The Elephant Orphanage
The power came back on in the middle of the night, waking me up when the lights I thought I’d turned off turned on. Unfortunately the power went off again before I woke up this morning, so it was a cold shower for. The first of many this trip, I’m sure!
Matthew, my driver, picked me up a little after 10. After a quick detour to fill up the air in one of his tires, we were off. The Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage is on the edge of Nairobi National Park, which is a true game park in the middle of the city. It abuts the airport landing strip, so if you’re lucky and land during the day you have the chance of seeing the giraffes!
The Orphanage is an amazing place - if any baby elephant that is found without its mother in all of Kenya, the Orphanage is notified. A team of experienced keepers and veterinarians are sent out in either their plane or one of their special trucks and the baby is rescued, after being sure the mother is nowhere to be found. Many of the mothers are victims of poachers or of the recent drought in Kenya - in fact, because of the drought, they’ve had a record year with more babies rescued than any other year in their history. The story of the Orphanage is a fascinating one, and great reading - I’d always know elephants were intelligent, but I had no idea they also possessed such strong emotions as well until I found the Orphanage’s website, and then saw the babies myself.
When we got to the Orphanage, I filed in with the rest of the tourists and got a good spot near the front just as the baby elephants were brought out. They are so cute, and so small! It’s hard to believe they’re going to be huge animals someday. As one of the Keepers talked about each elephant’s story and how she came to be at the Orphanage, the other Keepers feed them their bottles of milk and then the babies played in the mudpit. They splashed and rolled and reveled in the mud and then the older Orphans came out, all in a line being led by another Keeper. These elephants are bigger, and it’s a little easier to believe they’re going to be huge as adults. It was amazing how fast they drank their enormous bottles - two bottles each in just a few minutes. They then enjoyed the mudpit, as a couple of the Keepers tossed muddy water and dirt on them. I could have watched them for hours, but their playtime was just an hour, and way too soon it was time to leave.
Little Babies
Lunch!
Ellie Pile Up
For more baby elephant pictures, check out the set on my Flickr page - and (if you can believe it) - I only posted about 1/3 of the pictures I took there. They're just so cute!
Babies in the Mud Video
Click to viewI’d planned on going back for a “private” visit this evening, as a benefit of having adopted one of the orphans, but the line to sign up was way too long for it to possibly be a small, private visit, and I was hot and hungry, so I decided to skip it. Instead I had Matthew drive me to the National Museum, which required a quick detour as he took me to a souvenier shop that he thought was the best in Nairobi (which really means he gets a commission on anything I buy). I was met at the door by a guy dressed as a quasi-Maasai warrior who made a half hearted effort to do some warrior type dance, but he stopped when he realized I wasn’t impressed (and couldn’t be bothered to even get off his cell phone when I left).
The National Museum is across town, and Matthew gave me a little tour of the city as we went, pointing out the highlights and lowlights (like the site of Africa’s largest slums). The Museum itself is interesting - there a section about the animals of East Africa, as well as a large section devoted to traditions of East Africa and another about human evolution. That part was the most interesting, as they have one of the largest collections of hominid skeletons and fossils of anywhere in the world, and they have a few of them on display. There was also a temporary exhibit about rock art and an exhibit of portraits of Africans by an amazing photographer whose name I’ve forgotten.
I stopped at the museum’s café for a small snack, and then walked down to see a garden display of local plants that also have medicinal uses. The Snake Park was just next door, so I wandered in and was immediately assigned a guide, a young woman who tried to get me to take a picture of every snake, lizard, tortoise and crocodile she showed me. She was also very knowledgeable, and loved to tell me in detail how each animal killed its prey, and pointing out the cute little rabbits in their pen right near the huge boas that they were soon to be fed to.
Snake (don't ask me what kind, I've forgotten)
Back at the hotel, I picked up my bags that were being stored at the front desk, and moved in to my new room, where my roommate Tracey from Australia was repacking her bags. We’d both had private rooms yesterday, but since tonight’s stay is officially part of the trip, it’s time to start sharing. She seems very nice, but had to have the tv on the entire time we were in the room - really bad African movie tv that was so horrible we both couldn’t stop watching it.
After a little bag rearranging and a quick nap it was time for the orientation meeting for our group. I was a little disappointed to learn that the group is large (20 of us) and half have been together for two weeks already. But everyone seems friendly, and I’m sure it will feel like a cohesive group in just a few days. All the group formalities over, we went for dinner in the hotel restaurant and then I collapsed in bed.
11/21 - Arriving in Nairobi
11/23 - Nairobi to Arusha
11/24 - Camel Rides and Culture
11/25 - Safari in the Serengeti
11/26 - Thanksgiving in the Serengeti
11/27 - Ngorogoro Crater
11/28 - Arusha Market and on to Marangu
11/29 - Schools, Children and a Waterfall
11/30 - Usambara Mountains
12/1 - The Long Drive to Dar
12/2 - Stone Town
12/3 - Stone Town and Spice Tour
12/4 - Snorkel Day
12/5 - The End of the Trip