We had a pretty sobering experience this morning visiting an elephant orphanage where 28 baby elephants and several rhinos were being raised by very dedicated keepers. Jared would love it here and be very comfortable with all we saw!
They came from the bush where their mothers were killed by poachers or local farmers trying to protect their limited crops. Some fell into bore holes, were trapped in mud, or attracted by predators.
The keepers sleep with them at night. It takes 10 years and $750/month to raise them until they are gradually habituated back into the bush where it hopes they are adopted by a herd somewhere. If you are interested, you could “adopt” a baby elephant for $50/year and be sent a regular newsletter and pictures on how he is being raised.
It was amazing that they are similar to human babies with big emotional needs. Around 20,000 animals are killed each year by snare traps alone. It really gave us greater understanding of how dangerous the wild is for baby animals and why so few survive.
Later, we had a delightful lunch and toured the “Swedo House,” the original farm house on the coffee plantation of Karen Blixen of “Out of Africa” fame. They've converted it into a beautiful, cottage-like setting, complete with outdoor dining, pool, sauna, lodging, and gardens. Artifacts were everywhere from the house and the old coffee plantation and it was fun to imagine the times there, many of which were very tough. Yet, her book speaks much of her great love for Africa and she devoted much effort to improving the lives of the people here.
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The community around here is called “Karen” and it's quite up-scale living for the more wealthy people in Naioribi. We view the Nygong hills nearby and remember how she started her famous book and movie with the quote, “I had a farm in the Nygong hills in Africa...” Here she remarkably drove off a marauding lion with only a whip, led herself a safari to bring supplies to her husband and other British soldiers fighting the war in northern Africa, caught syphilis from her unfaithful husband, befriended the Maasai chiefs and loved their people and other tribes as they worked the plantation, then sadly watched it all burn to the ground, auctioned off much what she owned because of the fire, and was saluted by the staunchly British men in the local club before returning to Denmark.
One of the first things we plan to do when we come home is to watch that great movie again!
We love you all and long to see you again.
Dick & Lawana (Mom & Dad and Grandpa & Grandma) in Nairobi
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