THE BURNING OF THE IVORY-KENYA TAKES IT'S STANCE

Ivory is worthless unless it is on our elephants.

6,500 elephants and 450 rhinos killed for their tusks and horns.

It’s shocking to see those numbers isn’t it! 

Since 1989, 21 countries and territories have destroyed more than 263 metric tons of ivory. The message is to be conveyed today is that elephants are worth more alive than dead. The fire will be seven times bigger than any previous ivory fires - 105 tonnes of tusks have been piled in eleven pyramids with some three meters high.  The idea is that this will help tackle the illegal ivory trade and curb poaching, which is killing some 30,000 elephants a year.  Today’s ivory is not all from Kenya, some of it had been intercepted while in transit from other African countries, but either way it is A LOT. 

The practice of burning ivory goes back to July 1989 when Kenya's then-President Daniel arap Moi ignited a pile of 12 tonnes of elephant tusks and helped change global policy on ivory exports.  After that, the trade was banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.  This was a "desperate measure meant to send a message to the world about the destruction through poaching of Kenya's elephants. 

Lisa had been talking about this Burning of the Ivory event for weeks and was hoping to get an invite to it.  I had never really paid much attention to as it was an ‘invite’ only event and I had no chance of getting on that list.  As it worked out, Lisa was sent two individual invites and I was fortunate enough to be asked to take the second invite.  I was now going to see history being made, the largest stockpile of ivory burn in Africa, and possibly the world.  It was going to be a once in a life experience.  There was a little confusion on what the order of events were going to be, and with a few emails sent to clarify some information and no replies, we decided to make a plan and hope that it all would work out.  I had read that the main gate of the Nairobi National Park was going to close at 12 noon, and apparently registration starts at 10, so we had that two hour window in which to work.

We have had torrential rain in the country for the past week, with unfortunately flooding in certain areas and the night before the burn a seven story building collapsed killing a dozen people to date, another accident where a wall collapsed killing four people and traffic being even worse than usual with parts of the cities roads underwater causing hours of delays for motorists.  So as the week-end drew closer, the ivory burn was going to go ahead ‘rain, hail or shine’ so it was going to be a matter of just being prepared for what mother nature may throw at us on the day. 

I met Lisa and JB, who also got a second hand invite, at 10am and then we were on the road in JB’s 4WD (in case the roads were still flooded) to head to Nairobi National Park.  Besides the usual traffic jam along Uhuru Highway, we managed to get dropped off in the main car park of the national park just after 11am.  There was plenty of security and KWS (Kenya Wildlife Services) staff around and we were bundled into a minibus to drive us the 400m to the main gate entrance we had to alight and then go through security.  This is where the fun and games began.  There were two security scanners, and what looked like a little chaos, with about 5 lines, people looking lost and not much of a system seemed to be in place.  As we didn’t know what to expect we pretty much had carried everything.  Lisa had made sandwiches, bought bottles of water, snacks and a bag of her guide books to give away to ‘important’ people.  I had my own bag of snacks and additional to all that we were all carrying the large umbrellas each.  We were pretty loaded to say the least and Lisa got caught in the security check, so JB and I forged ahead to the tables where the ‘registration’ was to be done. 

So the registration desk consisted of a single table with a list asking for the usual details and three KWS staff, each holding about 200 cards each that had the RSVP’d guests on each card.  So after showing our invitations, it was then up to the KWS staff to find our names on the cards.  They weren’t in any order, and when the lady asked my name and I said Bernice, she asked if it started with a V.  So right away I was thinking that they would not be finding my card.  They went through the non alphabetical piles twice and said that all three of us were not there!  I could understand JB and I not being on there initially, but Lisa-she had an official invite from the government, so I found it hard to believe that SHE was not on the cards.  I just wanted to yank those cards from the staff and take 20 minutes to organize them from A-Z for them to make their life easier and the rush of people that was still to come more manageable.  So there were no cards for us and we were told to just wait a few minutes, they were going to get blank cards and then we would be able to have one written up on the spot.  As we waited there were people actually getting their cards, so the system worked for some!  There seemed to be a lot of media all registering and they were given priority for the next bus trip that would take us from the main gate to the site itself inside the park.  We were asked by a military official a few minutes later to see our invitations and he tried to tell us that it was a programme and not an actual invite until I pulled up the email from which it was sent and it was clearly an INVITE and was confirmed from another official that came over to check on us and then just gave us the wave to get on the bus.  The bus that we had just been told was for media only, we had no pass, we had not been asked for any ID and we took a seat on the bus.  It only took about 20 minutes for the bus to fill and we were on our way.

