Three Days With the Kenyan Rangers

I spent some time in Kenya earlier this year. Had some great and some not so great experiences while I was there. My absolute highlight though was my three days out in the bush learning how to conduct anti-poaching with a group of Kenyan Rangers.

Growing up in South Africa, it was instilled from a young age to respect wildlife and enjoy the beauty of it. It was my upbringing that I believe made me so passionate about anti-poaching. The illegal wildlife trade in Africa is rampant, it funds governments, human trafficking, even terrorism. However despite the human cost of poaching, the true victims are the animals. Animals shot, snared or poisoned for a horn, tusk or pelt then discarded is an ultimate disrespect. I have always been brought up with the rule that if you are prepared to end somethings life then it best be because you need to eat.

Anyway, I digress. I'll not name the Rangers and trackers we worked with for their own personal security.

Day 1

We woke up early after a night of neat bourbon and pizzas a little worse for ware. I had a nicely infected tattoo on my ribcage but not wanting to miss this opportunity I'd arranged for a taxi driver/fixer to meet me at our pickup point with some fucidic acid and some amoxycyllin so I wouldn't die. After all I have survived I feel sepsis would be an underwhelming end.

At the pickup point I got my meds and our group of eight waited for our ride. A long wheelbase safari vehicle rocked up with two guys in the front. A tour guide and a ranger. We made our introductions went over our itinerary and got moving. First stop was to the supermarket to get supplies, then we were on our way.

The drive took about four hours. I've seen a fair bit of Kenya in my life but when you have someone as knowledge as our tour guide it widens your perspective. Typical Kenyan roads made for a bumpy ride but that was part of the fun. We stopped half way for a wee and felt that was a good time to test one of the tasers we bought from the locals on our mate. It worked...

We reached our destination around lunch time and quickly set up our tents. We were overlooking a small reservoir. It was beautiful. After lunch round the fire pit we walked to a nearby lodge where the Rangers showed us a video of some of their training and what they do. Their training makes most regular military training look like a day spa. They get hammered. They also told us some facts about what they do. I was pleased to hear they hadn't had a rhino poached since 2017. We went back to the campfire and had dinner and all got to know each other, two armed rangers had joined us at this point. My sleeping bag called me. Tomorrow was going to be a long day...

Day 2

After a rather restless nights sleep due a buffalo deciding to poop literally five feet behind my tent at four in the morning, repeated visits by hyenas and baboons as well a herd of elephants I got up to the smell of coffee, bacon and chapatis. Rearing to go I made sure I had enough water, four litres I reckoned would tide me over for the first patrol. We set off, the Rangers went through some basic drills with us early on but all of us being military they didn't waste much time as this was common ground we shared, tactical patrolling. We moved though the bush in searing heat, growing up in Africa this was nothing new to me, I couldn't help but giggle at some of the other guys constantly on edge thinking a lion or snake would get them any minute.

Along the way we saw a lone hyena, one of my favourite animals, loads of zebra, buck and elephants. We stopped at a viewing point for an hour to look over a lake. One of our guys was a bit worse for ware as he was hungover and only brought a litre of water which was long gone so I gave him a litre of mine to tide him over. I was annoyed at this but was soon distracted by some hippos sighted in the water. All throughout this our tour guide and Rangers enlightened us on animals, tracks, history and even black magic. For our route back we trekked around the lake, seeing a snake along the way caused mass excitement much to the confusion of our Kenyan friends.

Things got a bit serious after a dip in the lake. We were down wind from a massive herd of elephants with many calves. We couldn't take our route back as being wary of us and our scent combined with many young elephants was a recipe for disaster so we waited for about an hour till they moved off. When we got underway, about 500 metres in we stumbled accross another breeding herd. This is when the mood shifted. The lead ranger briefed us to stay in a single file, evenly spaced out and not to make a sound and don't look straight at the elephants. We were now dangerously close to two breeding herds either side. We moved silently through the brush until we were well clear of the danger. We stopped next to a dirt track for a breather where we were told tales how many of these Rangers had been hurt or killed by wildlife. It really drove home what these guys do for me. They hunt poachers which more often than not open fire on them. They are at constant risk of exposure and attack by wildlife. They don't get paid very much. They speak with such love and admiration for these animals. These guys have a sense of duty that is so rare even in the military these days, they truly are warriors fighting a fight worth fighting.

