identify specific elephants. We learn their temperaments and personalities, and along the way you fall in love with them. They will get inside of your head and heart and you will carry them with you long after leaving. It’s these moments when I feel connected to something far greater than myself, these moments when I realise I’ve gained far more than I ever could have imagined by volunteering here with EHRA. And so, as my time here comes to an end, as base camp, the walls I’ve helped to build and the elephants get farther and farther away, my sadness is overshadowed by my happiness at having been able to experience this wonderful adventure. EHRA and the elephants have altered my perception so drastically that I know I will never be the same. How could I stay sad knowing that?
Until next time,
Courtney Gallant, Canada
“It’s where we go and what we do when we get there, that tells us who we are”. – Joyce Carol Oates
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Africa, EHRA, Elephants, Holiday, Namibia, South Africa, Volunteer, Volunteering
Thursday 15th March. 2012 by Lynette
So today has finished with sunset dinner cooked over an open fire with Carli playing and singing on her guitar. Its day four of our Namibian adventure and all I can say is “Wow”! Every morning we wake with coffee delivered to our beds at 6 am a nice wake up call to a soon to be a busy day. We are only a middle group of 8 volunteers and 4 staff, but boy! Can we build a wall!!! The work is hard and when you see how hard your new firens are working, it pushes you to work harder. Good food, good company and soon bo be good sleep under the stars. Bring on tomorrow!
Friday 16th March. 2012 by Courtney
Today was our final day of build week, the second one I’ve been a aprt of . The wrok was hard but endlessly rewarding though we haven’t completed the wall. The progress we made was worth every minute of the work we put in. It’s incredibly satisfying to see a physical reminder of the work we’ve done to see the difference we are making here as volunteers.
Volunteering here in Namibia, with EHRA, has been a life-changing event and I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. The work pushes you to be a better version of yourself, the people teach you things you may never learn anywhere else, and the land gives you a whole new perspective.
Wednesday 21th March. 2012 by Courtney
This patrolweek has been absolutely brilliant. On Monday morning we packed up and left EHRA-Basecamp in search of the elephants. We explored the area by car and were fortunate enough to locate one of the herds in the late afternoon. We followed them for a while, both staff and volunteers enjoying being in their midst. At one point we even witnessed on of the elephants trompetting to an other one. Before heading off to find a campsite, we stopped once more as the entire herd walked by thrillingly close to the cars. When they had passed, we set up camp and relaxed with elephant sounds all around us. As the sun set, we could see the herd moving past in the distance. It was a perfect way to end our first day on patrol.
Our second day on patrol was much different, and really showed us a lot about the tracking process. We tracked both by car and by foot, and though we only located one elephant, the day was exciting. We made camp under the most brilliant sunset to rest before our final full day of tracking.
This morning we woke up to rain and when the sky cleared there was a large stunning rainbow. Under the rainbow were the elephants. We were with them early morning and stayed with them until we broke for lunch. Being surrounded by elephant is the most peaceful feeling. Hearing them communicate with eachother leaves me feeling as if I’ve been allowed to be included in the ethereal realm of these majestic beings.
Thursday 22th March. 2012 by Lynette
I woke up this morning with the most magical memories of last night; As the sun was setting over the Namibian Desert a storm was brewing in the distance. Lightning ans a bright African sunset , campfire, dinner and lot of laughter… And then Hendrik says; ‘Shhhh….’ Followed by; ‘there are elephants around!’ We quietly continued our sunset dinner and lighting show and then we hear the low rumble of the elephant’s talking… ‘Everyone inside!’ says Hendrik, ‘into our purpose built tarp home, light’s out!’ Within minutes we could see a few elephants 50 meters from our camp by the storm-lightning sky. It was the most amazing feeling having the ellies so close to our campsite.
I woke around 6 to a lovely cup of tea from maddy, walk outside and in the sunrise I can see the whole G6-herd in the distance. Going to be another awesome day! We are such a great team now with packing up our campsite. It takes no time at all. We are back on top of the 4WD’s (Bakkies….) and observing the herd once again. One of the young males came to ‘check us out’ and put his trunk inside the 4WD and tried to check out our boxes… Amazing! Hendrik clapped his hands to deter him. He walked off and started investigating the other 4WD…How cute, magical, amazing, life-changing these magnificent creatures are! How will I ever forget you sweet Namibia!
Friday 23th March 2011 by Annabelle
Nice two weeks, with a lot of memorable moments; even without pictures I will never forget them! They stay forever in my mind, and I guess that’s sometimes even better… Keeps the explanation more alive and the memory even more beautiful! Mama Africa in the lightning and thunder… Elephants playing with bones on a Elephant graveyard… Nights at the campfire… Building walls… young bulls playing with eachother… coffee/tea in our Elephantpool at EHRA-Basecamp… Do you need anything else to make you happy in life?! The only thing a really wanted to do is say thanks to all the volunteers from the last two weeks; Urs, Lucas, Vincent, Sarah, Lynett, Samantha, Courtney and ofcourse Carli, Mathias, Coolboy/Johannes, Adolf and Hendrick for helping out the last building and/or patrolweek! Bye bye from the a sometimes wet desert! Rain has arrived… 
Finally!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Africa, EHRA, Elephants, Holiday, Namibia, South Africa, Volunteer, Volunteering
Monday 27th Feb. 2012 by Samantha
I woke up early too excited about getting to the Base camp. Around 7:30am I was able to Skype my parents though I did feel bad that it was around midnight at home. After we talked for a little bit it was time for breakfast. We all gathered for our last breakfast. After breakfast I packed. Then we left for some personal supplies shopping. At noon it was time to leave and we all got in the big white van for our four hour drive to base camp. The ride was a mixture of sleeping, learning about each other’s culture and seeing wildlife. We were able to see springbok, ostrich and baboons, which was very nice. We arrived at the Base camp before dinner and it was awesome. It seemed like a part of nature all built out of trees. We got to sleep in a tree. How cool is that? I am sure Peter Pan would be jealous of our tree house. Once we picked a spot and unpacked we got a nice tour of the whole camp. It is beautiful out here among the mountains. For dinner we had a great meal, meat and spaghetti. We all sat around the fire under the stars eating and getting to know each other. After dinner we got to do whatever we wished until bed. Most people were not able to sleep. I was able to, but I got woken up by screaming baboons. Got to thank them for that. Over all it was a good start to build week.
