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01/12/2016 01:00 PMIn an effort to help put a stop to illegal elephant poaching in Africa, Deb Dembo of Chester will set out on Sunday, Jan. 24 on a trek like no other, embarking on a 100-mile, nine-day trek across untamed terrain in the heart of East Africa.
The trek is a way to raise awareness of the plight of the African elephant and its future survival, and to raise funds, which will be used to provide wages, equipment, and training for anti-poaching scout teams in Laikipia that are part of the “Space for Giants” organization.
“I know this won’t be a walk in the park,” said Dembo who first fell in love with elephants when she rode one in Thailand and has been getting in shape for this once-in-a-lifetime experience by hiking around the area with her trusty companion Oz, a golden retriever mix. “I want to do this to help the elephants. They are such wonderful animals—smart, sensitive, kind, and majestic beasts—and they deserve to be saved.”
Leading the eight-person African trek will be Dr. Dag Goering and Maria Coffey, the founders of Elephant Earth Initiative and Hidden Places Travel. The couple has been praised by the Dalai Lama for its work to save elephants. Goering is a large animal vet and photographer and Coffey is the award-winning author.
Dembo will meet up with her group in Nairobi and head onto the market town of Nanyuki. From there they will continue on through some wild country to a tented camp, and then be on their way off the beaten track to the traditional lands of the Samburu tribe, which will act as the group’s guide.
For the first five days, the group will walk approximately 15 miles per day, with a camel caravan across the vast, flat savanna (sometimes off trail) where they will be up close with indigenous wild animal herds such giraffes, antelopes, the endangered Grevy’s zebra, and, of course, elephants. Kenya’s Laikipia ecosystem is a hot spot for East Africa’s largest free-ranging elephant populations, which unfortunately have become the targets of many poachers.
For the last days of the trip, the group will be trekking in the Kirisia Hills on rough and occasionally steep trails. The altitude is about 4,000 feet and the maximum daily temperatures range from 85 degrees during the day and 50 degrees at night.
“This will be a life changing experience for me that I am looking forward to,” said Dembo, who has traveled with Goering and Coffey on previous adventure trips to Vietnam and Turkey, but never to Africa.
This 100 Miles for Elephants tour/trek has been named by National Geographic Traveler as one of the “50 Tours of a Lifetime” for the past three years.
Beyond being immersed within the true wildlife and culture of Africa, Dembo is focusing on the mission of this trek, which is ultimately to help the elephants.
“I am a huge animal lover. I think they may have something over us [humans] and I am saddened that the elephant numbers are declining at such a staggering rate,” said Dembo. “It’s very scary and if I can help, even in a small way, that’s what I am going to do.”
Poaching elephants for Ivory has reached crisis status. National Geographic estimates that almost 100 African elephants are being killed for their ivory every day. If this slaughter continues, at this rate, African elephants will be close to extinction in just 10 years.
Programs like 100 Miles for Elephants seek to help local African communities protect the elephants. Each person who is going on this trek has been asked to raise at least $500 with a minimum target goal of raising $2,500 to be donated to Space for Giants.
For more information about the trip or to donate, visit www.crowdrise.com/100milesforelephants or www.hiddenplaces.net.