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Conservation Holiday with Space for Giants
Kenya 2014
I’m not sure why it has taken me nearly a year to write this. But it has. I’m also not so sure that my meagre writing ability can do justice to the experience we had post Kilimanjaro, but I will give it a go. In ten days we would see the world differently thanks to the charity Space for Giants www.spaceforgiants.org
Not even 5 hours after finishing our climb of Mt Kilimanjaro for www.borne.org.uk akin to climbing on the moon with a ten year blizzard thrown in for good measure. An exhausted Caro, Will and I
A breath-taking direct transfer from Nairobi across the overfilled townships and on to the more rural Nanyuki in a teeny tiny plane (cue air sick bags). We were met by the first Max we would encounter on our journey, Doctor Max, Elephant conservationist and peacekeeper, A charismatic ex-public school Englishman, the only hint of it left being his infectious laugh.
His concept of creating
We spent two days staying at a friend’s house and visiting the Ol Pejeta reserve (http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org) with Dr. Max who introduced the kids to the anti-poaching team, which included several very scary dogs and a demonstration of what happens if said scary dog thinks you’re a poacher! (Ouch)
On the reserve right next to the staff
Of course wherever we drove, the children encountered sights they had never before seen, why were people sitting on the side of the road, what were they waiting for? Did people really live in those tin houses? Why did people want to kill Elephants? Our tour guide and driver patiently answering every naïve
After two days visiting Ol Pajeta and the local area it was time for us to go and visit Anne. It was a five hour drive over unsealed roads past every wild animal you could imagine…stopping to let elephants cross in front of us…. completely un-staged and perfectly on time!
Our bottoms will never be the same, but it was worth every bump to meet Anne at her place Suyian Soul (www.suyian.com) Here we finally felt we could relax…no phone signal, no
Anne took us on a drive through the plains of her land, she runs eco-tours where you can study the local flora and fauna…or like us…look for animals. We picnicked by the side of a water hole whilst elephants drank from one side, and Samburu herded cattle on the other…we had to keep pinching ourselves! Was this really happening!
On the way back from our “out of Africa” picnic, we stopped to climb some giant boulders
Two nights with Anne was not
A short one hour “drive” to neighboring Loisaba at Laikipia, we were greeted by more smiling faces and more amazing food and wine! http://www.loisaba.com
This felt like a more conventional holiday escape, beautiful, with a pool and options to go rafting and on safari drives. The absolute highlights for us were the evening drinks by a waterhole after horse riding…especially for Caro being a more
White water rafting was pretty much the most I have ever laughed and cried all at the same time, we were set a drift down the Ng’are Narok river and told they would pick us up at the other end (note absence of any Health & safety briefing -awesome ☺)…. Caro and I had stayed back and then jumped in a raft, we were separated from the rest of our family…quite a lot back. We started to panic about
All the while, a little 9 year old Samburu boy sits on the opposite side of the river, minding his herd of goats and wondering what the hell we are up to. We point out the little boy to our six children whilst they, on the other side of the river, sip cool sodas and play by the riverbank. This little boy has most likely worked a 12 hour day, had little for
The boys managed to spot a leopard, the one time I decided to stay back and read….typical! The other exciting feature of Loisaba, was the tree house bedrooms…watching the sunrise and set from here was like two weeks worth of meditation and yoga all at once.
After the “rest& relaxation”(!) part of our holiday, it was time for us to return to the mountains…unbeknownst
The children however, strangely not bothered about the distinct lack of alcohol, and well equipped with their merino Smalls (which were an absolute life saver on this entire trip) were the happiest throwing self made spears at bushes, for hours and hours. We also
High five to the Duke of Cambridge, this place is proposal perfection.
After our two days (felt like two weeks with no wine) we had to face the drive back down which was painful but, beautiful. We then drove for another several hours, to find our campsite for the next two nights, an adventure we were hesitant
We got lost for a couple of hours and ended up driving through a village that did not often see tourists…they didn’t ask for sweets though, no, they were calling for water…which was a reality check for us.
For Caro Will and myself, the thought of sleeping in a tent and yet more “washy washy” (see Kili blog) filled us with dread. But…. that all changed when we finally found our hosts, in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and the oasis that they had created.
Happiness
On stepping
The leader Gabriel had his son Max 9, with him who was the same age as Ben and Matilda. For our kiddies it was a real leap for them to understand how different his daily life was to theirs and over the next 24 hours, the children swapped questions about each other’s school, friends, and daily life.
We had a brilliant evening, our jaws ached from smiling so much. We were taught to throw spears, light fires and dance! Total heaven for
We had an evening stroll with the camels in preparation for the next days trek, ate a delicious meal at sunset…and thank god…there was wine.
On our final day before we flew out we had the pleasure of visiting some local Nairobi conservation spots, while amazing, we felt it a shame if there were not more of them throughout the regions, so orphaned elephants don’t have to endure hours of transport to refuge. We adopted an elephant and kissed a giraffe…all in a days travel with
Giraffe kissing
For More images see www.lovemysmalls.com/blog
Links:
Space for Giants, journeys for giants;
http://spaceforgiants.org/?q=journeys-for-giants.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy – working to protect Kenyas wildlife
http://www.olpejetaconservancy.org
Suyian Soul – www.suyian.com
Loisaba – http://www.loisaba.com/index.php.
Rutundu Cabins – http://www.rutundu.com
Walking Safari with Camels – http://www.karisia.com/walking-safaris/permanent-camp
Giraffe Sanctuary –
Elephant Orphanage – https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org