Tuesday 28th Feb. 2012 by Samuel
The first night I woke up so many times, that I felt a bit tired today, because of the baboons! But as our favorite god would say, “Don’t worry be happy!” After a super good breakfast made of porridge and Weetbix I was full of energy. We started packing all the stuff to go to the “nomad” camp near the farm where we’ll build two walls. Once the hard work was done, there we were for an hour of driving to go buy our personal staff. A quick stop at the city of “Uis” (something like that), to eat a nice and cold ice cream under the hot sun of Namibia! Put all the tents on, a really nice, great, tasty lunch (yeah, we needed it!) and it was time to work on the wall. What a hard work it was! What a good feeling to do something that we know is useful! The team is perfect and the mood was just happiness.
Anja, Julia and Carli
We mixed a lot of cement, put some stones and found some sand and rocks. Then we had to hurry up a bit because, rare things in Namibia, the rain showed his nose! Pom, Pom, Pom, Poooom! But nothing can stop us so we kept going.
Bastian and Samuel
Julia and Bastiaan made an awesome job with the fire and the dinner in the evening. Just awesome, I would say ‘Legendary!’ Then came the time to slowly, slowly go to bed, in the tent… That sir is not nice haha! It was like sleeping in a volcano, 600 degrees! And more than that, no space… but nothing can take off the smile on my face! I’m in Namibia, I’m on an awesome adventure, with 13 other great people. I don’t want anything else!
OH HAPPY DAYS
Your egg master, waterman, the seminal, sand wasters and always happy guy… Samuel
Ps. I still love my eggs, if I come back I take some!
Samuel, to be forever known as 'Egg Man'
Wednesday 29th feb. 2012 by Courtney
Today was my first full day at a build site with EHRA. We did a half day yesterday so I had an idea of what to expect. It was exactly what I expected, only more difficult. The work is hard and the sun is hot, but it is really rewarding to see the wall come together. We had a great team and within minutes of starting work 18 people were working seamlessly.
The lovely Courtney who is with EHRA for 10 weeks!
It is really beautiful were we are working and camping. There are rolling hills and a lot of trees. At night the sky is clear and the starts shine brilliantly, in a way I just don’t see in the city.
The staff is fantastic. They are direct and know what they are doing. They are all a lot of fun and have made a really comfortable and safe environment.
Madelen, our fit Fin!
Today I also saw my first (small) scorpion and a snake. The staff handled it brilliantly and it was a great experience. After only a few days I’ve already learned so much and will keep learning.
This is a really great experience and even though it is a lot of working I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else or doing anything else.
Julia!
Thursday 1th March 2012 by Kay
Another hot day during build week but we were fortunate enough to have some cloud cover for the morning. We finished most of the wall before “apple time”, name included and saved the last small bit for Sam, Asta, Adolf + Annabelle to finish, while the rest of the volunteers began the 2nd wall for this farm.
Kay from USA who was with EHRA for 6 weeks!
Tania, the only brit!
What a wonderful wall!
We managed to finish digging out the foundation before lunch and a nice long siesta. After lunch the local boys helped to transfer the sand + stones over to the new windmill (a huge help). We spent a fun filled afternoon of dancing and singing (thanks to a local’s radio) while laying the foundation stones + cement. We are now patiently awaiting a yummy chicken moambe dinner while sharing stories + watching a beautiful African sunset J Good day!
The rainy season makes for the best sun sets!
Friday 2th March 2012 by Birgit
“you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…”
BeepbeepBeepbeepBeepbeep…
6:00am – wake up call for kitchen duty! That’s my alarm – finishing all dreams about elephants, beautiful sounds at night and pictures of the Southern cross. I have to get up and make tea with my friend Sabine for the rest of the crew! Never did that before; waking everybody up personally and offering the preferred morning drink in front of the tents! Great thing!
Starting the day with fire, eating together and getting ready for work smoothly before it gets too hot.! What a good feeling! Today we wanted to be at our best since it was the last day of building week! Mixing the cement in a wheelbarrow became one of my favourite tasks and it gives me a real pleasure now to deliver a full barrow! Splash it wherever Mattias wants me to J! The supporting local guys made it possible to work so fast that we finished the packages of cement before noon! Wow!
Who said many hands make light work?!
I recognized this day as a day of contrasts, though! Sometimes it’s just good that you don’t know what’s coming next!
Due to bright sunshine, we ended our walls shiny happy faces. But the weather can change so quickly in Namibia! So only 2 hours later a dark big cloud ended our lunch break so suddenly that some of us didn’t even have time to jump into a protecting tent. The rain we experienced was heavy, strong and long lasting. But since we are so many humorous people in our group you could then see the happy shiny people dancing in the rain!! Well with a group like that we managed to break up camp while the rain was pouring and got rewarded with beautiful birds flying around and giving impressive displays of their abilities. What a show!
Adolf checking whether the Toyota Quantum plus trailer will get through the river!!!!! Probably not what it's made for!
Saturday 3th March 2012 Mathias and Adolf interviewed by Annabelle
The two of them with a big smile on their faces; We’re happy with the funny way of hard work that the volunteers did à with a lot of songs, dancing and laughing. Sunshine or rain, both were good times. And the serious part of it was the wall; staying steady and growing until it was finished and we could start the new one. While one team was looking for sand and stones and the other team was mixing cement and puzzling stones in the wall.
Sunday 4th March 2012 by Suzy
Juchhhh, heute ‘mussten’ wir erst um 7.30 aufstehen; es ist Sonntag! Und wir halten eine tolle, klam regenfreie, ruhige Nacht, in der wir alke und Baumhaus unter Sternenklaren Himmel geschlafen haten- soooo schön. Ich frage mich wie ich zu Hause wieder in euer Wohning schlafen soll… 
Es ist wie in Paradies hier.
