Kristi Girdharry is a new intern at GoNOMAD. She submitted her first story the other day, and my Associate Editor Steve, said, “hell, she doesn’t need us!” He meant that she had enough talent to not need editing. That’s what we like in an intern. Kristi’s story was about Earthwatch, an organization that among other things takes people out to observe elephants in Namibia. Here is a snip.
“Why elephants? Now there is a question…” starts Dr. Keith Leggett, leader of the Desert elephants of Namibia expedition, “The short answer is long term fascination and [the] opportunity to work in really remote places. Of course the long version of this requires several bottles of red wine and a long time…”
Fascination and opportunity. These two words lend new meaning to those fortunate enough to work alongside Dr. Leggett. Thanks to the Earthwatch Institute, volunteers from around the world are able to come together with professionals and do some good in nature with their vacation time. This particular expedition works with the elephants of Namibia, intelligent and highly social mammals, who live in the Namib Desert.
So why do they bother? Although these elephants have adapted to living in the desert, they still require about 30 gallons of water a day. This causes them to be quite damaging—pushing down trees and trampling anything in their path. It is difficult for humans to live their lives with these massive creatures that tend to be rather destructive.
At the same time, these massive creatures are also a huge tourist attraction. Having income from tourists might be one of the only things saving this poor country. In order to come to an understanding with the elephants, Dr. Leggett is looking into their routines and ecology. Hopefully this will lead to a solution that will help humans and elephants coexist.”
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