Only Elephants Should Wear Ivory
We see a different Africa, a luxurious one, ensconced in
tents in five star resorts, devouring international cuisine and going on
safaris in top of the line safari vans. And then, one day, I met Aruna Varsani,
who had taken on the challenge of venturing into a different part of Africa,
the one we had only heard about, felt sad about and seen pictures of…I was
shaken to the core when I heard Aruna’s
Tsavo story and looked at her detailed pictures.
I began by asking Aruna the motivation behind undertaking
such a unique adventure. She candidly revealed that she wanted to come out of
her comfort zone (very similar to the one I am currently wallowing in) and that
she wanted to volunteer to do her bit towards elephants who are poached for
ivory. She wanted to interact with the people on ground, the ones who risked
their very lives to protect elephants.
Her biggest challenge?
To survive a twelve
day trek, with a bare minimum of resources available, be it food or water.
The Bus To Tsavo
On a cold August morning, leaving behind her husband and
young children, Aruna boarded the bus in Nairobi, joining a group of complete
strangers, to spend a period of twelve whole days and nights in the wilderness
of Tsavo, that humongous national park, once so lovingly nurtured by David
Sheldrik.
A seven hour drive, with a brief lunch halt at the very old
Sikh temple at Makindu, found the group in Tsavo by 9:30 at night. An open
camping ground awaited them. They had to unload the bus themselves and pitch
their own tents. Aruna was feeling
completely lost as she had no clue about how to set up the tent. This was her
first camping experience. Two rangers accompanied the team, helping them light
a bonfire and keeping a look out for wild animals, even as the team readied for
the night.
Luckily for Aruna, her tent partner knew how to set up a tent. So Aruna handed over materials as
and when needed and hunted for stones to hammer the tent pegs in, working in the
inky, impenetrable darkness that descends over Tsavo, the minute the sun sets.
The First Camp
Soup from a packet of soup powder was made over the bonfire
and then devoured with bread that had been bought in Nairobi, early that
morning. Given how elaborate even everyday Indian meals are, Aruna could barely
swallow this makeshift meal. Then it was time for the briefing for the next
day.
Briefing Around The Camp Fire
Back into the tent, sleep eluded Aruna. Every sound is
magnified in the jungle and, as the night wore on, newer sounds added to the
threat level. Finally after tossing and turning for hours, Aruna joined the
rangers who were still sitting around the fire and requested them to heat some
water for her to sip, in order to ward off the chill of the night.
Come morning, they only had water to brush their teeth. A
shower was a luxury they could not afford that first morning! Clothes had to be
in earthen colours, in order to provide a good camouflage in the jungle.
Perfume in any form was strictly forbidden and after a morning briefing about
the day’s twenty kilometre march and a meagre breakfast of black tea and bread,
the group was ready to set off through the thorny Acacia trees that thickly
dotted the landscape.Talking was out of question, and they could tap a person’s
hand to attract his or her attention. There were two reasons for this. One was
to avoid attracting wild animals and the other was to avoid alerting poachers
to the fact that a patrol was close by.
And The Walk With Rangers Begins...
As they forged ahead, spiders, ticks and snakes entangled in
the branches were what they had to watch out for. The intense heat, a
sleepless night and a frugal lunch of rice and fruits meant Aruna was exhausted, even though the walk through Tsavo had barely begun…
After facing the challenge of pitching the tent again for
the next night, Aruna had to be content with wiping herself down with wet wipes
and a fresh set of clothes, as only a mug of water was allotted to each camper.
A Typical Camp
The next day, the landscape changed to tall grasslands,
interspersed with trees. They saw wild buffalo grazing nearby and had to
maintain absolute silence as they were in danger of being charged at. They also
came across zebras, giraffes, deer and ostriches, reminding Aruna that she was
very much in Africa, without the comfort of a safari vehicle.
The third day meant an entry into dangerous terrain. They
came across dry bones of elephants who had been killed for ivory and also saw
bones of dikdiks (a type of small deer), killed by poachers for meat. The
reality did not hit Aruna then… A little later the group was hit by a powerful
stench. They stumbled upon the half rotten, maggot infested carcass of a huge
elephant, with its face smashed in, to remove the portion of the tusks that is
embedded deep inside. It was obvious the animal had been killed by a poisoned
arrow, as poisoned flesh smells worse than that of an animal killed by other
means. Also, the flesh remains untouched by scavengers like hyenas and jackals.
