We are slowly getting back on our feet here in Samburu and trying to recover from the devastating floods. I will write more soon about my personal experience of being caught in the floods, but for now I wanted to update you on where we are now.
The Save the Elephants research camp is slowly drying out and things are still being recovered from the bushes. Some tents were pulled out from masses of mud and sand and a few belongings recovered. The research centre is dry, power is on and the internet is also working. A temporary camp has been set up with little pup tents on the hill near the camp. The county council trucks also have arrived with water – finally there is clean water and the washing can begin.
I don’t think these computer disks are going to work so well.
Elephant Watch Camp staff are also working hard at removing all the remains of the camp and are also recovering things buried in mud more than 1 km away! They have also set up a temporary camp thanks to tents dropped off by the British Army helicopter.
Oria Douglas-Hamilton, owner of Elephant Watch, at one of the destroyed rooms.
We received a generous donation of 1200 kg of maize meal, which arrived yesterday thanks to STE trustee Pete Henderson and the African Wildlife Foundation. The Red Cross also responded to our appeal and arrived with enough blankets, mosquito nets and cooking utensils for the Samburu rangers and Save the Elephants.
Red Cross representatives (left) handed out supplies.
It is still raining in Samburu. I did manage to drive to our camp in West Gate a few days ago through a temporary road. The rain has made the luggas almost impassable but we just made it through. I checked in with all the guys in camp who are doing well and keeping busy with trying to keep camp dry from the huge amounts of rain we keep getting. We were fortunate – our camp is located about 1 km away from the river. However, others were not so fortunate – and we are trying to assist as much as possible.
It is hard to think about next week or even tomorrow at this stage. We are just thinking of now and planning for the hour. Samburu Reserve will take many months to recover and I hope it wont be too long before tourists will resume coming here. I will be doing my first game drive today to see how the reserve has been affected and to see if Pixie, Nabo, their cubs and the rest of the lions are ok.
I used to love to hear the sound of the Ewaso Nyiro River flow… however now when I hear it at night, I begin to panic and worry that it will come up again.
Thank you to Red Cross, AWF, Tropic Air (who were amazing and came to evacuate tourists and drop water just when we really needed it) and so many others who have assisted us. Many donations are also coming in and we are so grateful for this. This will go directly to getting Samburu back on its feet once again. Thank you and please share your comments.
The 1,200 kg of maize-meal donated to Ewaso Lions for Samburu flood victims.