It’s Friday morning, January 13th. Still recovering from jet lag Cathy and I wake up in Nairobi ready to begin our African adventure. We arrived in Nairobi last night, via London, and were met at the airport by a representative from Origins Safari’s and taken to the Fairmont Norfolk where we met up with professional photographer Daniel Cox and his wife Tanya. We joined the rest of the group in the bar for a nightcap before turning in.
This first day was pretty laid back to allow everyone a chance to recover from the long flights. After an excellent breakfast we headed out to the Giraffe Center in Nairobi. The following is
from the Giraffe Center website:The African Fund for Endangered Wildlife Kenya (A.F.E.W Kenya Ltd) also known as the Giraffe Centre is a non profit making organisation, which was founded by the late Betty and Jock Lesilie Melville in 1979. The late Betty, Jock's American born wife, had earlier discovered the sad plight of the Rothschild giraffe and there were only 120 left on an 18,000 acre ranch in Western Kenya that was scheduled for sub-division and settlement.
We got to meet the giraffes, up close and personal! Then one of the associates talked to us about the status of giraffes in Africa and the mission of the center. It was very intriguing.
Geographic magazine. Located just outside Kenya’s Nairobi National Park the Nairobi nursery of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is the world's most successful orphan-elephant rescue and rehabilitation center. The nursery takes in orphan elephants from all over Kenya, many victims of poaching or human-wildlife conflict, and raises them until they are no longer milk dependent. Once healed and stabilized at the nursery, they are moved more than a hundred miles southeast to two holding centers in Tsavo National Park. There, at their own pace, which can be up to eight to ten years, they gradually make the transition back into the wild. We watched as the trainers fed and exercised the elephants. The dedication and concern shown by the trainers was obvious. They even sleep with the elephants at night!
After eating, the elephants cavorted in mud holes and generally had a great time, as did we. But then it was time to head back to the hotel.
Nairobi is a bustling city. Traffic is like nothing I had ever experienced before. It is bumper to bumper traffic most of the day. Unemployment is 40 to 50%. It is not the place for inexperienced tourists to explore on their own. Car doors are locked and windows rolled up no matter what the weather. And yet every Kenyan that we met on our trip was most pleasant.
Tomorrow begins the adventure for real. We fly to Samburu Game Reserve to begin photographing the wildlife of Kenya. Stay tuned…
For more information:
http://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/orphan-elephants/siebert-text
http://www.giraffecenter.org/
http://www.originsafaris.info/
http://www.naturalexposures.com/
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