Out to "Africa"

Giraffe feeding

Jeremy & Moses (notice the elephants in the background)

As Jeremy’s four year old son Moses asked when Jeremy told him we were going camping in Endumet (on the slopes of western Mt. Kilimanjaro), “Are we going to ‘Africa’, Baba?”  How right he was!  In order to truly experience and engage in Honeyguide’s community-based projects, out into “Africa” we went.  Cruising along the highway north of Arusha, we turned off onto a bumpy dirt road.  After 2 ½ hours of rough terrain (remember of course that Danielle is 30+ weeks pregnant), we arrived at our campsite just in time to set up camp before dark.  Experienced Honeyguide staff transformed the underbrush of a giant acacia tree into our home for the next few days.  In less than a half hour, they unpacked the vehicles, put up 5 tents (plus a designated “ladies” toilet tent), started a fire, and were boiling hot water for tea.  We rolled out our bed mats and sleeping bags and suddenly caught each other’s eyes – two inexperienced “muzungus” from inner city Boston setting up camp in the bush!  We laughed until we had tears streaming down our faces! 

camp at night

As the sun set fiery red over the endless expanse of wilderness, we breathed in the fresh Tanzanian air and sipped our hot tea.  “There is no place on earth like this!” Terri exclaimed.  As darkness overtook us and the fire glowed strong in the middle of our campsite, Erik our cook prepared a delicious meal of pasta and vegetable curry for our dinner.  Damian, Honeyguide’s co-founder, told us tales of Honeguide’s history and of his passion for conservation and working with local communities.  As we chatted, Danielle spotted something reddish crawling in the sand underfoot… a ‘not-so-friendly’ scorpion! Damian removed himself calmly from his seat and swiftly stamped the life out of the scorpion with the butt of his beer bottle.  He gallantly assured us not to worry; we would never find one in our tent.  We accepted this – because we really had no other option – and the lively conversation continued with the dead scorpion laying in the dust.  Some impala snorted in the brush nearby and we took another sip of tea.  In the words of 4-year-old Moses, “We were in AFRICA!”  

Terri and Mo hunting for bones (notice the Maasai herding cattle in the background)

Erik (our camp cook extraordinaire)

Danielle setting up camp

friendly zebra momma and baby

It's totally "normal" to go camping out in the Tanzanian bush at 30+ weeks pregnant, right?

Welcome to the Honeyguide Foundation!

Mt. Kilimanjaro from the air

After circling around the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro with picturesque views of the summit, we landed in mainland Tanzania for our final adventure!  We started at the Honeyguide offices, learning of the history and work of the organization.  Our first day was meant as an introduction to the people who founded the organization and then the story of how and why the concept Honeyguide was established in 2007.  Through careful and pensive conversation with Ole Kirimbai, a Maasai elder and head of conservation for Honeyguide, we were able to unravel a story of why Honeyguide is such a vital component to preserving the wildlife in Tanzania. 

We learned there are two main objectives to Honeyguide:

1)   community development with an emphasis on conservation

2)   working hand in hand with the communities to problem solve around human/wildlife interactions and conflicts

Within these two objectives, four operation areas are targeted:

1)    Resource protection

2)    Enterprise development

3)    Conservation management

4)    Conservation education

Three Honeyguide staff members, Marcelina, Lasima, and Fathili, presented us with a detailed description of the varying operations.  Nearly 70% of wildlife in Tanzania lives and/or moves outside of government protected national parks during necessary migration for food, water, breeding, etc.  When the wildlife is in these areas where communities live and farm, there is often human/wildlife conflict.  For example, a farmer can have his entire crop destroyed, that took the whole season to grow, in one night by a herd of hungry elephants.  This leaves him and his family with no income and in desperate economic circumstances.  Naturally, the first response is to retaliate against the elephants (this is classified as domestic poaching). 

Danielle, Ole Kirimbai, Terri at Honeyguide Office bomas

In response to this problem, Honeyguide has developed a system for crop protection.  In collaboration with rangers, they train and provide farmers with a kit that keeps the elephants from crossing into their property.  First, they shine strong lights at the elephants, which they don’t like.  Then, they blow an airhorn, which is annoying to the elephants.   Usually, this works in deterring the elephants from crossing into farmland.  However, if a strong bull or strong matriarch resists, they throw a chili bomb.  This greatly disturbs the elephant (although has no long lasting effects), because the tip of the trunk is 10 times more sensitive than a human finger.  The long-term aim is to make passage for the elephants seamless through the designated corridors (areas that are specific for animal migration between national parks).  They are relying on the elephants’ incredible intelligence to remember the safety of the corridors over the temptation of the farmland.  Elephants can remember their exact path of migration even 35 years after they have passed through a place.  They will seek the path of least resistance.

