Born Free Foundation - Keep Wildlife in the Wild

28 June 2011:

After an eight hour flight, three hour delay and missing two connecting flights we finally arrived in Nairobi on Tuesday 28th June. When we arrived we were welcomed by Steven Warunigi and Makenna Nyamo who took us to see the Born Free office in Nairobi. Set in an old butterfly sanctuary we were greeted by an array of the Born Free fibreglass lions.

After a quick visit we arrived at our first hotel which was the Macushla House Hotel. A quick change and we went straight out to the fantastic giraffe sanctuary where we got to see a number of giraffes as well as feeding them from a platform. We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the hotel before getting an early night for an early start the next day.

29 June 2011:

We woke up on Wednesday at 5am to leave for our four hour drive on what felt like the worst roads in the world bound for Amboseli National Park.

During the fun filled journey and meeting some locals in a small village we arrived at the national park being greeted by a sleeping lion lying in the grass. The scenery was fantastic and as we got to the hotel we had seen a full array of giraffes and elephants standing in the road.

After lunch and meeting our host Manoa David, we carried on our afternoon, visiting a school in Oi Moti. The school which has been supported by Born Free was small but we were well greeted by all the pupils.

We walked around the grounds being shown the dorm’s to the kitchens and seen how much of a difference Born Free has made to this local community school. We were very pleased to offer the school some gifts including stationary and books which the children were delighted with.

We finished our day off with dinner and watched the elephants wander through the lodge grounds of the Amboseli Serena Lodge.

1 July 2011:

After breakfast and saying goodbye to Manoa, we carried on our trip to meet Victor Mutumah in Acacia. For the afternoon we accompanied Victor with some volunteers from the Kenya Wildlife Club and went to Machakos All Girl’s school in which Victor showed the students a presentation on the affects of poaching in the community including health risks, which can lead to death, and the effects of extinction.

We were also pleased to chip in with this presentation, as at short notice, Victor asked us to talk to the 800+ students and we discussed the reasons that draws visitors and tourism to the area plus a comparison of the local wildlife we see at home vs. what amazing wildlife we have seen in Kenya.

After a great presentation, Victor recommended us visit a local Kenyan pub to relax before dinner. By 8pm we arrived back at the Acacia Camp for buffet dinner cooked around the camp fire which followed with us being greeted with an extra visitor in our lodge.

The converted horse stable was home to a huge colourful spider, which was removed, eventually, however that night seemed to last forever. The lights/electricity in the camp was reduced during the evening so by 11pm the only light source came naturally from the moon, or if required pre charged torches provided in each room.

The grounds were patrolled regularly so we felt some reassurance by this however the phrase bumps in the night didn’t have a look in. The open grounds were very welcome to various types of wildlife at all hours, we didn’t really want to see them but we sure did hear them, and I think the two hours sleep that we managed to get was still with one eye open.

02 July 2011:

Well ready for a day of patrols we stocked up on breakfast and headed in two jeeps in convey to Swara Plains, with assistance from the KWC. Within minutes of patrolling the fence boundaries we found our first snare, both on foot and by jeep over a 5km radius we had collected around ten snares.

By the end of the morning we had all collected over 40 snares and covered a 50km stretch at least. In one aspect an achievement and on the other a worry, we headed across town to a different location to continue our anti poaching and thankfully found hardly any snares, however plenty of locals that appeared to be measuring up purchased land that they had acquired.

After a great experience in Machakos, we departed late afternoon for the two hour journey to Nairobi where we had an hour or two to relax prior to dinner with Born Free Executive, Makenna. Not only did we enjoy a lovely dinner at the hotel, but Makenna insisted on us sampling a great range of local beers from a newly opened brewery, so off we headed to their modern international bar. This must have been our latest night and a treat it was.

03 July 2011:

Woke up to our Malaria tablets still playing havoc with our bodies, not the effects of alcohol at all, so we head to breakfast and enjoy our free time at the hotel. Our pick up not until 4pm that day we decide to head to Nairobi’s National park and grab a taxi to an Elephant Orphanage.

The sanctuary only open an hour a day, allows visitors the opportunity to learn about the 15 orphans here, their backgrounds and their lives going forward. We learnt of how the sanctuary staff are trying to prepare and rear the elephants for the wild and visitors after a short presentation were welcome to participate and ask questions and even adopt one of the elephants.

Prior to leaving for the airport we headed to a local Masaai market to pick up any final gifts, crafts and local souvenirs’ and checked into our Mombasa beach hotel that evening. We had a bite to eat while catching up with the results of Wimbledon, at the Nyali Beach Resort, and after a little walk to the beachfront we were surprised to see what we thought were moving sand sculptures, to be in fact camels.