             

          

It was a ten minute journey to the drop-off point and as soon as we stepped off the bus I realized that my ballet Crocs (plastic shoes) were not going to cut the mustard.  It had apparently rained quite hard earlier that morning and we had literally landed in a muddy landscape.  Lisa had worn her gum boots and JB had on waterproof hiking boots, and little ol me had on Crocs.  Yeah, well it was a wrong shoe choice on my half and boy did JB give me a hard time for the rest of the day on my poor shoe choice selection.  The stupid thing is you can buy a cheap pair of gumboots from Nakumatt for 400KSH (5 bucks) but I just ran out of time.  I really need to invest in a good pair of gum boots soon.  I tried to not think of all the worms and little wrigglies that live in the mud as I took my first 10 steps and mud oozed into my shoes, and between my toes.  We were directed to look at the information booths of all the organizations that help in the elephant’s plight which was a 5 minute walk (in mud) before heading to the main tent for the proceedings.  I slipped and slid (literally) to the row of tents, to which we had a quick look before slipping and sliding our way to the main tent.  I even had two separated workmen offer to help me with my bag as I precariously picked my way over small running rivers and swampy grass and mud sections.  On our way, we stopped by a monument that commemerated the very first ivory burn back in 1989 and they had two piles of the ashes from that burn for you to see what it looks like.  I took a second to take in what I was actually looking at, elephants dying a horrendous death, for their tusks to end up in this mound, and 27 years later, we are in a worse off position.  Very sad.

 

So the way we ended up finding to the main tent seemed to be the back way around.  We passed a very large tarp laid on the ground, which I had smelt before I saw, and it was full of exotic animal skins under another tarp piled high.  We could make out zebra and colobus monkies skins right off the bat, and goodness knows what else was under there.  It is illegal to have exotic animal skins in Kenya, but there are still a lot of other places in Africa and the world that this is still an acceptable practice.  Insanity.  There was some more slipping and sliding (well for me anyways) as I took my time so as not to slip and fall as Lisa and JB marched forward.  I don’t mind getting my feet muddy, but to fall in it would be the pits.  I had another worker pass me and told me the trick is to take small steps and I found that that helped.  We passed a fire engine truck and the tent where the flammable liquids were being kept for the burn.  You could smell the fuel as we passed the tent and stepping over a few large hoses that was pumping the liquid.  There has been much talk on whether burning ivory actually destroys it. A forensic laboratory in the USA carried out an experiment in 2008 where it set fire to a piece of ivory at an ultra-high temperature. The results, quoted by National Geographic online, showed that burning ivory at 1,000C led to it losing just 7g per minute - meaning that it would take around a week to destroy an average male elephant tusk.  Kenya has the technology and the ivory stockpile WILL be reduced to a pile of ashes. It will take ten tonnes of firewood and more than 10,000 liters of fuel used to burn the ivory and it took Kenya's Wildlife Service’s 10 days to build the crematorium that contained the 105 tons of elephant ivory, 1.35 tons of rhino horn, exotic animal skins and other products such as sandalwood and medicinal bark. This was Kenya's fourth such burn in a practice that goes back to 1989,an idea hatched to combat the worsening poaching crisis and it worked back then.

