About a year ago, I lived on an infamous Kenyan island for a few days. I was in the company of brave wildlife soldiers. Soldiers who also have families and dreams. Soldiers who put their lives at risk for our endangered wildlife in Kenya... every single day.
In September 2021, I embarked on a mission to work with wildlife rangers of Ulinzi Africa Foundation to better understand the work that they do. I was not prepared for what was to come. I didn't think that I would allow myself to be immersed into the full experience. But I suppose the expedition forced me to learn new things about myself.
While I was lying down in the thick bush, covered by ants, listening to the awful moan of hyenas, I told myself that I need to write about this experience. I need to tell my story as creatively and realistically as I can. Well, here goes:
I wore my favourite pair of black jeans, a warm hoodie and my best hiking boots and walked into what could be called the patio of the rugged home I was staying at. Not to my surprise, I stuck out like a sore thumb. My face was beaming with excitement not weary of what was lying ahead.
The rangers were motivated, fearless and strategic. We discussed the ambush plan and finalised all the last minute preparations.
Disclaimer: I am going to omit sensitive information that could compromise the success of Ulinzi Africa Foundation's operations and the safety of its rangers.
My pupils dilated and contracted as I tried to see in pitch darkness. The only light available for guidance, was that of the moon, and which wasn't at its peak on that night. The air was crisp but eerie. The ambience was bittersweet, and I couldn't understand why. I had no expectations of what would happen that night. I didn't ask any rangers about their previous experiences, I didn't watch any movies or read any books on what a poacher ambush entails. I just went in.
I was stationed with the group of rangers in possession of weapons such as the handheld jambiya which is a Yemeni dagger and a rifle. One of the rangers whom I will call Kifaru for the sake of this story, instructed me to do as he said. "If I say jump, you must jump. If I say run, you must run", he calmly disclaimed. When he finished instructing me, there was pin drop silence in the air. It was then that I realised that I was in a life-threatening scenario.
I was lying down on the ground in a rather uncomfortable position, thinking to myself that I definitely had no stamina compared to what was required for this ambush. After a while, I got tired and decided to wear my hoodie and rest my head on the ground. Kifaru immediately whispered in my ear and told me to continue leaning on my elbows because safari ants would use my head on the ground to get onto my body, by crawling on my neck. To my despair, I had to follows Kifaru's orders.
In retrospect, I think I was insane to feel sleepy while in such a tense situation. Because it was quiet for what felt like hours, I could feel my eyelids slowly closing as my eyes relaxed and stopped straining to see clearly. I started to think about my parents and what they would have to say about this risky operation. If my dad was watching me from up there, shaking his head in fear. I wondered if I would get to see my mum again. My thoughts were interrupted by Kifaru who blindly poked his jambiya in the area around us, claiming that there was a hyena nearby. Suddenly, I heard the jaw-clenching laughter that caused a chill down my spine. However even in that moment, I wasn't concerned about the hyenas. I was more terrified of the poachers and the potential weapons they would be holding.
Kifaru and I looked into the blackness ahead of us when suddenly there was a glimmer... a glimmer of hope to catch the poachers. But also, a glimmer of the poachers powerful torches. I saw about three torches flashing in the distance. Their painfully bright lights aggressively cut through the dense forest. The light shone so brightly and almost threatened to reveal the anxious faces of the rangers. The poachers were flashing their torches in different directions, in search for some prey. I ducked my head, tightly shut my eyes and held my breath when the bright light graced my face.
Within minutes, the torch lights moved closer and closer. I could finally hear the poachers' voices. They chatted away, as if enjoying a Sunday afternoon stroll on the streets. Suddenly, I spotted three more torch lights. The poachers voices grew louder and louder and the torch lights became stronger and stronger. And I moved lower and lower. I was almost flat on the ground, crouching behind Kifaru. My heart was racing and I could feel it thumping in my throat. I started mumbling a prayer for safety, crossing my fingers that the poachers had anything but guns.