Heute morgen hat ich dann eine kleine Gruppe fon Früh aufstehen zusammen befinden, die hinauf in den “Baboon”-felsen geklettert ist, um den Sonneaufgang uber den Klippen bis zum Brandberg zu sehen. Es hat sich soo gelohnt, die wunderschöne unbeschreibliche landshaft, und auch der FrühstuckDuty-gruppe zu sehen. Grandios!
Die freie Tag haten wir dahin in Uis, einen Dörfchen hinein verbracht. Dort legen wir am Pool, hatten wir Supermarkt hineingekauft. Ach so, Wii gab’s da naturlich auch- damit auch jeder sehe “120 mails” checken kohnte .
Alles in allein in wunderschöne Relaxtag. Ab morgen gehts für 4 Tag is die Wüste auf Patrouilefahrten – Wir sind schon alle sehr gespannt, wir freuhen uns darauf.
Wir sind hier so eine tolle Truppe – 14 leute- 8 verscheidene Nationale – luie wasse misschung uit flut viel lustigen 4 wichtigen leuten. Es macht wirklich spass hier – von wir Aus kahn es noch viel länger dauren!
The hightlight of the weekend – Apple Crumble!
Monday 5th March 2012 by Tania
Camp broke early and you could feel the excitement as the Safari trucks were packed. This was what we had all come for the chance to see the elephants in their natural habitat. Johannes and Mattias drove to where Johannes had seen tracks the previous evening. From there we drove around trying to determine their route. We climbed our first ‘koppie’ with the great expectations that they would be stood waiting for us to spot them. We then spend the next few hours playing hide and seek. Unfortunately they were better at it than us. But the experience of being in the back of the jeeps and learning the difference between mopani trees, stray standing and acacia trees – duck quickly is a lesson learnt rapidly unless you want shredded arms and legs. We follow tracks and ask locals if the elephants have passed this way, but all indications were we were not going in the right direction. We ended up where we started – at the bridge for lunch, which meant that at least we get cold drinks.
After lunch we start off again but this time you could feel the optimism that we were on the right track. Towards the end of the afternoon the excitement mounts as we find tracks that are only approximately 45min old and the news goes around that the group is possibly G6 with a new born baby with them. Wow, if we see them it is would be amazing. The day draws to the end but we are no closer to finding any elephants. Johannes is concerned that the elephants are in a state of flight as they don’t appear to be stopping for water or food. He puts forward the suggestion that maybe they had been shot at and are hiding, which they are succeeding at very well. We had to call halt, as human needs have priority, darkness isn’t far away and camp needs to be set to provide food and shelter for us. Tomorrow is another day so we were hoping. But thank you Johannes and Mattias for your fantastic knowledge and patience in trying to find us elephants!
Spot the volunteers!
Camping next to Groen Dam
Tuesday 6th March 2012 by Samantha
After a nice night by the water at our camp site, I was woken by screaming about frogs and mosquito bites. We packed up the jeeps after breakfast and headed out looking for the hidden elephants. These herds of elephants have been running for the past two days without many breaks. Because, we believe, that the calf has died due to the heat and running. We thought that there was a conflict with the locals which is why they were running. This is making it very hard to find them and then getting close to them. We ended up going back to many places we had been before, because they keep going back and forth. It was extremely hot and we were baking under the baking sun. Joe and Mattias spent a lot of time on foot hiking and looking for them.
Elephants through binocs!
Sweeeeeet!!
we can see you!
We saw many footprints that helped us get a location, but we were not able to get close. We were all getting frustrated, especially Joe. After many hours of searching we have decided to camp within the view of them with the binoculars. Hopefully tomorrow we get better results.
Wednesday 7th March 2012
We found Mama Africa herd and managed in this rough area to come closer. A few elephants decided to come over for some greetings and a young one was doing a good job with practicing some mokcharches. Lovely to see! In a few years it would be really impressive, but for now it was just cute… J We were still looking for the G6-herd and despite we found a lot of tracks of them, but they were nowhere to be seen… What are these “girls” doing?!
The wise Mama Afrika who came to G6 to help find the missing elephants Bellatrix and Stella (plus the one calf either Tatiana or Tremor)
Thursday 8th March 2012 Elisabeth (lucky bird/ ‘gelukvogel’)
Woken up by raindrops and the flickering of the fire for the wake up tea and coffee, meant that a beautiful new day had arrived.
At the stop S20⁰45’59.7’’; E 14⁰55’25.9’’ we found out that the Mama Africa herd decided to leave the area they had been in Wednesday and went into a total new area: in EHRA language called basin jumping.
Love Heart Rock!
After several times ‘rock hoping’, to have an overview in the valley we finally found the G6 group which we were searching for the last 3 days. As suspected by Joe and Mattias, the group was not complete anymore. One cow and her calf are missing. I had a beautiful chance to observe from a distance the G6 herd – while they were resting and sleeping in the shade. Once in a while they gave themselves a sand shower and even the little one already knew how that worked. When they had enough of the paparazzi they slowly took off away from us. We had our resting and sleeping at the same spot as the G6 group had. Very exciting experience! During the siesta the Mopani bees (the smallest bees in the world) did not find us attractive any longer, probably because we no longer smelled like flowers. Instead the flies came on visiting in big groups. Maybe we smell more like cows now, what I can imagine after four days without a shower.
We went back to the herd of Mama Africa to see if she took the missing cow and calf under her wings. After again a magnificent job of tracking and searching, the EHRA team found the herd of Mama Africa. Joe and Mattias drove up as close as possible without scaring them. Some of them came up to the cars to have a closer look. The sound they make, you feel in your stomach. It was an incredible and breathtaking experience. There are no words to describe what I felt at that moment. Amazing is an understatement. SOULTOUCH…
In the end of the afternoon we headed off to base camp in an exciting and satisfied state. First we had a stop at Johny’s where everybody took a dive in the big fridge (specially bought for EHRA volunteers I guess) for cold beers and drinks.
Nothing like a cold beer agter a hard weeks tracking!