The ground still bore evidence of the gigantic beast’s desperate
struggle to survive after it had been hit by the arrows. Aruna’s heart almost
stopped at this heart wrenching sight. After searching for some evidence which
would point towards poachers, the rangers paid respect to the elephant by
laying a small branch across it. Aruna, being a believer in the elephant god,
Ganesh, knelt on the ground and bowed her head low, saying a heartfelt sorry
for the cruelty that a member of the human race had inflicted upon the innocent
animal.
That First Carcass:The Agony...
A few more kilometres ahead, they came across a six month
old skeleton of yet another elephant. The rangers told them an interesting
story. After an elephant has been reduced to a mere skeleton, other elephants
come and arrange bones in their original shape, no matter how many times they
are scattered around by other animals.
Finally the day dawned when the campers were allowed a
bucket of water for a shower in the jungle! A banner was strung around a few
sticks which had been fixed into the
ground, in a half moon shape and flat stones were placed on the ground for the
person to stand on. A buddy system was used to issue warnings, in case other
people approached the area. When Aruna’s turn came, she rubbed shampoo into her
long hair. Soon she heard the buzzing of bees, attracted by the floral
fragrance! Suddenly the no perfume rule made sense! Aruna frantically poured
all her water on her hair and yelled for her friend to hand over her bucket as
well. Finally all the shampoo was washed off and a simple bath had turned into
an adventure! Never mind that she had to trudge back to camp to refill the
bucket for her friend…
Sunrise In The Tsavo
Another sunrise, another day, and coming across more carcasses and
bones depressed Aruna and started bogging her down. They hardly spotted any living animals as
animals are smart enough to avoid areas with more bones, directly proportional
to poacher activity in a particular area. The landscape changed yet again to
knee level grass, where they had to watch out for snakes. Here, Aruna found a coin,
this time a Euro, as is the norm for her on every single trip she has taken!
She termed it her lucky Euro, as she finally saw a few more living animals that
day, which helped to lift her sagging spirits.
Aruna's Lucky Euro!
That night, her bathroom was the breadth of a thick tree
trunk, with a towel held by her tent partner from the other side. Stars
twinkled down on her from a dark sky. By now, Aruna was more in tune with the
jungle and said she enjoyed the refreshing bath more than any she had had in
her Jaguar fitted bathroom at home. A basic meal of rice and pasta followed, (with a side of a green chilly to add some spice!) along with an exchange of ideas and experiences and a warning that now they
would enter an area thickly infested with poachers.
A Frugal Meal
They next ventured into an area of mostly dead trees,
bleached white by the sun. These trees had low branches with grass growing in between.
Poachers had placed cleverly camouflaged snares here, to entrap small animals,
which the team helped to remove. Later in the day, they also came across snares
for elephants, hanging from branches, halfway up the trees. It becomes very easy for poachers to kill
trapped elephants.
And she's removed a snare! Aruna:1, Poachers:0
That day Aruna interviewed Rangers, asking them about the
difficulties they face. Many of them do not have footwear suitable for long
marches across the terrain, very few of them are armed and they go days without
meeting their families. And yet they remain loyal to their work and their
country.
Rangers: Against All Odds...
A snack break on a rough road led to a quick encounter with
a snake. The guide signalled for everyone to halt and let the snake go its way.
Though panic stricken, Aruna learnt that everything in the jungle does not harm
you and it’s nice to live and let live.
A little while later, they came across some miners, digging
channels beneath the ground for semi precious stones, an activity that is not
strictly legal. The men came out of the tunnels with handfuls of stones in the
most gorgeous colours. The team leader identified the stones as a type of ruby
and green, yellow and red agates. When
asked why they were indulging in this activity, the men, with chapped hands and broken nails as they have no tools to dig with, replied that this was their
only means of sustenance. They further added that these stones, found deep in
the jungles of Tsavo, eventually make their way into the gem stone factories of
Jaipur and Udaipur, in Rajasthan, India!
Uncut Agates Dug Out With Bare Hands
The following day brought another illegal activity to the
fore: Logging: the cutting down of trees for firewood. The father and his young
son (whose school had burned down and never been rebuilt) were counselled by
the team as to how they were harming the environment by felling trees. The team
burnt the stash of firewood accumulated by the duo and also pulled down their
dwelling, in a strong bid to discourage them from remaining in the area and
causing further harm. It was also a day when they had walked a sum total of
thirty two kilometres, resulting in blisters on Aruna’s feet, which required
first aid and had to be popped with a hastily sterilized needle.
