Elephant Ivory Project: Explorers Finally Find Ample Elephant Dung, Begin Journey Home

By Andy Maser; Photographs by Andy Maser and Trip Jennings, Elephant Ivory Project, EP Films

We were recovering at our Obenge base camp when we heard the strange screams. “Pardon Papa! Pardon Papa!” over and over again, with a sound like bamboo being chopped down prompting each yell. Effrin, a local guide, pointed to the corner of camp and explained in half French, half English that Major Guy was whipping a 16-year-old boy for raping an 11-year-old girl earlier that day in the village. It was a wakeup call, just in case we needed one—we were still in Congo, where you should always expect anything.

Elephant Ivory Project: Explorers Begin Jungle Motorcycle Trek to Collect Elephant Dung—and Confront Enraged Poacher

By Trip Jennings and Kyle Dickman; Photographs courtesy Kyle Dickman, Skip Brown, and Terese Hart

We just arrived this morning and I already want to leave Kisangani, a city of 700,000 in the center of Congo’s jungle. A cholera outbreak started in the city last week and left 27 dead—200 more cases have been reported. Andy and I are with Terese and John Hart, conservationists who have been working in the DRC for 30 years. They’ve agreed to help us plan our mission. But the question of where to start sampling elephant dung isn’t simple. The region Dr. Wasser wants us to sample most, the proposed Lomami National Park in the 25,000 square mile jungle known as TL2, has become even more dangerous.

The Harts, who have been a driving force behind the creation of Lomani National Park, had just received a letter from the one of their TL2-based supporters. It warned them of a man who is calling himself Moses and planting burning crosses—death threats—in the front yards of people who support the creation of Lomami National Park. President Kabila is expected to approve the park this year. That declaration could crack down on poachers operating in the region, which is why Moses opposes any additional protections to TL2.

"There’s so much conflict in the country that we don't know how many elephants are left in some of DRC’s biggest protected areas," says Dr. Samuel Wasser, the director of the Center for Conservation Biology. “One thing we do know is African elephant numbers are dropping, and a lot of ivory is coming from the Congo.” Samples from TL2 will help Wasser locate and stop poachers operating around the country.

So we’re going in. The expedition is far and away the most complicated of my life. I’ve never needed a military escort.


Officials burning a poacher's camp

Elephant Ivory Project: Young Explorers in DRC Continue Quest to Stop Elephant Poachers

By Kyle Dickman and Trip Jennings; Photographs by Andy Maser

It's been a fortunate few days. We arrived in Kinshasa on Monday exhausted from 36 hours of transit and found the Congo just as hot as we left it two years ago. On Tuesday morning, we met with Dr. Teresa Hart, a 30-year veteran of conservation in the DRC. Teresa first came to the country as a Peace Corp volunteer in 1974. She’s now in her tenth year studying bonobos, an ape found only in the DRC, in a 25,000-square mile block of forest known as TL2. The region's an elephant sanctuary on paper but animals are disappearing there faster than ever.

Explorers Depart For DRC to Fight Elephant Poaching--One Vial of Scat at Time

By Kyle Dickman and Trip Jennings

Today, I'm packing. After two years in the works, we’re kicking off the Elephant Ivory Project in earnest on Sunday morning when Andy Maser and I fly to Kinshasha, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a case of collection vials and the goal of saving a species. Here’s the back story.

A couple of years ago, I met Dr. Samuel Wasser, the director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington and an expert on African elephants, at a meeting for National Geographic Explorers in Seattle, Washington. Wasser has been working on a project for a decade that compares DNA sampled from seized elephant ivory to reference DNA sampled from wild elephant scat in Africa. (Just a reminder: the trade of elephant ivory has been banned internationally since 1989.) With this information, Wasser is able to determine where elephants with a DNA makeup similar to that found in the seized ivory live. Because individual elephants from the same population have many similar genes, and because poachers tend to repeatedly target specific populations, Wasser’s study is a valuable conservation tool. The information allows willing governments and NGOs to direct anti-poaching units to threatened herds, thus stopping the trade before the animals are killed.

In the Field: New Expedition Takes on Rockies Wildlife Conservation--From a Wolverine's Perspective

 

Connecting the Gems is a new project conceived by Deia Schlosberg and Gregg Treinish, who were Adventurers of the Year in 2008 for their remarkable trans-Andes traverse. Here Gregg Treinish shares details about their upcoming 450-mile hike through Lewis and Clark's Rockies.

The Northern Rockies of the United States are one of the most important and intact ecosystems found today in the world’s temperate zone. The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in central Idaho are large, important landscapes that still fit the descriptions of Lewis and Clark, who came through the area more than 200 years ago. Rich wildlife populations and vast areas of untouched wilderness still reign here. Unfortunately, these areas are increasingly at risk of becoming isolated islands of disjunct habitat.

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: What's in My Pack? A Guide to Ultralight Backpacking

Today adventurer Andrew Skurka begins an ambitious, seven-month expedition that will take him 4,720 miles across Alaska and the Yukon by skis, foot, and raft. Follow his blog dispatches here and his tweets via twitter.com/andrewskurka.

