Kenya – Elephants, Old Friends & Zebra Traffic Jams

I was only in Kenya for 10 days but I had so many wonderful adventures. I will always be grateful to my childhood friend and host, Nadine. It seemed like we made several months of memories in only 10 days. The time both flew by but also felt longer – in the best sense. First, it was lovely and relaxing to stay at her apartment. I was so happy to be able to do laundry and cook a little. Second, we shared so many excellent meals, long conversations and hikes. Third, we had a one of the best adventures I have had in my travels so far.

Anyone that knows me knows that I love animals – all animals. And I love them in a weird child-like way. Nadine is a kindred soul in that sense and I am so grateful that she shared the Giraffe Center with me. She also took me to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. I would say it was a dream come true but it was one of those wonderful things that I had truthfully never dreamed about. A morning with dozens of wild and rescued elephant babies was beyond my dreams.

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is an amazing organization that rescues, rehabilitates and then reintegrates elephants into the wild. Sheldrick also works with the Kenyan Wildlife Service to treat sick or injured animals in the wild. They also coordinate to protect animals against illegal poaching. They are most well-known for their elephant orphan rescue and recovery program. Their mission is to return every orphan to the wild.

The morning at Sheldrick was highly educational and so inspirational. I was really impressed as it was clear the welfare of the elephants was much more important than the tourists’ experience. The tourists were well taken care and educated but the primary focus was the elephants’ well-being. Visitors are not actually allowed to interact with or touch the elephants, unless the elephant initiates the interaction. The handlers are rotated daily so that no orphan bonds too deeply with a human. Instead the orphans are encouraged to bond with an older elephant and thus families are formed. Sheldrick then tries to release and reintegrate the elephants in family groups. They do this so the youngest have the best chance of survival.

Watching the baby elephants play in the mud, steal food from the handlers and splash the visitors with their trunks – well it was delightful and magical. It also made me think of how much humans and some animals have in common. Elephants have strong family ties and they mourn deeply when they lose a family member. But they are also remarkably resilient animals and truly kind. Seeing some of the ‘toddler’ or ‘teenage’ elephants play with and protect the newest and youngest orphans was beautiful. It reminded me of the best of humanity – when you see young children helping each other or young activists trying to make the world better.

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust operates the most successful elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world. To date, they have rescued and reintegrated 320 orphans successfully. I have included a link to their organization as they have an incredible ‘adoption’ program. I highly recommend a visit if you’re ever in the area. In the meantime, you can always adopt an orphaned elephant or simply donate to their wish list.

Possibly one of my best days ever, and definitely something that was beyond my bucket list, was our day at the Nairobi National Park. The Nairobi National Park is quite famous. It is the only national park within the ‘city limits’ of a capital city. It is home to a huge array of wildlife, including 4 of the ‘Big 5’ of Africa. The ‘Big 5’ are lions, leopards, rhinos, buffalos and elephants and while there are no elephants in the Nairobi National Park, the other 4 can be spotted, as well as zebras, antelopes, gazelles, giraffes, hippos and over 400 species of birds. Most people visit the park as part of a guided tour, which is wonderful and definitely helps the local guides. However, if you are a ‘resident’ of Kenya (my friend is), you can simply pay the park fee and tour the park in your own vehicle, without a guide….which is what we did! It was honestly the most fun I have had visiting any park ever and it was absolutely surreal.

It was wonderful for so many reasons. First, it is by far the cheapest way to ‘go on safari.’ It was less than $100 CAD for both of us and the car, and it really did feel like going on safari. Actually it felt much cooler cause it was just the 2 of us and Nadine’s trusty little Honda. It gave us the huge luxury of being able to go as slow as we wanted, to stop as often as we wanted and to go where we wanted. And we did go very slow and we stopped often. We spent over 6 hours touring around and it was incredible.