The next day they had to traverse such difficult terrain
that they were given an ancient German truck. Branches entered the truck as it
forced its way through the jungle and had to be chopped off, before they could
proceed further. Leaves, dust, spiders, liberally showered the group inside the
truck and the floor became invisible by the time they were through. The truck took
them up a cliff, which was to be their camping spot and which also gave them a
bird’s eye view of the jungle. Tents were put up, even as the sun set over
Tsavo, giving them a glimpse of yet another beautiful vista. That night, for
the first time, the group heard lions
roaring really close by, giving Aruna yet another sleepless night, as the only
protection they had was a flimsy tent! It was also a scorpion ridden area, so
the tent had to be tightly zipped up at all times…
Hacking Branches Through The Truck To Make Way!
The group came down the cliff the next morning and walked a
few kilometres, but then were told to retreat, as there was firing between
poachers and forest officials. They had lunch on the cliff top, even as they
kept an eye on the chopper circling overhead, while awaiting news regarding the
poachers. Then they heard that an elephant carcass had been found nearby, with
just one of the tusks removed. The group
was taken to the freshly killed elephant but were then rushed back to the cliff
top, as the area was rife with danger.
More Agony
The rangers then set a trap near the carcass. They hid
themselves in a tree, along with a few experienced people from Aruna’s group.
At dusk, the poacher returned to the scene of the crime. He was caught red
handed trying to remove the second tusk and was then handed over to the police
at Voi, the nearest town.
The entire group was later taken back to the carcass and the
rangers had to remove the remaining tusk. They were equipped with just an axe
and did not even have gloves or masks. They were literally risking their lives
and Aruna felt deeply disturbed at this injustice. After the task was over,
they had no soap or disinfectant but just used plain water to wash off
splattered blood. This scenario had a deep
impact on Aruna’s mind and gave her an insight into the ground reality at
Tsavo.
The Tusk That Was Left Behind...
That night, no lions were heard and the group opted to sleep under an
open sky, scorpions notwithstanding! They were rewarded by a brilliant
meteorite shower, as if the heavens themselves were thanking the little band of
volunteers for their perseverance against poachers and for risking their lives
in the bush.
Finally the Walk came to an end. The person who had entered
Tsavo at one end, was not the same person who exited at the other end. A toughened Aruna emerged out into
civilization after twelve long days…As we wound up our discussion, Aruna shared
an interesting anecdote.
Midway through the trip, though the Internet was
intermittent, Aruna began posting pictures on Facebook. At that time her husband was attending a very
close family friend’s wedding. People began walking up to him right in the
middle of the festivities and asked him outright what kind of a husband he was
to send his wife on such a dangerous trip! They even advised him to recall
Aruna, mid way through the trip! He sweetly messaged her to take care and to complete
the trip safely… Kudos to him!
When her sister came to know that the group had been caught
in the cross fire and had had to retreat, she was furious and gave Aruna an
earful for endangering her life. Then Aruna stopped posting pictures and
snippets of information, until she was safely back in Nairobi.
The Indian community, that Aruna belongs to, gifts an ivory
bangle to the newly wed daughter. After hearing about the plight of elephants
in Tsavo, a good friend of hers from the same community remarked that she hoped
Aruna’s experiences would help end this ancient practice. As Aruna rightly
points out,” You cannot take a life in order to bless a girl beginning her new
life!”
Before Aruna set off on this unique ‘Walk With Rangers’, she
came up with an interesting fund raising idea.
She posted the advertisement banner on FaceBook and asked people to
comment below, mentioning in one line how and when they had first met Aruna. She would personally donate a hundred Kenyan
shillings (One US dollar) for each comment.
Aruna collected Fifteen Thousand Kenyan Shillings, which she
used to buy shoes for the rangers who walk the long walk through Tsavo, not
once in a lifetime like her, but for every single day of their working lives…
Aruna, through her Tsavo walk, touched not just lives but also hearts and
believes she has made a bit of a positive difference in the lives of the mighty
Tuskers and the indefatigable Rangers.
To donate to Walk With Rangers Or To Know More Please Click The Link Above. Thanks!