Lasima, Terri, Fathili, Danielle, & Marcelina

Just 2 years ago, over 300 acres of crops were destroyed during elephant migrations.  So far this year, only 10 acres have been destroyed.  Working closely with Honeyguide has resulted in a decrease in retaliation poaching and much happier communities.

An example of how Honeyguide is addressing business poaching is with their Dog Tracker Unit.  The highly trained tracker dogs can pick up human scents even three days after an individual has passed through an area.  Contracts to construct roads and buildings in East Africa have been given to Chinese investors.  Huge containers filled with building materials are shipped to ports along the coast and returned to China filled with ivory.  The demand in China and Thailand for ivory is extensive due to the association with ivory as a status symbol of wealth.  If there was no market for this, the poaching demand would not be so prevalent.  However, as you saw in our previous post from Kenya, currently every 15 minutes an elephant is being killed specifically for their ivory tusks with the massive elephant carcass left to rot.  Honeyguide’s dogs with their ranger companions are a vital force in identifying and bringing poachers to justice.  

This is just a taste of Honeyguide’s work!  Impressive, isn’t it?  From here, we were off to the field to see the work in action and to visit schools and communities to learn first-hand about Honeyguide’s education projects. 

We are so thankful to Jeremy, our friend and Honeyguide host extraordinaire, and all of the folks at Honeyguide for this opportunity!  Thank you!

Institute of Marine Sciences

On our last day in Zanzibar, we met with Dr. Narriman Jiddawi, senior lecturer at the Institute of Marine Sciences.  She was a remarkable hostess, touring us through the facilities at the IMS and speaking with us about her coral reef research.  Dr. Jiddawi has conducted extensive work in marine and coastal areas of East Africa, especially Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania.  Her work has enhanced local people’s knowledge of daily life in relationship to coastal and marine ecosystems.  She established the Zanzibar Turtle Committee, whose role is to work with local communities to ensure that turtles are protected (see “Sea Turtles & Community Conservation” post).  Furthermore, together with her colleagues at IMS, she is working with local fish industries to reduce pressure on the reefs from fishing and compensate for declining fish landings.  One of her projects, which she showed us in depth, is in collaboration with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute on Cape Cod to address this necessary work.  After our time at the institute, we toured historic Stone Town before heading to the airport to embark upon the next leg of our trip – Honeyguide Foundation, Arusha, Tanzania!

Chumbe Island & Education

The highlight of our Zanzibar excursion was the time we spent on Chumbe Island, a coral reef sanctuary, holding 90% of the coral found in East Africa. The corals act like trees in a forest, they provide home, shelter, and food to over 400 species of fish.  Corals are colonies of very tiny animals called polyps that have a hard rock-like outer skeleton.  The coral reef of Chumbe Island is over 10,000 years old.  Coral reefs are one of the most bio-diverse ecosystems on our planet.  The coral reefs of Zanzibar face many threats, mainly resulting from human activities.  Many efforts are currently in place to try and preserve this precious underwater ecosystem.  Marine Biologists Sarah Pickup and Leigh Howarth from York University in UK were excellent guides for us during our time snorkeling on Chumbe Island.  They answered our many questions and offered to share their marine resources and knowledge with our students in the coming year.  We look forward to a continued relationship with them and to engaging our students with the many underwater photos and videos that we took during our stay at Chumbe. 

  

Picturesque beaches of Chumbe Island

The majestic coral reef (thanks GoPro camera)

Exhausted BUT VERY happy snorkelers

Terri journaling with a spectacular view of the Indian Ocean

Photo opp with Leigh and Sarah

Our "office" where we read up on coral reefs and identified the marine life we had observed.