The Ugab river became an actual river and the river at base camp was also water: it felt wet although it was peanut butter brown. It did not bother most of the group and we took a big splash. And after that THE SHOWER. Four days without and only baby wipes cleaning THE SHOWER felt SO GOOD.
G6 after a traumatic week, back together.
Friday 9th March 2012 by Carli
The last day of the project was upon us. Everything was packed and ready to go, but no one was in a rush to leave. The apprehension was partly because nobody wants to ever leave this beautiful place, but also because of the worry and fear for the state of Bellatrix and her calf Stellar, who was still missing when we finally saw the G6-herd. With the party of Joe, Mattias and Annabelle staying behind to look for them, the rest of us set off on the long drive to Swakop.
Halfway dinner in a restaurant, Annabelle was back from the field and joined us for a dinner (9 pm already…) She looked very tired, but with a massive smile on her face. Bellatrix, Stellar and Bellatrixe’s younger calf (about 1 year old…) were found and doing okay! It was the best message to get for rounding off the two weeks with this group!
Thanks to you all for joining EHRA the last two weeks!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Africa, EHRA, Elephants, Holiday, Namibia, South Africa, Volunteer, Volunteering
Small but perfectly formed!
Monday 13th Feb. 2012 by Torunn
My first day with EHRA!
The morning in Swakop is used for shopping a few missing things and organizing luggage. We were supposed to get picked up between 11 and 12 and the wait got long for impatient me… When the minibus picked us up it was a 4 hours dive through pretty desert landscape that awaited us. It was strange to see how after several hours of driving through this there were suddenly houses and people selling stuff or just walking in the middle of nowhere.
The camp is tucked up in the mountain, protected by cliffs and trees. It was better equipped and organized than what I had expected. We had a short tour of the camp and then we unpacked the food and equipment that we had brought. Then it was time for cooking. Pasta Bolognese was made by 2 people while the rest of us relaxed and waited. A small group means less food to make, but also that we have to do kitchen duty more often. The pasta was very good and well worth the wait. After dinner was eaten, everything was cleaned and the sun had gone down it was time to go to ‘bed’ under a sky full of stars…
Everyone hard at work in VERY HOT conditions!
Tuesday 14th Jan. 2012 by Peter/Annabelle
I had a plan… -> arriving yesterday @ EHRA Basecamp, stay over for one night, pack up early and continue my trip to the north of Namibia… But like all the rest of my journey things are changing all the time. For now I decided to pack up all my stuff early… not for more travelling, but to go with the EHRA-volunteers to their building site and be an extra pair of strong hands for one day.
Pfffff, this is heavy work! Collecting rocks down a riverbed with the smallest bees in the world flying around my head trying to get honey out of my ears, eyes, nose & mouth (yes, I’m sweet, but not like honey J), mixing cement with a wheelbarrow & shovel and then puzzling all the stones one by one to create a wall… And that in almost 50°C!!! And lucky me, – I had the whole package-, I was also on duty with Annabelle. We were a really good working team in the morning and also at lunch, but I’m gonna leave her alone for dinner; still need to find my way to the North. So after lunch, siesta/ good conversations ‘bout things in life with Annabelle and a few more building hours, I decided to go. Bye, bye EHRA-people; you are very tough with the heart in the right place to do good and hard work for the environment. Make more people and ellies happy in the future!!!
Peter; thanks for the entertainment and building for one day; but next time you’re not gonna escape dinner duty! J Annabelle
Wednesday 15th Feb. 2012 by Eskil
Now I have done my first two week period at the EHRA-project and before I started my second period I spent the weekend in Swakop and made a trip to Walvisbay and watched the seals and dolphins; I saw a lot! Wednesday, the 15th of februari…. And I have been in Namibia for 18 days and I have seen more seals than souls, more goats then seals and though they sounds almost the same; the are not lookalikes.
It is the third day on my second EHRAperiod and I think it’s getting better and better. I get more used to the hot weather of 35°C in the shadow… and I get used to the routines. Today we finished our first wall and start working on our next wall. We are a small group, but I think we are doing a great job!
Spot the deliberate mistake!
Thursday 16th Feb. 2012 by Kay
Thursday must be the worst day of buildweek for me because I woke up just as fatigued and sore as I did the first-buildweek-Thursday… Either way I was extra grateful today that Hendrick had reactived the help of some local boys for gathering rocks and sand. This made all the difference as we were able to continue working on the wall and get much accomplished. The weather also helped as it has been cool and cloudy all morning. The entire base of the wall was finished before lunchtime and to everyone’s delight we discovered we would finish the cement tomorrow and be back at EHRA-Basecamp early again. It’s always a nice surprise when you get to take a shower earlier than expected. The rest of the day went smoothly (how could it not with afternoon siesta? J) and we spent the evening singing + dancing to many songs (Hakuna Matata and Waka Waka for starters). Thanks to Hendrick and Torunn for a great dinner!
Time to relax
Friday 17th Feb. 2012 by Hendrick/Matias/Annabelle
Although we had a small group, work was going quickly this week! Lot of hands from the local boys who loved to helped girls building and don’t forget our great cement-mixing-machine called Eskil! The week was over before we knew it; and we are well prepared for the next building week. We’d like to say thanks for the working in this really hot, hot weather! (Let’s hope that the rain will come quickly… ) But this group can say that we survived the heat while working hard!
Saturday 18th Feb. by Torunn
We woke up a bit later than usual and after breakfast it was time to clean the elephant pool. This was a really dirty job! It was full off animals, slime and bird droppings, and the smell was horrible. After a few hours of scrubbing and scraping the drinkingplace, the ‘pool’ was as clean as it was going to get. We cleaned up a bit an took the rest of the day off. We were reading, blogging and relaxing. The girls on duty made apple crumble for lunch which was amazing, both the humans and the other animals around camp camp seemed to enjoy it (squirrel was cleaning our dishes while a snake enjoyed itself in the sink…) The washing lady was also here and made our clothes white and clean and good smelling again. In the evening we had a bit of wine and tea as we were looking forward to the day off in Uis the next day.
And there it is Apple Crumble made on the fire!!!! YUMMY!