We were able to follow a lion and lioness for a while. We were so close to them and they walked right by the car – it was exhilarating and only slightly terrifying. (The car was not very big.) I just remember that Nadine wanted me to roll down my window so she could get a clearer picture and I just couldn’t. They were beautiful and truly magnificent (and a little intimidating). It was also really interesting as they were so obviously a couple.

We also saw a mama rhino with her playful little baby, many giraffes, some hippos, herds of gazelles and antelopes. One of my favorite sightings and one that I was not expecting was the huge and strangely elegant water buffalos and the oxpecker. The oxpeckers are the little birds that ‘live’ on them and have the symbiotic relationship where they eat the ticks off the buffalos, which helps both animals.

Possibly my favorite memory though, were the zebras. Or more specifically getting stuck in a zebra traffic jam 🙂 The park is huge and there are so many interconnecting roads – it was very easy to get a little lost. Sometimes we would see a lot of safari trucks, especially around some “popular’ animal but there were a few times, we would be on a road and there would be no other vehicles around. At one point we had turned down a road as we saw some zebras and wanted to follow them for a bit. Then we turned around to go look for some other animals but behind us there a huge herd of zebras and they had wandered onto the road. Zebras in front and zebras in back….

We were literally stuck, in what we decided was, a delightful traffic jam. We must have sat there for 15 minutes, just watching them, laughing and talking. But then funnily (and sadly), a Park Ranger pulled up beside us, asking if we needed help, if maybe our car had stalled. We said no, we were just waiting for the zebras to cross…at which point he honked his horn and just started slowly moving forward. The zebras dispersed and we were able to drive through. We laughed because he looked so confused at the 2 crazy women just sitting in a tiny car in the middle of the zebras. We both just felt that this was their home and since we were guests, we should wait.

I loved visiting both the Giraffe Center (previous post – link below) and Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. At both centers I learned so much – the educational components of places like this really appeals to the nerd in me. And I really, really, really loved doing the Nairobi National Park on our own – for so many reasons. I cannot adequately describe how cool it was to see these animals in the wild, on our own. And to have all the time in the world to explore, sit and watch was just amazing. But most of all, I really loved feeling like a child again – to be full of wonder and awe at being so close to these amazing creatures in natural habitats.

I am so very grateful that organizations like The Rothchild Giraffe Centre and Sheldrick Wildlife Trust exist and that there are so many kind people that work so hard for so little to protect these beautiful animals. And I am equally grateful to my beautiful friend for sharing them with me. If you have the chance to visit Kenya, please visit Sheldrick and if you are not able to visit, please consider donating if you have the means – they do amazing work. And while I know not everyone can explore the Nairobi National Park on their own, I do urge you to research carefully the guide you choose, as not all are equally respectful of the animals and their habitats.

I will always treasure our day at the Nairobi National Park – the awe and wonder at seeing so many animals and seeing them ‘up close and personal.’ And sharing the experience with Nadine was awesome because she has a big heart and joyful spirit. She did not for a second make me feel silly at my childish squeals of delight. I love allowing myself to be overwhelmed with ridiculous buckets of happiness when I get to be somewhere or see something that I never imagined I could. If you are travelling and you see something that takes your breath away – let it. Let yourself revel in childish delight (I think it keeps you young.) And my morning at Sheldrick, learning so much about those beautiful creatures – well that is a morning that I will never forget 😉

I hope everyone has a chance to visit Kenya one day – it is truly an extraordinary and beautiful country. I have included links to all of these amazing places if you do have the opportunity to visit Kenya. And please feel free to comment, share the post or ask me questions. I am always happy to answer any questions, especially about any of these organizations. And if you haven’t subscribed, please do! I never post more than once a week, often less, but it does help me so if you enjoy my ‘silly little blog’ please subscribe and shoot me your email. Thank you! Wishing everyone safe and happy travels, even if it’s just to your local park 😉

https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/

https://www.kws.go.ke/parks/nairobi-national-park

If you liked this post, I have another post about Kenya that you might enjoy…

Kenya via London- giraffes, monkeys and picnics