Our island "eco-hut" 

Sea Turtles & Community Conservation

Since Zanzibar is the world’s only home to the endangered Colobus monkey, the need to protect this important species goes without saying.  Conservationists are working hard with local populations to establish community projects that bring in revenue to repay farmers when the monkeys make a meal out of their crops.  We had the opportunity to visit some of these project sites.  We visited fisheries and tortoise protection sites.  We also had the opportunity to see where locals were collaborating with scientists to protect the endangered green sea turtles.  These beautiful creatures are sought after for their meat and their shell for jewelry and decorations.  They are raised in a natural coral sanctuaries where they live until they are ready to breed and are released into the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.  

The Mangroves

Next, we traveled through the mangrove forest, a crucial site for fish breeding.  At low tide, we were able to see three of the eleven different types of mangroves present in East Africa.  Their incredible roots exposed for our viewing pleasure.  Mangroves are a natural barrier to decrease erosion and flooding on the island.  Without them, the island would not survive.  The mangroves have incredible behavioral adaptations.  The cell membranes of the batrus roots remove excess salt from the ocean water so that the mangrove tree can survive.  Furthermore, the tree also drops it’s leaves into the water to absorb the salt.  It’s not often that we think of plants with such behavioral adaptations.  Due to climate change, the water table is constantly rising and the manmade boardwalk through the mangroves needs to be replaced every 12 or so years.        

Welcome to Zanzibar! First stop... Jozani Forest

Skink

millipedes 

From Nairobi, we hopped a flight to Zanzibar island to begin our work of enhancing our Ocean Sciences unit.  We started in the Jozani forest, home to the endemic and rare red Colobus monkey.  We trekked through the excellent nature trails with a very informative guide, collecting information about the many species of plants and animals that call Jozani home.  The forest is 2 meters below sea level and was once part of a coral reef.  Coral fossils peppered the forest floor and giant mahogany trees towered above us.  Since the water table is quite high in the forest, the mahogany trees’ roots depend upon the coral rock to grow so tall.  The lush understory and dense canopy gave a sense of wonder and mystery, as if maybe someone or something was looming underbrush, perhaps the elusive Zanzibar leopard who is said to feed in Jozani Forest at night. 

endangered red Colobus monkey

Red Colobus with baby

A Powerful Wildlife Message

While in Kenya, we jump started our Science study of the unit question, “How are humans and nature interconnected?” by visiting two important sites – The David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and The Giraffe Centre.  The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is committed to the preservation and protection of wildlife, specifically orphaned elephants and rhinos until they can be reintroduced into the wild.  Elephant and rhino poaching is on the rise in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.  Poachers are currently killing one elephant every 15 minutes for ivory!   At this alarming rate, elephant extinction can be expected in the next 7 years.  There are many complex economical, political, and cultural reasons for the recent rise in poaching of these incredible animals.  If there is one message we have heard loud and clear, it is to NEVER purchase ANYTHING made of ivory or you are profoundly supporting poaching and illegal ivory trade!

The Sheldrick Orphanage has had an influx of orphaned babies in the last couple of years.  In Kenya alone, 20,000 elephants were poached last year!  After observing and being introduced to the orphaned elephants, we were moved to adopt an albino elephant “Faraja” for our classroom.  Faraja is 2 ½ years old and comes from the Amboseli region of Kenya.  He was orphaned due to a human/wildlife conflict.  As we travel to Tanzania, we will learn more about the work being done by in Wildlife Management Areas in collaboration with the Honeyguide Foundation in the Amboseli/ Endumet areas to help local people live more symbiotically with wildlife.

Next, we visited the Giraffe Centre, a non-profit organization whose main objective is to provide conservation education for school children and youth of Kenya.  In 2010, FFT sponsored a field trip to the Giraffe Centre for Kilimani School students.  It was a powerful experience for the children to be so “up close and personal” with wild giraffes.  All of the giraffes at the Centre are endangered Rothschild giraffes.  They come to the Centre temporarily to breed and then are released back into the wild.  As human populations grow and increase agricultural activities, expand settlements, and construct roads, the giraffe is losing acacia trees, their main source of food.  The Giraffe Centre is helping to educate local communities on more sustainable practices.

Similar to the elephants and rhinos, the Rothschild giraffe is struggling to survive.  Imagine a world without these majestic beasts!  All of the contacts we have made so far this trip have informed us that education of present-day students and youth is the answer to wildlife survival.  Once local communities are empowered with knowledge and information, they are making changes at the community level to ensure species survival.  We are hearing “wildlife extinction”.  World wide, no one can sit back!  This is a powerful message that we are bringing home to our students in Boston!