                   

 

It was just on 12 noon and we had made it finally to the ceremony tent and I’m happy to report some terra firma.  They had laid some gravel over the mud and I was able to walk properly again after all the mud and water!  There seemed to be more media than guests at this point all milling around, and we still had 2.5 hours until the start of the ceremony.  We entered the tent, which unfortunately was also a victim to all the rains and not only was it muddy at the entrance from everyone’s shoes, but it seemed that they laid the flooring (a green tarp) on the uneven ground and the mud and water had seeped through.  It must be an organizers worst nightmare, trying to compete with mother nature, and even the velvet chairs were a little damp, and when you looked to the roof of the tent there were small holes, so even if it rained today, we just may not stay as dry as we thought, even under the tent.  We found some front row seats that didn’t have any reserved signs on them, so we thought these would be awesome, but about 30 minutes later we were approached by an official and told that these seats were indeed reserved and we had to move to the 4^th row or beyond.  So as we were about to move JB pointed out some-one that looked familiar and straight away I said she is from the TV show Sex in the City.  I knew her name started with a K and after a quick Google stalk, it was Kristen Davis.  Not one to let a photo opportunity pass us, we found some seats in the middle section 6 rows back and then we approached Kristen for a photo.  She was super nice and was more than happy to have her snap taken with us, as it worked out she sat next to us for the entire ceremony and we saw just how many people wanted their photo with her and not once did she stop smiling.  Tough gig, but I guess that is why they are paid the big bucks!!!!

So we still had over two hours to wait, but all things considered, we had managed our time well and it was better to be here early to settle in, get seats and have a good look around.  Lisa knows a lot of VIP people and we just sat and people watched as she pointed out the who’s who of the Kenya echelon.  We saw Elizabeth Hurley arrive and there was another person who we figured was famous, but could not pick him-he looked like a basketballer and not even Google could help us.  JB spotted a beautiful brunette from our seats, and he said straight away that it was Shannon Elizabeth.  I had no idea on who that was, but we Google stalked her and by jove, he was right.  So we got up and also asked for a photo with Shannon and she was also more than happy to oblige.  We had a bit if a chit chat with her for a little while and she seemed very nice.  JB was captivated and I can see why, she was beautiful.  Richard Leakey arrived and he looked very fragile and we also saw the arrival of Heather Higginbottom, the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources.  We were a row in front of the media line, before another 20 rows of seats ran behind us, and as the time ticked on, it seemed unlikely that those seats would fill.  Maybe the weather had put people off?  Also being Kenya, when you say 2pm, people turn up at 4pm, so that could also explain things and possibly people were still coming?  I thought with the President of Kenya attending, that the Mzungu time would prevail over Kenyan time, but maybe not.  This was going to be my first time that I have attended an event with the Preso and I was pretty excited to see him and to hear his speech.  He is an excellent speaker and I can see why the Kenyan people love him.  We were given a programme of events just before the entertainment began and even though it looked quite long-we were hoping that we would not be there till 6pm……  Also the weather seemed to have cleared, there was blue sky and the sun had come out, so maybe just maybe mother nature was going to be on our side today.

                   

 

So everyone was to be seated at 2.30pm for the arrival of the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta.  We were all seated at 2pm and then the entertainment started.  There was a singing KWS Ranger, a child of around 10 years old who reminded me of a mini Michael Jackson and then 2 sets of Kenyan dancers.  Time ticked on and no Preso, so we got the singing KWS Ranger again (same song), the same 10 year old kid (same song) and one of the dancing troops (also the same song/dance).  It was now 2.45pm and still no Preso SO……… we got the singing KWS Ranger again (same song), the same 10 year old kid (same song) and one of the dancing troops (also the same song/dance).  That makes THREE times and we were preparing for a fourth when we finally saw the Presidential entourage coming down the path to the tent at 3.20pm.  Not too bad all things considered, and it was a large entourage.  The President of Gabon was also there, so I guess that is two security details and family I guess as well, but it was pretty impressive to see them all arrive.  We were upstanding when Uhuru Kenyatta entered the tent and then the first stanza of the Kenyan national anthem was sung in Swahili and English and then the proceedings began.

