Rewind; - its build week.

The Ethical Hedonist - EHRA from onethreemedia on Vimeo.

Build week.

I suppose I should explain why I'm here.

For the next 3 months I'll be working for EHRA. Elephant Human Relations Aid.

Its a charitable / not for profit organisation set up by my old desert stomping pal Johannes Haasbroek.

I'd been here before of course.

"Here" being out in the Ugab. Back in '98 I was here with Raleigh International. We were doing a survey of the flora and fauna in the river system. Covered about 180km or so from Sorris Sorris down to the sea. We also tracked and monitored the rare desert adapted Black Rhino and climbed the Brandberg.

"I'll be back" were my parting words as we said goodbye to each other down at Brandberg Wes SRT 9Sa Camp... and I've been getting nearer and nearer to a return with each visit to Namibia since I started going back in 2006.

So I'm here. Preparing to be the "Volunteer Coordinator".

Every two weeks we'll be getting a new group of volunteers that have come from all over the world to hug elephants....sorry, I mean take part in the de-confliction programmes and projects designed to help the local populations of both humans and elephants survive in this - the toughest of environments.

I'm actually doing all the volunteers a great dis-service. They really are a great bunch of dedicated, motivated and hard working people. I count them amonst my friends.

Each 2 week turnaround is broken down in to two phases. Phase One is build week.

Volunteers arrive on a Sunday and get Monday morning to head into town and buy any last supplies they think they'll need out in the bush. By lunchtime we've got the vehicles loaded and are heading out to the desert camp 286km of dirt road away.
We arrive in camp mid afternoon and the rest of the day is pretty hectic. All the food and supplies need to be sorted for the week ahead and the volunteers get their first meal cooked over the open fire. Its a well tried and practiced menu for the two weeks and everybody gets paired off to take a turn at the cooking.

Angela and Karen are up first with their version of Spaghetti Bolognese.

Its tricky. We have to cater for all sorts of food intolerances and day one is no exception. No tomatoes, no gluten, no mushrooms, no meat etc etc. You end up with a couple of extra pots on the fire or a carefully coreographed sequence of additions to the pot in order to satisfy everybody.

They got away with it - mostly. Pasta is actually one of the toughest things to get right when you are cooking for so many. We dont have the luxury of rinsing it under the hot tap to stop it sticking etc, so it soon starts to "set"!

Up early on the Tuesday and we head about 35km down river to De Rust. A small community with an exposed pump that draws water into their reservoir.
Fifteen bags of cement, shovels, wheelbarrows etc are all loaded onto the trailer, and our cooking pots, food, tents, sleeping kit etc are loaded on to the truck, along with the bare minimum of personal kit to see us through the week.
We'll be living rough - although some rougher than others. I've chosen to take one set of clothes other than the ones I'm standing in, and a toothbrush. There'll be no water for washing. We use the animals drinking trough to get the worst of the grime, cement dust and sweat off of us. More on this later.

So this is "Build Week". Tuesday to Saturday sweating and working your nuts off to build half a protective wall around the deisel pump that supplies the entire community with its life blood....clean water.

The building materials are local. We hump rocks from the nearby koppies and dig the sand from the river bed.

Its back breaking work

By mid day the temperature is over 40 degrees and you stop for lunch. Work starts again at around 1530hrs and its all you can do to scrape thru 'til around five. The only clean up you get is a quick splash down in the drinking trough. Take your T-shirt off and use it as a flannel. you didn't bring a towel and using soap is out of the question.
If you'r lucky, by the end of the week you'll have half a wall built. Its got to be a foot and a half think and up to your shoulders. Remember that its going to get a nudge from a four ton elephant. The entrance is just wide enough for a man to go through sideways. - Any wider than that and an elephant will be able to get a front foot and a shoulder in. From then on its history...

On to the wildlife...

The Mopane bees are a nightmare. They are the smallest of African bees and are actually quite harmless;- but they buzz around you incessantly. They drive you mad.

Then there are the scorpions.

Parabuthus.

The most venomous scorpions in southern Africa.

Here's what they say about them...

"It should be noted that all Parabuthus species have the potential to inflict serious symptoms. It must be noted that many human fatalities occur in rural areas where little or no medical attention is administered."




Nice little critters they aint. And did I mention that we're 286km from the hospital and we don't carry anti venom?

And the spiders.

I was bitten by a spider and had three wounds that simply wouldn't heal. Apart from the necrosis, they got infected (as did my blood) from the filthy trough water and proved to be a substantial problem. I would need to squeeze the puss from them daily and they would got ever deeper as the result of the secondary cellulitis.

A week or so later and the swolen area was the size of a cricket ball and felt like it was on fire. At the centre was the original bite area with the flesh gradually rotting away around it.

Afetr Build Week comes the weekend.

Saturday is used for washing your clothes and getting scrubbed up in the shower, and on Sunday we head into Uis (the local village) to get fresh food supplies, fuel, and a cold beer at the resthouse.

Monday takes us into Phase Two

Patrol Week.

I vital part of our work is to get out into the bush and monitor the health and welfare of the local herds.

They often wander into the communities and cause a bit of damage. Sometimes the elephants were there first, sometimes it was the farmers,- but either way, there needs to be a balance. All too often the herds are showing signs of distress or physical damage at the hand of those that feel they have been aggrieved. Provisionally we get reports of a dead or wounded elephant. Sometimes we come across a carcase. Its easy to point a finger - but it isn't me who feels his life or family are threatened.

We head out on a roving patrol and try to pick up spoor. If we're lucky we'll get to follow a herd, gradually getting closer and closer as the animals begin to feel more relaxed with the presence of the vehicles. We peel off at around 1700hrs and look for a suitable place to set up camp for the night. We find a koppie and put the tents right up close. The vehicles are on either end and front is protected by our fire Tents offer up a little privacy and some protection for the volunteers. An elephant wont stand on one.

Matthias, Neil and I will usually sleep in the open at the edge of camp. We'll be alerted first of any presence. If the weather turns we'll roll under a vehicle or under the kitchen tarp.

Neil will GPS log the locations of the herds and take as many identifying photos as possible.

It usually takes two groups to complete a wall and we try to vary the locations of the patrols so we can monitor several herds.

And so it goes;- until Thursday, when we head back to camp and prepare for the return to Swakopmund on the Friday. A nice dinner and a night out clubbing are usually followed by a semi hung over Saturday watching the rugby, or some vehicle maintenance and resupply. Sunday evening we meet the new group and then on Monday we head out to do it all again.

So thats how it went.

For two groups anyway.

On Tuesday 1st March we're heading out on our way to the second build site we have lined up. There are less of us this week - eleven all in; so we squeeze on to one truck and we load it to the gunnels. All up I reckon its about three and a half tons.

Its hectic in camp. hasty repairs and a problem with the fridges has put us behind schedule. All in all its a bit of a bodge. Neil isnt with us either. He's away on other duties trying to sort some community relations with the MET (Ministry of Environment and Tourism)

No worries though. Jess and I have it in hand and a number of the group have carried over. Tristan, Angela and Karen have signed on for the long term and they know the score pretty good too.

So we head out.

Build Week.

And at 1124hrs the shit well and truly hits the fan....