Sunday 19th Feb. 2012 by Kay
I’ve been excited about our afternoon in Uis allweek, but the only thing I could think about in the early hours of the morning (before tea and porridge) was how I needed to tell Hendrick about the friend that woke me up in the night! (And not an imaginary leopard, Hendrick…!) I was quickly startled in the middle of the night by what I could only describe as a cat walking across my feet. I knew it couldn’t be anything smaller, but in my sleepy stupor I kicked my foot and is scurried off before I could have a look at it. This morning Hendrick discovered that there were indeed cat prints all over camp but he couldn’t decipher whether they were Genet or other (either way definitely not domestic). After that my morning returned to thoughts about Uis, the pool, and Wifi where I would update my friends on my whereabouts. After cleaning boxes we headed out (without the sunshine) and spent a relaxing afternoon by the pool (with another schnitzel ofcourse…).
The wonderful Mama Afrika
Monday 20th Feb.2012 by Carli
Early start once again, but at least today we were looking forward to seeing some elephants. We set out bright eyed an bushy tailed, only at first we forget the tarps we were to sleep on. Good start! Go team! Now I’ll just get to the more interesting part, slipping the very long day we spent looking for elephants on the wrong side of everything (well half the day on the wrong side…) At around 5 pm we saw them! The Mama Africa-herd! One of the young bulls (Kambunde, so called by Hendrick) came over to greet us. Not so sure it was completely friendly. He tried to steal Kay’s camera, then smelled her fingers and walked away nonchanantly. After this we set up camp. Hendrick made tea/coffee with Ouma-Beskuit (rusks). I have been craving those for a while, like any true South African. Then Mama Africa decided to cross the riverbed we were camping in, just for a nice photoshoot. Perfect! What else could you want? Spaghetti Carbonara, made by Annabelle! Just to top off the day!
The lovely Annabelle
Tuesday 21th Feb. 2012 by Torunn
An eventful day full of elephants. Driving off from camp in the morning we found the Mama Africa-herd from the day before almost right away. We followed them and ended up in a spring area with lots of water. We were parking away from them still at the spring, slowly they were walking towards us. And we ended up as ‘part of the herd’ while they were drinking and enjoying the water. Several of them came close to us, but none as close as Kambunde, who stuck his trunk in to our truck to check out the vegetables. After the herd had left Bennie (a big bull in the Ugab-area) dropped by before also he moved on. Then it was the humans turn to play in the water. Fishing African style with a lot of screaming and splashing around. Particulary Mathias was eager with the fishing and later also with eating the fish. We also saw another elephant in the afternoon. A single bull known to be a part of a group of 3 bulls that stay together, but that is usually in another area. On our way away from him we got a flat tire and had to change the wheel in a hurry. In the evening we camped at a quite scary place with lots of wind and a Rhino-track going right by… but after a day like this who won’t fall asleep as soon as the food is down and the stars are up?!
Fish for dinner!
Wednesday 22th Feb 2012 by Kay
Wednesday morning started bright and early again as we spent some time searching for the elephants. We managed to track down the 3rd bull a visiting group as well as another visit from Mama Africa-herd. We’re still searching for G6 but we thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon siesta spent not only sleeping, but also observing the elephants enjoying their lunch all around us. Therefore it was a much longer siesta than usual and we didn’t leave the area until after 4pm. We raced the rain to find a suitable camping area and start dinner. The rain finally came and drenched us in a wonderful shower after a long day. After feeling slightly cleaner we finished the day with a wonderful dinner and some evening ‘babytea’! J
Setting up camp!
Where are those elephants
Thursday 23th Feb. 2012 by Torunn & Kay
We followed some local information on a wild goose chase in the morning. (There were nor ellies or fresh tracks). And just after we had voiced opinions on seeing giraffes we managed to spot 13 standing around! So it was a nice morning seeing other wildlife and scenery in the bush. After giving up our morning search for elephants we started the trek back to EHRA-Basecamp. After we lunch and a lazy afternoon with some sunbathing in the hot sun we decided to jump in our last-saturday-fresh-cleaned-elephant-swimming-pool. We ended the day in the rain (Finally, really rain!) but with garlicbread, 70%dark chocolat, red wine, a special butternut and potjiekos.
Rainbow over base camp
Friday 10th Feb. 2012 by Carli & Annabelle
The dust was settling on hard work of the past weeks. Packing up camp and returning to Swakop doesn’t really give you time to reflect on the whole experience, it was all so rushed and hot! The heat never stops not even for the rain that fell the previous night or for the river flowing next to the tree house now. After a short swim for some of us in the flowing river we all packed up and ready to go, we set off the Swakop. Only two little detours to stop at the Himba people’s stall for souvenirs, Uis for some fuel and off we when to civilization.
Every slot is a surprise for us and this time we had the pleasure with a very small group; with a perfect mindset: “Don’t complain, just do your job.” And if you don’t feel like you’re gonna make it: “Just smile and wave!”
Thanks for all the hard work, the dirty jobs (but after that we could swim in a nice elephant swimming pool!), all the babytea’s and the wonderful moments with our group and the ellie’s. See you in the future!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Africa, EHRA, Elephants, Holiday, Namibia, South Africa, Volunteer, Volunteering
Volunteers with their very nearly finished protection wall
Monday 30th Jan. 2012 by Cathleen
Woke up early at Villa Wiese for breakfast and after stocking up on supplies of the supermarket we bundled in to the vans around 12 o’clock to start our four hour journey to basecamp. Just outside of Uis we stopped at a Craft stall run by Himba tribes people who, as well as providing several photo opportunities, sold us all a bracelet or two. Arrive at basecamp around 4.30 and set up in the treehouse/platforms before dinner. Also made friends with some lizards in the trees called Mandarin and Blue Raspberry. We all learned how to start a fire and Annabelle cooked us an amazing Spaghetti Bolognaise. Rachel briefed us on our next two weeks while her Ridgeback Tsaurab , crashed about in the bushes sounding like an elephant. Went to sleep under the stars in a nice cool breeze, listening to the calls of baboons across the river bed.
