I didn’t really think that I would be so enthralled with the baby elephants. We had just finished 8 days of game drives, which included lots of elephant watching. We saw a lot of little babies, including those trying to get out of the mud hole, those adorably playing with elephants just their size, and those mischievously running behind their mothers after pestering elephants twice their size.
There is something so fascinating about elephants, an animal with incredible social dynamics and a memory that most of us would envy.
So I thought Sheldrick’s would be interesting, but I didn’t realize how much I would absolutely, positively, adore watching baby elephants. Sleeping, mostly.
But let’s back up for a moment…
Probably a few years ago, my mom gave me the book on Dame Daphne Sheldrick, entitled Love, Life, and Elephants (I mention it here, too).
It took me probably another year to read it because I’m delinquent, but when I did I was enthralled. Dame Daphne was the first to successfully raise milk-dependent orphan elephants, and also raised a menagerie of other animals, including dik-diks, birds, and rhinos.
Have I mentioned how many dik-diks we saw on this trip?! SO MANY.
Back to Sheldrick’s.
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is what emerged from all of Dame Daphne (and her husband David’s) work on conservation and raising orphaned animals.
And, you can visit in Nairobi. Public visiting hours are from 11-12 each day, I believe, and if you want to adopt an elephant (or visit an elephant you’ve adopted), you can visit from 5pm-6pm.
(We did not know that this 5pm time slot was for elephant adoptions, we just thought there was a $50 entry fee. Now that we know this $50 fee is not for entry, but actually for the elephant adoption…well, it’s a fantastic hour to stare at sleeping (and interactive) baby elephants and also support a great cause.)
If you are in Nairobi, go. It’s totally worth adopting an elephant, as then you get ridiculous amounts of insanely fun (and sometimes sad) stories of their lives and 10-15 year journey back to reintroduction. And a precious wallet size photo montage of them.
Yes, reintroduction. Sheldrick’s works to send ALL of their elephants back to wild herds, and has been doing so successfully for decades. Which is really impressive.
This won’t be the last I write of Sheldrick’s, but I’ll leave you with a few pictures of the babies. And Maxwell, the genetically blind rhino who resides (forever, since he’s genetically blind) at the Trust. There is something lovable about a rhino that looks cuddly.
Obviously, don’t try to cuddle Maxwell on a visit. Though I guess there are worse ways for loved ones to remember you than “she was just trying to cuddle an orphaned, blind, rhino when it accidentally stepped on her!”
That was a bad joke.
