Mwaluganje Elephant Sanctuary

We only had a couple of days back at Muhaka before we were off again to Mwaluganje, the elephant sanctuary. Thought it might be a good idea to get some washing done in town before we moved away from civilisation again. So a group of us decided to take some bikes to the laundry matt as they were the cheapest way of getting around, and the most fun. 

Bikes we used to get to the laundry, outside Muhaka camp

Morning came and it was time for us to begin the 3 hour drive to the sanctuary. We said our goodbyes to the 3 monthers and loaded onto the truck. Everywhere you go in Africa, you cannot take your eyes off the views. The scenery is so beautiful. Even in the cities and slums there is so much going on its hard to focus on one thing for more than a couple of seconds.

The road to Mwaluganje camp, an hour truck drive to the nearest paved road

Some of the first elephants we saw at the sanctuary, and the first of the big five I had ever seen in the wild

The front door of a villager outside the Sanctuary. Ironic

Villager getting water from a tap outside her house

For one of the projects we were asked to carry out a survey around the houses in the village outside the sanctuary. There were 15 questions to ask on the topic of how they felt about the elephants and sanctuary being there and how it had changed there way of life. Camp Kenya, along with the sanctuary was helping to increase the villagers standard of living by giving them more of a voice. Around 90% where unhappy that the Sanctuary was there and it had changed there way of life, for the worse. A lot of them had had land inside the sanctuary before it was established. They had been given a small sum of money and some land outside of it. By small I mean insulting. For every acre of land they had in the sanctuary, they were given 100 chillings each year. Thats only 80p, so no wonder they hated the elephants. On top of their land being stolen, the land given to them bordered the sanctuary, which only had a fence keeping the elephants from getting out. It was electric but not enough to keep the elephants away, and for the 36 km of fencing, only 2 guards patrolled with dart rifles. When we asked why they don't have a higher voltage or more security,  they replied with the moto of Africa, 'The government does not have enough money'. 

The group before us had built a new kitchen for the local school, and so our second project was to build the stoves inside the kitchen. 

Clearing the plantation around the schools kitchen

Sammy D with our local guards

Left over paint from the kitchen couldn't just go to waste, so we had a paint fight, naturally

Our group decided to chip in a purchase a chicken for the nights meal. We tried to experience as much culture as possible during our stay

Sam after the chicken

Makongeni Camp

During the week we spent at Muhaka, I noticed that I still wasn't 100% well, and by the fifth day, I was practically feeling like I did before the camp. It may have been the night out that threw me over the edge, or being exhausted by the work we where doing, or the fact that I was diagnosed wrong again, but the next day I was back in hospital and on a drip. Took three days in hospital, but i felt like a new man, and I was off to the Mangrove Camp (Makongeni). I was 2 days late for it, but just so glad to be better. Time to make the most of the one and a half months left.

The first project I was introduced to when I got there. A 'Jigger' is small insect that burrows into on your hands and feet, eating the flesh in and around it and because majority of the people, mostly children, cannot afford shoes, it is a big problem. To get the jigger out, you have to clean the feet and/or hands and then soak them in iodine solution for 10 minutes and then let it dry. This kills off the insect and cleans the wound, but it has to be done more than once to ensure it has worked. Again, the cost of this is too much for majority of the locals to attain themselves and so Camp Kenya provides the treatment for the local community and is also trying to prevent this by investing in shoes for the children of the local school. 

Boy being treated. He had such a severe case that they had to dig out parasite with tweezers from this hands.  It was  very hard to watch as the child was in so much pain, tears streaming down his face, screaming. 

Relieved it was over

To entertain ourselves in the night, we played the wheat-a-bix game, where you get a cereal box, and without using your hands, you had to pick it up with your mouth. Every-time you are successful, you cut an inch off the box. Its surprisingly hard!

Our accommodation, the nicest during the two months we were there.

The Mangrove swamp. When the tide came in, this was all filled with water. The boardwalk was something we were helping to build. The community was going to open a restaurant at the end of it once it was finished, cooking and selling fresh fish from the local ponds.

One of the pond we were digging out

Pure Bliss

Sunset. The end of another day in paradise. 

A 2 week old baby in the local community. We pooled some money together and bought the family a large bag of rice

The Local Health Clinic (one of the nicer clinics we visited)

Camp Muhaka (June 2011)

 The beginning of Camp Kenya. I arrived at Muhaka, the main camp, two days late after being diagnosed wrong. No one was around as it was R&R day, sunday. I was still quite exhausted due to being ill. Sammy D and Quant had saved me a bed, got unpacked and then had lunch at main eating area, soon to be nicknamed 'The Crucible'. Suddenly i heard the sound of a trucks engine and voices, lots of voices. I distinctly remembering one of the girls say 'Is that the new guy?'. I was quite anxious but I was soon to find out that they were some of the nicest people I have ever met. The next day was World Environment day, so we teamed up with the community and two schools to plant trees in a section of the forest that had been cleared.

Joe with a child from the Village

Tom giving one of the village children a piggy-back

Three girls from the local school who was helping us on World Environment Day

WWF presentation in Kaya camp, down the road from Muhaka, after we planted the trees

Myself with one of the teenagers from the Village, we partnered up with some of the villagers to get to know them 

Lucy in her Camp International T-Shirt

D having a go on a villagers bike

Teachers sitting outside the local school on there break

The pit, which was one of the projects that we worked on in Muhaka, was a drop-toilet we were building for the local community. It had to be 15 feet deep, not a small hole

One of the Camp Kenya Staff being helped out of The Pit, by some of the children

At the end of the week, we spent a day on a local farm nearby. They were sustainable farmers and sold what they didnt use in the market at the end of the week. They grew coconuts, maze, root vegetables and also had live stock, including goats which we took for a walk! 

A well in the farm

Taking the goats for a walk

One of the staff made a hat out of the leaves off a coconut tree

Villagers making a fishing boat carved from a tree trunk