Kay cooking at base camp
Tuesday 31th Jan. 2012 by Kay
After waking to the smell of tea and porridge, we packed up camp and headed out for building week. We drove past the beautiful Namibian scenery for an hour before arriving at a farm where we spent the morning evaluating and planning our wall. After a lunch of sandwiches and fruit we began the real work. Lifting stones to make room for the wall, all under directions to ‘’Watch for snakes/ scorpions’’ and ‘’ Don’t forget to drink plenty of water’’. Our workday ended with the first stones being set into the cement we mixed ourselves as Matthias an Hendrick nod approvingly + all gives a new meaning to the phrase ‘’ a hard days work’’. We end the evening with a delicious campfire meal and we all retire to our self-made “5-Star EHRA-Hotel’’ (yesterday still a goatstable…) where we fall in to our beds for the night, ready to start another day of hard work.
A rather large scorpion, good advise to wear your gloves when picking up rocks!
Project 1 for 2012 at farm Faalhoek
What alot of rocks!
Wednesday 1th Feb. 2012 by Melissa
I woke up this morning with a sore foot from the thorn I stepped on last night and realized that there was still a piece in my foot. Not only is Hendrick a pro-tracker, builder and mood brightener, I learned that he is a great surgeon. Once bandaged up, we spent a nice cloudy and breezy day finishing the first layer of the wall, plus a few extra feet high in other places. Once we finished, we all had a mini stretch in hopes that tomorrow we won’t be too sore…
Collecting rocks with Adolf from EHRA
Time for yet another delicious dinner!
Thursday 2th Feb. 2012 by Helen
What a day! Not on duty so woke up with a nice cup of tea in bed (eerrr…. Sleeping bag). We all worked really hard, despite pains all over my body from the rock lifting and cement preparation. It’s looking good and one side is nearly ready. It was a very hot day so we had a long siesta, briefly interrupted by a duel between Melissa and ‘stuffing the turkey’. He won… Another unexpected treat late afternoon (or very much expected?!) – an elephant bull was near where Hendrick and Matthias were picking up wood for the fire!!!. We all got in the car and in 5 minutes we were 30 meter from the elephant! He stared at us for a moment and probably either thought we were too big for him, no threat or a waist to spill energy on, then carried on with his normal business, eating leaves, walking around and shaking his butt. The whole thing lasted only a few minutes but it was worth another 10 days without a shower!. Another great dinner by the fire, with marshmellows for desert to celebrate Hendrick’s birthday. Oh yes, and we made him a weird/cute elephant from wires, stones and dentol floss (?!) as a gift… off to bed – tomorrow is our last building day!
Eskil and his cement mixing skills
Mattias relaxing at siesta time!
Voortrekker paying Hendrick a birthday visit
Evening stretches with Hendrick
Friday 3th Feb. 2012 by Hendrick
Unbelievable, how many days we been here than and ask Mathias… ? Five maybe or more? I ask him again why you think so? He says; ‘Die muur is Groot as jou. Kan jij sien? Dis net fijf vols. ( The wall is the same size as you, as you see… and five volunteers) Wonderful! It was a great job done by a small group of hard working volunteers. And Mathias and Adolf… well done for dancing for them in the meantime…!
Hendrick, one year older and wiser!!
Saturday 4th Feb. by Eskil
Saturday morning… And I am collecting elephant and cowdung four hours driving from Swakopmund… But anyway I am back to civilization; The EHRA-Basecamp where the shower make the difference and you have a great place to do your night bed up in the treetops. Better than the goathouse where we were sleeping the four nights in the building site! After four days of hard work and eating lot of delicious food made by ourselves, it feels like coming home when we arrived to EHRA-Basecamp. Today we will do some work with the garden and restore the fences in the campsite. Mixing cement like I did at the building site when we built up the stonewall to protect the pump and windmill from the elephants is a hard job, but being a part of the cooking team when you are half blind and don’t hear very well is also a tough job. Anyway you feel good thinking you have done a job that is necessary for those who living in this very demanded environment.
Eskil and his fantastic cement
Fixing the vegetable garden which an elephant had trampled!
Sunday 5th Feb. 2012 by Kay
Melissa and I are on duty today, but since we are spending the afternoon in Uis we got to wake up at 7 am (instead of 5.30!) and we don’t have to prepare lunch! We got to Uis and the first thing we did was shop for snacks (chocolate, chips, ice cream J) before heading over to the Brandberg Rest Camp where we could spend the afternoon by the pool –Yeah, for days off!- We managed to catch Wifi here so I took some time to email my parents and update my friends on life in Namibia, before heading out to enjoy the pool and sunshine. There were many delicious options for lunch and ended up deciding on a Ceasar Salad and Vanilla milkshake. Johannes stopped by so we finally got to meet the ‘big boss’ and Rachel also came by with her 3 adorable dogs, one of which decided to take a short swim. Definitely a restful afternoon. We drove back to base camp and ended the day with a hike up the mountain to see sunset with Annabelle before making Braai with Hendrick for dinner. After dinner came our patrol-week-briefing and some boxed red wine before bed!
Kay, who is with EHRA for 6 weeks!
Monday 6th Feb.2012 by Melissa PATROL WEEK PHOTOS STILL TO COME!
We all woke up refreshed from a relaxing weekend ready to go in search of the elephant for patrol week. Around 10.30am we came across the Mama Africa herd (11 elephants including 1 under 2 years). They ran away initially and hid, but we finally caught up with them. Mama Africa was communicating with them all and then came to check us out. She approved, and so the herd kept on their way slowly (after Medusa stopped to pose for some pictures).
After lunch/siesta we found the tracks again and followed them to a dry riverbed where half the herd was eating, and the other half was drinking from the holes they dug. A few came by to check us out the truck even a young male Kambonde. He kept his eye on us tried to walk backward through 2 close trees while eating. It was too difficult, so in the end he decided to squeeze (we could see his stomach being squished) through forwards. We all had to try to keep from cracking up to loudly. After the Ugab Small herd joined, along with Benny joined for a community lunch. It was a great elephant sighting day!!!