I closed my eyes as I prayed for the impossible. I prayed for all of this to go away and for me to be teleported back home. The poachers unexpectedly stumbled onto the wall of brave wildlife soldiers waiting for them. Within seconds, they skipped away in different directions. The armed ranger shot two deafening blanks in the air. Kifaru painfully grabbed my arm and ordered me to run behind him. 'What is happening', I thought. It felt like a movie scene... surreal. I was blindly running for my life in a dark forest.
I ran for a few long seconds before a branch scraped my eyelid and disoriented me. I lost balance, sprained my ankle and fell down. I felt like a child, playing a game only adults were allowed to play. I felt humiliated, even though it was pitch black and none of the rangers could really see me, except Kifaru who was holding my hand. "Are you okay?", he asked me. I nodded 'yes' and we continued running. There was so much confusion in the air. Some of the rangers ran after the poachers. Their ground-shaking footsteps faded into the night. All of a sudden, there was pin-drop silence again.
The sharp-shooting pain in my foot forced me to clench my teeth and tightly shut my eyes. Kifaru saw my expression and miraculously removed a miniature first aid kit from his combat jacket. As the night progressed, more unfamiliar and strange things took place. "Here, let me wrap your foot", he said. As he was bandaging my foot, we saw torch lights slowly approaching us. My heart started racing. Kifaru quickly bandaged my foot and tried shoving it into my lovely hiking boots. The thickness of the bandage meant that my shoe was tighter than usual. I clenched my teeth and shut my eyes once again as Kifaru painfully and forcefully shoved my foot into the shoe. I then carelessly tied my shoe laces and stood up, ready to run.
"We lost them", said a familiar voice. Luckily, the oncoming torches were held by our own. "But we stopped them from poaching tonight", he said as he grinned and raised a bunch of bows and arrows. The other rangers cheered with delight. And just like that, the rangers had achieved their mission that night. The poachers got away, but without their weapons, and so there was no animal that they could kill that night.
As the rangers excitedly reiterated their experience of the night, I smiled and limped towards the patrol car. "I'm okay", I said as I swallowed the pain and processed my first poacher's ambush.
As we sat in the vehicle and drove back home, my head was buzzing, still trying to process what had just happened. My foot expanded, threatening to tear-open my shoe. The piercing pain in my foot started to extend to the rest of my body. I wondered if I tore a muscle. It didn't matter much in that moment, since the nearest hospital was in the nearest big town and it would take hours to get there.
I could not understand the rangers' zest and zeal as they already started to analyse the ambush, and plan the approach of the next one. I had never witnessed such dedication in my life. Despite their lives being threatened, they willingly put themselves out there for their love for wildlife, and conservation of our delicate ecosystem.
To most people, Kipini Forest is just a large piece of land with a lot of trees and some wild animals. But in reality, it is a significant and delicate chunk of the wider ecosystem in Kenya. From microscopic creatures, to those that rule the land and those that swim in the underwater world, Kipini Forest is a unique ecosystem under severe threat in many ways. Many do not know that Kipini Island is home to lions and elephants that elegantly walk across sandy ocean shores.
Bushmeat poachers pose a consistent threat as they target helpless wildlife such as porcupines. Ivory hunters see it as a marginalised zone with poaching potential. The threats are countless. Not everyone would want to do something as risky as I did. But there are always other ways to support Ulinzi Africa Foundation and its mission. Remaining silent might mean that we allow our precious wildlife to be lost to extinction. Biodiversity loss leads to an upset in the ecosystem and devastating climate change impact.
What can you do to help?
Those in Kenya can support by donating as little as KES 500 (USD 5) via https://www.mchanga.africa/fundraiser/54838
Those in the US can donate via www.generationawakening.org
Those in the UK can donate via https://www.bornfree.org.uk/ulinzi-africa-foundation
Those in any other part of the world can donate via https://walkwithrangers.org/get-involved/donate/
Thank you to Ulinzi Africa Foundation for giving me an experience of a lifetime. One that was humbling, eye-opening, mind-boggling, heart-wrenching, jaw-clenching and simply unforgettable.
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