Adopt an Elephant in Kenya

A holiday of a lifetime

written by Tony Caunt, local contributor

Kenya and for that matter Tanzania, is open for business!  Forget Somalian pirates and terrorists, we have just had a fantastic holiday / adventure on Safari at two camps in the Masai Mara and one in the Serengeti with the only danger being the wild animals. Seen from the relative safety of your Land Cruiser, one can see all the big five plus Cheetah, Crocodiles, Hippos, thousands of wildebeest, various Antelope and myriads of colourful birds.

These areas need your support as never before. By choosing to holiday in Kenya you contribute directly to conservation and keep the camps open and in return they support the local Masai people and the wildlife they look after. As we hear in the news there is still massive poaching of elephant and rhino for the ivory and horn and we have done our bit by choosing to adopt an elephant for $50 for one year.

Adopt an Elephant

In Nairobi there is the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust set up in 1977 by Dame Daphne Sheldrick D.B.E in memory of her late husband David where they hand-rear orphaned elephants. We visited this amazing centre based in the Karen district on the edge of the Nairobi National Park which is home to over 25 elephants varying in age from three weeks to five years, where they are looked after by keepers and fed on a special milk formula. The orphans have been rescued from the wild where in most cases their mothers have been killed and they are integrated with other elephants and ultimately released into the wild herds of Tsavo National Park in South East Kenya.

We went to Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar on a 17 day holiday by African Pride which was booked through Stephen Howard Travel, Wibsey

To adopt an elephant or send a donation see The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

WILD :: Kenya’s Elephants and The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust from Village Beat on Vimeo.