Tuesday 7th Feb. 2012 by Cathleen
Woken up at 5 by refreshing drizzle and then rain. Helen and I moved into the tent for our last half hour of sleep. Got the fire started (in the rain!) for breakfast and started our second day of patrol. Annabelle ambushed me on the way back from the toilet rock with a bottle of champagne (today is my birthday!) and everybody sang ‘Happy Birthday’! We decided a champagne-breakfast wasn’t the smartest idea and it went in the chillybin for dinner. It was a cloudy day and we started looking for elephants. We saw Mama Africa’s herd before lunch and in the new thorny acascia ridden area after. We had lunch under a Mopani tree, hiding from the bees. Went to look at the skeleton of an elephant cow that died two years ago. Went back to sleep/reading and got up with ten (!) tickbites. Kay squished the big one that probably got me. On way back to camp stopped for a Coke & Hunters cider to help laugh the afternoon off. We set up camp in a local farm and finished dinner with champagne, lemony creams and biscuits. We slept like babies until 23.45 when we were woken for some elephants drinking from the waterpoint. Although it was full moon, it was still very dark. Tried to be as quiet and careful to approach them, but somehow they picked us up and they run away but we could hear them rumbling to each other while we drifted back to sleep. (THIS WAS ONE OF THE NEW HERDS EHRA IS FOCUSING ON THIS YEAR!)
Wednesday 8th Feb 2012, Eskil &Melissa & Kay
We had Spaghetti Carbonara last night and it was delicious! The elephants we’re tracking now are new herds that have had many bad experiences with humans, so they’re very wild and aren’t used to EHRA cars yet. We stopped at several farms this morning and today we spent the day collecting application forms and find information on the elephants before heading out for the tracking part of the day. The best way to put the rest of the day was driving in circles, through many acacia trees, and spotted elephants in the distance. They are much faster than we are unfortunately. We all came out with more battle scars from trees than anything else and had to save Cathleen’s sarong from one tree. We followed signs of elephants all morning (broken trees & dung) and finally decided to head into Khoixas for lunch and more iceblocks for the cooler. We ended up having a nice siesta (Luxury! With bathrooms!!!) inside the grounds of the country hotel. After siesta we continued patrol but to everyone’s disappointment the elephants still eluded us. Mathias and Hendrick did find some wild Rooibos Teaplants however. The day ended with Thai Curry for dinner and a very uneventful night-free of elephants…
Thursday 9th Feb. 2012 by Eskil
I wake up after a good night sleep in the open air and the stars had my sheets and the moon my pillow. I have been looking for elephants for four days and the first day we were lucky to see Mama Africa’s herd, Ugab Small and Benny. We also saw a bull the other day but close to him because he noticed us and moved away. Though we gone with the car two whole days we haven’t managed to come close anymore. We have been moving over enormous areas and sees a lot of tracks and talked to many farmers who gave us ideas where we could find them. Today we are going to do some more tracking before return to Basecamp. Anyway the first day was a very exiting experience and was well worth for four days of tracking elephants.
Friday 10th Feb. 2012 by Annabelle
Last day with a great group of volunteers! After packing up the EHRA-vehicle and enjoyed a cup of coffee and Apple/Cinnamon-porridge (thanks girls on duty) we were ready to go to Swakopmund. Tonight dressing up for a nice dinner that the cook in a real restaurant will prepare for us.
I’d like to say thanks to our volunteers of our first slot in 2012; Cathleen, Helen, Kay, Melissa and Kay. A small group… and did a lot building and a busy patrol week in a hard for tracking new area. It was very nice to work with you; hard working, lovely warming-ups and cooling-down, especially the one’s with the elephant dance while singing a special EHRA-survival song. Also the EHRA-5star-hotel will remain forever! Thanks a lot to you from the Elly’s, local people and EHRA!!!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Africa, EHRA, Elephants, Holiday, Namibia, South Africa, Volunteer, Volunteering
14th December
These 2 weeks have been so much better then I could have imagined. I’ve spent a long time in Namibia, but there is no better way to experience the wilderness of Damaraland and to do something good as well.
The building was tough and tiring, but I was left satisfied as the sun set on our finished wall – that will hopefully do a good job reducing conflict. I guess I was lucky to join the last group of the year, as this patrol week was incredible. Riding through the incredible desert landscapes, on the roof of the 4×4 and sleeping out in the wild was a formidable experience. To top it off we saw so much game! A Caracal crossing the road and a rhino with a calf close by. Not to mention all the many elephants that walked by the car.
Mattias and Hendrick are incredible people and the best guides imaginable. And Chris is a real man of the bush.
Unforgettable.
Emiel, Amsterdam
14 December 2012
So often I have thought to myself, I don’t want this to end. The scenery in Namibia is so diverse and the landscape more, wow, then I can ever of imagine. Build week was the finest example of teamwork I have experienced. The cammerday and shared passions for wildlife has been very enjoyable. Hendrick and Mattias have given us an unforgettable African experience. I couldn’t have hoped to meet nicer funnier or more intimate people!
Julie, UK
4 Weeks with EHRA have passed and I feel very “homy” in Namibia and the desert. The EHRA project gave me the opportunity to show me how to push my limits – working physically hard while the sun is burning your skin, no shower for 5 days, back pain from lifting huge rocks and mixing cement and working in a team with people you don’t know. But its all worth it – seeing a wall being built to finish, enjoying great meals after a long day around the fireplace, stargazing at night and great night talks on the shared sleeping tarp. I really enjoyed Mattias’ and Hendrick’s stories at the fire at night. Patrol week is priceless. You can’t get any closer to unspoiled nature – the scenery’s are great and being in the middle of what seems to be a Sunday’s elephant herds outing will always stay on my mind. Thanks Mattias and Hendrick’s great trekking skills we came so close to these very gentle giants who can track us humans so much more than we know already. Needless to say that we were all jaw-drop-amazed by the sight of 4 black rhinos, oryx, kudu, scorpions, giraffes, baboons, zebras and many more animals. It’s all worthwhile waking up at 6h30 with coffee in “bed”. Thanks to EHRA for letting me drift away from the problems of civilization and showing me how important it is to make a difference by protecting the desert elephants. Mother Nature is all we have and each and every one of us should learn how important it is to protect our planet with all living beings in it. EHRA can give you this opportunity. There is no better way to experience the true meaning of becoming one with nature and yourself.