                   

 

I have to say the speeches were short and to the point.  Even though Richard Leakey did not look the best, his words and the way he conveyed them was enthralling and of course the Preso speech was on point and I found myself nodding and clapping throughout.  There were only five people that spoke, six including Uhuru and then the official proceedings finished and we were to all head outside to see the lighting of the pyres.  It was a bit of a rush on, so JB and I were happy to let them all go and was pretty sure we would get our own pictures after people started leaving.  There were people ten deep against the barrier where we could see nothing, but we had moved down towards the media area and there was NTV’s Presenter/Reporter Smriti Vidyarthi, who was commentating live about what was happening from the media deck we were standing next to, so we may have not seen the actual lighting, but we were kept in the loop on what was happening as she reported.  There was one more rush of people towards the media section, and upon seeing the Presidential Podium appear, we assumed the Preso was going to do one more brief press conference, so we figured we would move away from there and then wait patiently until the people cleared and we could get some of our own photos.  In the meantime the Preso had finished his speech and had to walk past us to get to his transport.  I was within 3m of the most important man in Kenya and I even got a photo of him looking straight at ME!!!!  This was just before I was blocked by three of his security guards as he passed me, seriously, I had a pink and blue tie right in my face, but I got my picture and he saw ME!!!

So people were starting to leave and the crowd started to thin out a little.  It was time to get some photos and just take a minute to really appreciate the reason we were there, as you hear the crackle of the ivory and to see an iron container full of rhino horn burning, it really is a sad state of affairs of where we were at, in Africa, and how close we are to the extinction of the mighty elephant as we know it.  If poaching continues at this rate, the species of the elephant will be extinct by 2025.  SERIOUSLY!  I got my chance to take some photos and with the token selfie, I found it difficult to crack a smile, it was a grave situation and certainly not one I felt like celebrating.  But I did think about this later, and even though it is shocking what we witnessed today, there should be some celebration in what was done.  Kenya made a stand that even though street value of the ivory was 270 million USD; Kenya stood up and said this ivory is worthless.  It’s a brave stance and certainly one the world was going to hear.  You should have seen all the media there.  It was insanity!

                

 

By this time it was nearly 5.30pm and some storm clouds were starting to roll in over the national park.  It was time to think about leaving.  It seemed the last of the people remaining thought the same thing and when we slid and slided our way back to the drop-off point there would have been over 200 people all waiting for the busses to come to take us all back to the main gate.  200!!!!  So we thought we could walk back to the main gate, but that plan was thwarted by a ranger that was standing some way down the road who was not going to take any shit form us.  We had to also remember we were still in a national park, where animals run wild, so I guess we had to keep that in mind.  We even asked if there was a ranger we could pay to escort us back to the main gate, but he was not having a bar of it at all.  As we were speaking to the ranger, two mini busses were coming down the track, so we were very cheeky and asked the first bus to stop to let us on before it got to the mass of people waiting and we were lucky that the ranger and the bus driver agreed and we were let on the bus early.  I felt a little bad, especially when we heard people yelling outside about how long they had been waiting, but it was chaos and one had to do what one had to get out.  We did try and do the right thing by calling JB’s driver to see if he would be allowed into the park to get us, but when he checked with the main gate, and it was a stern no, as there were too many cars already there, and they were right.  There were VIP cars everywhere, the band bus was trying to leave, there were police vehicles and then the busses had to turn on a coin without hitting the people standing, to be able to get out.  I don’t think that the departure plans had been worked out to well.  But we were out of the park 15 minutes later and safely back in JB’s car at 6.30pm heading home just as the skies opened and it started to rain! Talk about timing.  I could not imagine being at the site now with rain falling!  What a mess that would have been.

So I enjoyed the day.

It was a day of reflection, a day of celebration and a day that was marked down in the history books and I was proud to be a part of it, even with all the mud and the content of the day, I choose to be positive about it and know that future generations will be proud for the stance that Kenya took today and I am happy that it will be beamed around the world to help bring awareness to this very important issue.