Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
After breakfast, we left Giraffe Manor and our driver took us through Nairobi National Park, a massive wildlife preserve within the borders of the actual city. Then, the highlight of the day - the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. We had a private appointment, which came with our donation of a certain dollar amount. There were 27 orphaned elephants in residence, along with a blind black rhino and baby black rhino. We witnessed the morning bottle feeding (they use massive amounts of human baby formula) and were allowed interact with the elephants for over 30 minutes Their ages ranged from 1-5yrs old. At 5yrs, they are gradually reintroduced to the wild at Tsavo National Park in southeast Kenya over another 5 year period. Each elephant has its own stable and, Interestingly, a keeper sleeps with each one until they are 2yrs old This prevents loneliness and facilitates the feedings which initially occur every 3 hours.
After our incredible experience at Sheldrick, we toured the nearby Karen Biden house (of Out of Africa fame) and had lunch at the Karen Blixen Lodge down the street. Today was Independence Day in Kenya, marking 60 years free of British colonial rule. Unfortunately, our airport was shut down for much of our day, delaying our flight to the Masai Mara by a couple of hours. Not a great hardship and the wait was well worth it. We hopped into our 12-seat Cessna (kind of like a. Heavy Tahoe with wings) and arrived at our destination around 5pm
André says: It's a lot of work for the staff
ReplyDeleteWhat an adventurous trip
ReplyDeleteDo you have photos of the Blixen house and grounds?
ReplyDeleteJust the main house. I will send
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