Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi

On August 19, 2021August 19, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Africa, Kenya1 Comment

One might have thought that we had seen enough elephants during our safari considering that we saw hundreds of them, but we were actually excited to visit the elephant orphanage in Nairobi. The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is dedicated to rescuing orphaned elephants and rhinos, raising them and possibly rehabilitating them, and then returning them to the wild. The baby elephants come from all of the various national parks and animal reserves where, unfortunately, poaching still sometimes occur leaving the elephants orphaned or sometimes they become orphaned for other reasons. Pretty much every baby animal is cute and adorable, but baby elephants are especially cute and precocious.

Just Like a Kid Pushing a Friend into the Pool

During the time of our visit, it was very important to make your reservations in advance as the orphanage is only open for a single hour with a limited number of guests able to visit. Although the orphanage did have a single baby rhinoceros at the time, they did not bring him out as it would be too overwhelming for him and they were concerned of how he might react. The baby elephants on the other hand didn’t mind the people at all and some went over to get petted and a particularly curious elephant kept leaving the roped off area to mingle amongst the people.

Elephants at Play

The young elephants certainly seemed happy as they played and wrestled with each other. The handlers, who were all men, did a wonderful job of explaining their mission, the process for getting the elephants ready for release, and even took questions at the end. Once an elephant is ready to go back into the wild, they are taken to a camp at Tsavo National Park where they are slowly introduced to other wild elephants. They come back to the camp until one day the elephant simply stays with the wild animals and they are now fully reintroduced.

Allowing visitors to the orphanage is just one way that money is raised to support the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, but anyone can go to their site and adopt and elephant as a way for them to raise money. During our safari, we enjoyed seeing so many different animals, including the elephants, and preserving all of these species is important for everyone, not just those who visit Africa. Ever since the 1950’s, there has been a concerted effort to protect the abundance of wildlife that is unique to Africa, which we benefited from during our time traveling through Tanzania and Kenya. Regardless of whether you are visiting Nairobi to go on a safari or visiting for some other reason, we’d highly recommend taking time to visit the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Elephant Orphanage.

Visiting the Kazuri Bead Factory in Nairobi, Kenya

On August 18, 2021August 18, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Africa, Kenya1 Comment

Although it is referred to as the Kazuri Bead Factory, it is really an artisan workshop where the beads for necklaces and bracelets as well as other pottery are created. Everything created by the artisans for Kazuri are handmade and hand-painted based on a preset pattern that each of the workers follow. In addition to creating beautiful jewelry and pottery, Kazuri provides work for mostly single mothers and provides free medical care for their employees and their immediate family. Buying items from Kazuri, which are sold worldwide, is really an opportunity to get some something beautiful and help the people as well.

It all starts by making the clay which is pressed into blocks, then cut into strips that are scored to create smaller squares. The soft clay is then formed by hand into different size beads for the jewelry, a hole is poked through the center, and then it is kilned to create the hard bead. For the pottery, the clay is formed into bowls, cups, plates, and other forms and then also sent to the kiln to be baked and hardened. After the clay has been baked, it then goes to another set of artisans who began to paint the clay based on the pattern that they are working with. It is up to the individual artist as to whether they would add the base paint, let it dry, and paint any details before sending it to the kiln or whether they would bake it after applying the base paint and then adding the details and baking a final time. Once it is baked with the color, the beads have the shine that one would expect it to have.

The jewelry and pottery created by Kazuri is truly beautiful, but we were certain that we didn’t have the patience to do the detail work by hand that the women of the factory did. We enjoyed walking through the shop after taking a tour of the factory and we did buy a couple of necklaces while we were there. Taking the tour of the Kazuri Bead Factory only takes about an hour, but it is certainly worth the time.

Clay Beads After Being Fired in the Kiln

Ending Our Safari at Lake Nakuru in Kenya

On August 16, 2021August 16, 2021 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Africa, Kenya3 Comments

Our last two days on safari while we were in Africa were spent visiting Lake Naivasha and Lake Nakuru in Kenya before heading to Nairobi. The only rainy day that we had during our time in Africa was actually the day that we arrived in Lake Naivasha. We were scheduled to do a boat ride out on the lake, but considering it was cold and rainy, we chose not to go on the boat ride. It really turned out to be a relaxing day and the only day on safari that we didn’t spend our time driving around in search of wildlife. The following morning we continued on from Lake Naivasha to Lake Nakuru, which turned out to be a spectacular way to end our safari. The two highlights of visiting Lake Nakuru are seeing the flamingos as well as both the white and black rhinos.

We Saw Many Wonderful Giraffes in Lake Nakuru

Before going on our game drive at Lake Nakuru, we checked into our lodge and were immediately greeted with the sight of baboons and gazelles in the field behind our room. We also had a wonderful view of the lake itself which we would spend the next day and a half driving around. We did see a family of black rhinos wandering through the trees on our first afternoon, but the real treat was getting up close to white rhinos the following day. White rhinos are not actually white, but they are larger than black rhinos and have a flatter mouth. Having all of the close encounters to the various wildlife was an experience that we’ll never forget.

In addition to the rhinos, we saw hundreds of flamingos who were enjoying the shallow waters of the lake along with pelicans, ducks, and other water fowl. There are two types of flamingos, the greater flamingo, which are more white than pink, and the lesser flamingo, which is the pink flamingo that most people think of. As with all of the national parks, in Lake Nakuru we saw many varieties of animals all mingling together. We saw many water buffaloes, including some baby buffaloes, as well as giraffes, zebras, and warthogs. We also saw a waterfall during our time in the park, which was wonderful to see as well.

Although Lake Nakuru National Park is not always on everyone’s safari agenda, we were certainly glad that it was part of ours. It was definitely a wonderful way to conclude our safari and was as interesting as our time in the Serengeti and Maasai Mara. Having the opportunities to see the rhinos with their strange heads was an experience that we will never forget. And even though we saw flamingos throughout our time in Kenya and Tanzania, the number of flamingos at Lake Nakuru was definitely a treat to see. We can definitely say that by the time we made it to Nairobi, we were completely satisfied with our safari experiences and felt that we had seen everything that we’d hoped to see.