We made our way back to the campsite after just over 20 kilometers of patroling. Exhausted we cooled down and ate. We all started asking so many more question's about what these guys do. This almost extreme patrol had really woken us up to what these guys do. In the early evening the pace slowed. We stayed local the the campsite. This is where the learning really began. We learned about various tracks and spore. How to identify dozens of different animals just by what we could find within a few hundred metres of the campsite. I particularly took an interest in what our tour guide was teaching us. He studied botany so he taught us about various plants and their medicinal uses. After one of our party had been chewing soft bastard bush thorns all day we learned they were a natural afrodisiac, they claimed it explained some things, I didn't ask. After an impala dung spitting contest we walked back to the campsite and heard the guinea fowl going a bit crazy. The Rangers explained this was a warning that a predator was nearby. That explains what happened a few hours later...

Darkness fell so we returned to the campsite. As we chatted around the fire we heard hyenas all around us calling to each other. I can do a ridiculously convincing hyena call so four of us went to the camps edge to try and call one in closer. It didn't work so stupidly we started playing hyena calls over a Bluetooth speaker. This did work, we started to see them come closer. Their eyes reflected through our torches and night vision. When I panned my torch over to the left I saw cat eyes reflecting, I switched to my night vision and realised it was Leopard staring straight at us. It was almost flat to the ground. Terrified, my camp mates walked away briskly without me noticing, so there I was standing by myself in close proximity with a leopard holding a speaker above my head playing hyena noises. Darwinism at its finest. I realised my mates had gone, looked back and the leopard was gone. It was time to go...

Day 3

After another interesting sleep, this time filled with hyena calls and leopard grunts which sound a bit like a dry cough, we woke to coffee, bacon and no one having been eaten, a good start in my book. We packed the campsite up and got on the vehicle. After a short drive we arrive at a Ranger outpost and were greeted by a large group of these Warriors. They explained we would be going out today with the bloodhounds. After another quick lesson on how to counteract poachers anti tracking methods, one of our guys and two Rangers set off into the wilderness. After a ten minute headstart we set off with the rest of our group, five Rangers and the star of the show, the bloodhound Emma. Within a couple of minutes she caught his scent and pace increased. The guys could shift. After covering about four kilometers in about 30 minutes we found our man. Emma never deviated from his trail, this was amazing to see. We stopped for a cigarette and some water while the head tracker drove a different dog out so Emma wasn't overworked. This dog was called Tusker, he was a character. So playful yet the minute the handler puts the harness on, it's all business. It was my turn to go on the run. We set off, running through the bush. I dropped my shemagh so Tusker could identify my scent, he did. We took shelter in some bushes after I did a cursory snake check. It wasn't long however before Tuskers face shot through the bush and covered me in dribble. I gave him a drink from my camelback. He had earned it. It was time to say goodbye. We said our goodbyes and got back on the vehicle. The learning part was over. Our tour guide had arranged for us to stay in a luxury camp for our last night. It was and will remain one of my fondest memories. We went out to a cliff side and had sundowners around the fire, lions roared as the sun went down. I mentioned how it would have been nice to see a lion, the camp manager nodded his head and smiled. When we returned to camp, we feasted on nyama choma, a local favourite, talked about everything from being in the military to the universe and parallel universes. We had pushup competitions and drank, at this point it was as if we had been friends for years. Before I went to bed the camp manager said he had one final treat but we had to be up at five am. I went to bed intrigued about why I would be up in a few hours.

Final Hours

Much to my dismay only four of us had woken for this morning activity. It was their loss. We were greeted with thick Samburu blankets and got on the roof of the safari vehicle. Within ten minutes of setting off we saw an entire pride of lions returning from their hunt. Tired and full, they lay down every few hundred metres. One of the lionesses left the pride, which we thought was strange. We followed her under the guide of the trackers. After about 20 minutes a second lioness came out of the bush, closely followed by several three week old lion cubs. I couldn't help but think how the others had missed this once in a lifetime opportunity. It was spectacular. We left the cubs to do cub things. The last suprise was driving into a small wooded area to be greeted by the camp manager and a couple of his staff as well as a table, chairs, fresh coffee and breakfast. It was a wonderful opportunity for the four of us to reflect and discuss the amazing time we had.

We said our goodbyes, exchanged contact details and got on our way. The drive back was a sombre one. I didn't want to leave. I can truly say that Africa had once again stolen a piece of my heart. Our tour guide, Rangers and the camp manager I truly consider friends and we keep in contact when we can. The Kenyan people and especially the Rangers have respect for wildlife and the natural world that we could really learn from. Day and night these guys put themselves at risk because their level of professionalism is astounding. So thank you guys, that experienced changed my life, improved me as a person and I would go so far as to say improved me as a soldier. My only regret is that we didn't catch any poachers. I'll be back...

For those who read this far. This my first blog so any feedback, good or bad would be appreciated. Also if you enjoyed the read, share it, I'd love a wider audience to read this. Thank you.