Wildlife in Nairobi

4 july 2022

Got up early for our 6am pickup...and almost didn't see him! He had parked inside the gates and we were waiting outside. Finally, we figured it out, and our guide Charo headed to Nairobi National Park for a three hour game drive. He told us that while it was easier to see animals in the morning (the dew makes the grass easier to eat), it would be VERY lucky if we saw any cats.

We started at a memorial to poached elephants where they have burned tusks that were seized.

We saw SOOOO many animals. There was one amazing moment when we were watching some zebras, ostriches and gazelles...and a lioness walked through them. They all froze in a line and everything was silent while the lion walked by...acting like she didn't notice the effect she was having! Amazing moment. Charo said the reason she didn't attack is probably because she knew they were all faster than her so she was probably just sussing the situation--were there any weak members of the herd, etc?

How do you get used to seeing this stuff??

We saw buffalo, ostriches, gazelles, hippos (usually sleep in daytime, but one was out snacking), guinea fowl, antelope, jackals, white rhino, impala, giraffes, sunbirds (green/yellow), zebras, starlings (shiny blue), crocodiles, great neck cranes...and LIONS!!! So exciting! It was just the two of us on the tour, so Charo let us stop whenever and take all the photos we wanted. He was very good at spotting animals! When we were finished looking we had to say "hallelujah!" so he knew we were ready to go.

Then we headed to the Sheldrick's Elephant Orphanage near the park. They rehab orphaned elephants and rhinos here. They bring the babies out 10-11 at a time (they currently have 21) to drink from giant baby bottles while the main guy tells the crowd their names and their backstories--how they wound up in the orphanage. They have to have mother's milk for two years in order to survive...at which point they start easing them back into nature nearby. Over a period of about 5 years, they visit with various herds until they find one that "adopts" them and finally they go live back in the wild. Sometimes, they even come by the other locations to "visit"--even bringing their own children by! I basically cried through the whole presentation.

They then eat some leaves, play in the mud, and let people touch them as they wander around. SO amazing and what a great organization.

We stopped for lunch at a cute cafe called the Golden Eagle housed in a tourist trap souvenir area. The food was incredible--I had some peanut soup that was like drinking peanut butter--delicious. From there, we headed to the Giraffe Center. They have eleven Rothschild giraffes they look after and you get to feed them small food pellets they hand you when you enter. Rothschilds are the largest and have more defined, square/rectangular spots, as opposed to the Masai giraffes whose spots look like splotches or maple leaves (Reticulated giraffes are in Northern Kenya and have darker spots and thinner outlines).

They also have some warthogs (pumbaas) running around picking up scraps! We learned they are kind of stupid (pumbaa literally means "stupid person")...their memory span is about 30 seconds long. If they are being chased by a predator and don't get back to their den within 30 seconds, they will forget why they are running and stop!

Charo told us he was from the coast of Kenya and he comes in to Nairobi to work and rents a room while here. His wife is dead and he has a 15 year old son who is apparently a handful. He was such a nice man.

Back to Airbnb and leftovers and an early bed!