Thanks
EHRA and keep up the great work.
Claudia, Germany
I’ve had such a magical time during the last 4 weeks with EHRA! First of all who would have thought that you can cook such amazing food on an open fire from porridge in the morning to a leg of lamb at night! Every meal has been delicious and has definitely made it worthwhile getting up at 6am every morning!
The 3 adventurous trackers, Mattias, Hendrick and Chris were fantastic. They guided us to so much wildlife which was so unpredictable, like rhinos, giraffes, caracal and the different elephant herds!
One thiny I will not forget is the “wag ? bietjie” trees. They are lovely and wild to view, especially when the sun is bouncing off the rocks and glimmering through them, however the sharp thorns are painful and live up to their name of “wait a while”! Once they have hooked themselves on to your hair or clothes during build week or tracking weeks, they just don’t let go!
The whole experience will be unforgettable. I’ve met such amazing people and had such a fabulous time.
Thank you to everyone at EHRA!
Steph, UK
It’s difficult to sum up all that has happened in the past 4 weeks. It’s actually almost alarmingly impossible, but I will do my best. Upon arrival at base camp, I discovered my first night would be spent sleeping in a tree beneath countless, crystal clear stars. Unbelievable! The following week was spent teaming up with incredible people from around the world to build a wall around a water tank and break down the walls of each other as we formed unbreakable friendships. Week 2 was relaxing. We traveled around Ugab river tracking the elephants. One day we saw three herds at one time! (G6, Mamma Afrika and Ugab small herd). As week two reared its end, it was understood that most of the fantastic people we met would be leaving and a new group to enter. I really didn’t know how the upcoming two weeks were going to compare to the previous life-changing ones. I need not to worry. New friendships were formed and another wall was finished. The fourth and final week was …..i can’t find the ……. right words to completely explain it without understating. Not only did I see elephants, I also saw 4 black rhinos, 2 giraffes, herd of mountain zebra, many ostrich, springbok, kudu, oryx and much more. Wiyh some of my own words mixed with Kingsley Hotgates’ wife’s I can honestly say that I fell in love twice while I was here, first with EHRA, then with Africa. I have a new yearn to be apart a part of this beautiful country and all that it has to offer. Thank you EHRA for helping me start a new ERA of my own. I look forward to the day I return.
-”Live for today because it won’t be like tomorrow”
Giselle, USA
Filed under: Uncategorized
EHRA’s end of year party slideshow!
Click on the link above to open the file which is a power point file, if you click on the first slide and click on ‘slide show’ then ‘play from the beginning’ it should work, if the others dont follow on click on the 3rd slide and click on ‘play from current slide’. The first slideshow is big thanks to Toby who made an amzing effort collating all the best photos and videos from his 4 weeks with EHRA, thanks to Toby for allowing EHRA to shorten it a little then use it to try and recruit more volunteers! and thanks to Jen for putting all this together!
Yet another brilliant end of year party at EHRA base camp was had by all! We had lots of lovely food including a sheep on the brai, kindly donated by our neighbours Festus and Ella (it arrived a little more alive that we had anticipated!!!) lots of dancing and laughing, especially at Mattias and Adolf in the 2 videos! Enjoy and we will post some photos when the group returns on Friday!
Thanks to all the 167 volunteers from 2011 and the other 627 volunteers who have volunteered for EHRA since 2004, helping us to build over 106 protection walls!! I am very proud of all our staff, volunteers who keep coming and working so hard and all the EHRA friends who have supported me so much this (little bit tough) year!
THANK YOU!
Looking forward to 2012!
Rachel and Johannes
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Africa, EHRA, Elephants, Holiday, Namibia, South Africa, Volunteer, Volunteering
Nov 21st – Dec 2nd – Maureen NY, USA
OMG!! And that’s not ‘oh my god’ or even ‘Oh My God’. Its a gutteral, glottal OH MY GOD!! Here we are lolling around the drop cloth, munching on sandwiches beneath an ancient tree with the Brandberg as our vista. I’m a full blown New Yorker so ‘camping out’ before this trip meant hanging out out on Broadway until ram. Today I’m the campiest camper in Namibia, ok then in Damaraland. Ok maybe just on this drop cloth. Fine, I’m the campiest camper from New York who happens to currently be in Namibia. I could go on writing about this experience forever so I’ll just jot some highlights:
- I was so excited to get here that I walked right out of the airport to the hotel without my luggage
- bugs, heat, sweating, boulders, concrete, sand, Cleopatra our adopted dog, crystal landscapes, donkeys, goats, Effa Adams our beer and soda distributor, fire, porridge, coffee, weetbix, and the not so long long-drop. Oh and the shooting stars, yoga at sunset. English, Irish, French, Ecuadorian and German accents and the 3 amigos from Switzerland with their divine accent.
Oh and the elephants. I was the first to discover the first sighting. We’d been out all morning without seeing a single one until we’d all been fed and ready for an afternoon snooze and suddenly from the bush appeared 2 white tusks – and I thought I was thinking ‘OMG’ but it was a indelicate ‘Oh my God, elephant’!
I have days to go and will cherish each moment of it forever. SO all my new bedfellows – FAGEDABOUTIT! Thank you thank you thank you EHRA!
Nov 21st – Dec 2nd – Kay, UK
This has been the funniest time spent camping. We’ve built, we’ve relaxed, we’ve done the unimaginable and seen the stunning beautiful elephants. Long live elephants, thanks very much EHRA x
Nov 21st – Dec 2nd – Nick, UK
This has been one of the best experiences of my travels. The group I am with are kind, generous and very friendly. The build week was hot and hard work but very rewarding and the elephant patrol was fantastic. Altogether I have had a great time and thanks to EHRA and I wish you good luck for the future.
Gracias por dejarme ser parte de este viaje. No persona queda mas que agradecer por todo lo vivido. Inolvidable experienca.
