Discover Top Posts Tagged with #giaraffe

I'm just #chilling with my #pet #NeckHorse (formally known as a #Giaraffe) #Agender #trans #nonbinary #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #condom #condomsation #intersex #intergender #bigender #polygender #genderfluid #pangender #trigender

#intersex #condom #trans #bigender #trigender #agender #lgbtqia #lgbtq #intergender #giaraffe #genderfluid #nonbinary #pet #condomsation #chilling #polygender #pangender #neckhorse #lgbt

in the dark, the moon beckons you to come closer, he has a teasing smile tonight promising you secrets about the stars.

The Freshest Air by Power Poet giaraffe Twist and Shout Scholarship Slam Finalist

#giaraffe #poetry #power poetry #spilled ink #twist and shout slam #scholarship finalist

The Rift Valley, Giraffes and all that jazz.

I got into the car in Nairobi and we started to drive down the highway. I had planned a whirlwind trip to Kenya. A month of seeing all kinds of different projects: wildlife, dog, marine, sea turtle and a few things in between. It was my first full day and after spending the night in Nairobi and I didn’t know what project we were going to see first. I casually tried to pretend I remembered what we agreed upon while I was in the throws of jet lag the night before. The navigator turned around and told me the giraffe project and then added it was in a place called ‘the great rift valley’, had I heard of it?

Did I know the cradle of humanity? Where some of the oldest hominid remains were found? Where some of the most amazing endemic species in central Africa lived? Where rocks from roughly a gazillion years ago could be dated? Yeah, I had heard of it once or twice.

It was a two hour drive through beautiful villages, breathtaking vistas and wide open spaces. The highway was blocked once because a family of baboons took their time to trundle across the road together. When we turned into the conservancy the driver welcomed me to ‘Africa’. There was a herd of zebra across the plane, a family of monkeys curiously looked at me, impala and water buck hid amongst the trees to assess the situation and the great colonial style cabin stood before. I was given a tour of the property and in the library there was a pith helmet. I would be living on the old grounds of Lord and Lady Delamere, colonists from the UK who decided they wanted to have an Out of Africa experience in the late 1800s (note: some of Out of Africa was filmed on this land). It was undeniably beautiful and while I sat on the steps of the office and drank some Nescafe I couldn’t help but think WOW. I would love to tell you there was something more intelligent that went through my head but it was only wow. The lawn was being mowed by the shy impala, huge water buck and a hippo who didn’t mind sharing the grass.

The next day I was shown around and given a better understanding of what our volunteers would be doing there. The Rothschild giraffe is one of the most endangered of all the giraffe sub species. This conservancy was one of the last places on Earth they could be found. That also went for a few types of flamingos and pelicans. Our job would be to drive around in 4x4s and see where these animals were, how big their populations were and record if they were on the move or staying put. This would be crucial to the animals survival. The more we know about these species, the better we can protect them and encourage populations to expand. I asked if veterinarians would be needed. No, was the answer. Kenya Wildlife Service didn’t want any foreign vets to come and volunteer because of the boom in Kenyan veterinary grad every year- about 200! They explained every vet volunteer who came for two weeks, took two weeks of valuable experience away from a local vet who would be using that experience for the rest of his or her life. “It’s important for Canadian vets to know about Canadian animals if they plan on practicing in Canada. It’s equally important for Keyan vets to understand Kenyan wildlife if they plan on practicing in Kenya.” What they needed were hands and feet in the field, they needed volunteers to help with projects that they couldn’t get funding for- like monitoring these animals. As we bounded through the African terrain I couldn’t help but think about how awesome this experience would be for all people who wanted to be up close and personal with these animals, but thought they were underqualified. We saw giraffes, tortoises, baboons, a boa, zebras, water buck, water buffalo, impala, dik-diks and I was told there were lions and other predators who could be seen if I stayed long enough!

The giraffe surveying would happen once a week and water bird surveying would happen once a week, the time off would be spent working in the office and then choosing my own adventure! The estate we live on used to be covered in fences, many of those have been torn down but the metal wire that held the fences up was long abandoned. That wire was being used as snares by poachers. This wire needed to be wound up and brought back for recycling. Prickly pear and Sodom's apple was growing invasively throughout the valley after it had been introduced 100 years ago as a beautiful but not well thought out addition to the gardens. They needed to be dug up and removed. Changing climate systems and drying up springs were meaning animals needed to migrate longer to discover new sources for water. Watering holes needed to be dug, filled, replaced and rebuilt. There is NO wanting for work to do in the service of animals and all in THE RIFT VALLEY.

My last night was spent watching the sun go down imagining the new faces who will be just as excited as I was to see the Rift Valley for the first time. Volunteers who will experience the joy you can only know when your altitude headache goes away. People who always thought poaching was sad but never thought they could DIRECTLY help animals be free from slaughter. Citizen scientists who would go back home and be able to tell their friends they were helping scientists in Kenya better understand the migration patterns of the Rothschild giraffe.

I love my job because not only do I get to experience the excitement of these experiences, I get to share them! I can remember how I almost choked on my own spit breath when I was told we would be heading into the rift valley, I can’t wait for other people to feel that way.

We need more people to volunteer with us in the rift valley. Think you have what it takes to live in a cabin in the rift valley, count giraffes and then help with the maintenance of a wildlife conservancy? I think you do, so why not contact us and start your adventure today.

Nora Livingstone, co-founder Animal Experience International