The contents of my pack are almost entirely need based. During this trip, my legitimate needs will include staying hydrated and nourished, keeping my body temperature regulated, and traveling efficiently and safely over the land–snow-covered tundra, glacier-fed rivers, and dense alder forests. I can think of only one item, my camera, which can be classified as a “want.” This Spartan approach to packing is easily explained: carrying more stuff means more work, and work, well, it’s generally not very fun.

The weight of an item is a major consideration in whether it makes the final cut, for there is an indisputable correlation between pack weight and the quality of one’s experience. But it’s not the only factor I consider–particularly on a trip like this, which will be hard on gear and has relatively few opportunities to replace things. Durability and versatility are also of great value. My RidgeRest Deluxe Solar sleeping pad is a case in point. It’s warmer for its weight than any inflatable pad, it won’t puncture, and, come springtime, I can cut it in half to make a suitable three-season pad.

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: Andrew Skurka Embarks on 4,720 Miles by Skis, Foot, Raft

On Thursday Andrew Skurka arrived 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Kotzebue, Alaska, to begin his latest expedition. Similar to his Great Western Loop hike (a feat which made him our 2008 Adventurer of the Year), this is an ambitious, never-before-attempted endeavor. For the next seven months, he'll cover more than 4,720 miles in Alaska and the Yukon by skis, foot, and packraft. Much of the time he will be in true wilderness, without a track or trail to follow. Luckily Andrew will be keeping us posted here, so stay tuned for his weekly dispatches. He'll also be tweeting via twitter.com/andrewskurka.

Andrew's route inspires both awe and envy. He will cross through six U.S. national parks (Denali, Wrangell-St. Elias, Glacier Bay, Gates of the Arctic, Klondike Gold Rush, Kobuk Valley) and two Canadian national parks (Vuntut and Ivvavik). He will traverse parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the Iditarod Trail, and the Chillkoot Trail. He'll also float some of North America's wildest rivers—the Copper, Yukon, Peel, and Kobuk. He will hike 450 miles in the Alaska Range and a whopping 975 miles in the Brooks Range.

Best New Trips in the World: Surf, Hike, and Mountain Bike Pristine Sri Lanka

For our annual Adventure Travel issue, we scoured the globe to find the 25 Best New Trips in the World for 2010, complete with a Best Trips photo gallery. Today, we present Sri Lanka. The world's far corners are now well within reach.

SRI LANKA: MIA No More

After the tsunami of 2004 and the resolution of a decades-long civil war, Sri Lanka is finally starting to look like its old self: a peaceful destination where surf lineups are nonexistent despite world-class waves and centuries-old tea estates are lined with mountain bike–ready trails. “The silver lining of the civil war is that the land and wildlife have remained untouched,” says Lisa Bolger, trip coordinator for Access Trips, one of the very few outfitters leading excursions to the Indian Ocean island this coming year. Access’s new itinerary combines surfing at Hikkaduwa (Sri Lanka’s answer to Costa Rica’s Tamarindo—minus the tourists), hiking 7,362-foot Adam’s Peak (considered sacred by four local religions), and mountain biking the same trails that tea farmers have been using since Sri Lanka first began producing the crop 250 years ago.

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Best New Trips in the World: Tracking Wildlife in Slovakia

For our annual Adventure Travel issue, we scoured the globe to find the 25 Best New Trips in the World for 2010, complete with a Best Trips photo gallery. Today, we present Slovakia. The world's far corners are now well within reach.

SLOVAKIA: Tracking a Wild Pack

Thirteen years ago, British biologist Robin Rigg ventured into Slovakia’s Carpathian Mountains to study wolves, and he never left. During the course of his research, he has published multiple studies on the canids, founded the Slovakia Wolf Census Program, and, on several occasions, crept to within 15 feet of his carnivorous subjects. Now Rigg is looking to the Carpathians’ Tatra Range, whose 8,000-foot-plus peaks are host to what is becoming a serious hunting problem. “Hunters tend to greatly exaggerate the numbers of wolves and lynx,” says Rigg, “which leads to unjustified persecution.” His plan is to take stock of the wildlife with the help of Biosphere Expeditions, which will send travelers to Rigg’s outpost for the first time this winter.

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Best New Trips in the World: Sail (and Kayak and Snorkel) in Madagascar's Waters

For our annual Adventure Travel issue, we scoured the globe to find the 25 Best New Trips in the World for 2010, complete with a Best Trips photo gallery. Today, we present Madagascar. The world's far corners are now well within reach.

MADAGASCAR: Sail the Indian Ocean

Known for its 70-plus species of lemurs, Madagascar has the market cornered in trips focused on exotic leaping animals. But few travelers are aware of the country’s marine life. Enter Kumuka Worldwide, whose first-of-its-kind sailing trip plunges into the coral-filled Indian Ocean while hitting a cluster of little-visited islets just off the main island. Starting on Nosy Be, the largest of Madagascar’s outer islands, you’ll travel by dhow—the traditional sailboat used by African and Arabian traders for millennia—from one deserted beach to the next, camping on white sand by night, and kayaking, snorkeling, and fishing by day.

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