SAMPLE KENYA SPECIAL CONSERVATION SAFARI

Several of Africa’s so called Big Five - elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo and leopard - are threatened with extinction due to man’s encroachment on their habitat and thirst for ivory and rhino horn. Specifically, the animals most at risk are lions, rhinos and elephants.

The lion population has declined dramatically in recent years. Rhinos are being poached at an ever increasing rate for the “believed” medicinal properties of their horn. And elephants are disappearing at an equally alarming rate, coveted for the value of their ivory.

We take you on a safari to some key conservation centers - all striving for solutions to combat this catastrophe? Dedicated scientists, wildlife experts, and rangers are busily studying these problems for solutions. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, has devoted her life to rescuing infant elephants orphaned by poachers. At the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, located at the foot of Mt. Kenya, Africa’s second highest mountain, the not for profit organization provides a sanctuary for black rhinos, and the world’s three remaining northern white rhino, together with a haven for orphaned chimpanzees. More recently, in the world famous Masai Mara National Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, efforts are being made to study lion populations to better understand the threats and solutions.

This safari visits these projects, to gain an insight into the issues while witnessing the current abundance of wildlife all around, now in great danger of disappearing for all time.

As quoted by Daphne Sheldrick :

"We need another and wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals .... In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings, they are other Nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth"

Animals are indeed more ancient, more complex, and in many ways more sophisticated than man. In terms of Nature they are truly more perfect because they remain within the ordered scheme of Nature and live as Nature intended. They are different to us, honed by natural selection over millennia so they should not be patronised, but rather respected and revered.

And of all the animals, perhaps the most respected and revered should be the Elephant, for not only is it the largest land mammal on earth, but also the most emotionally human

NOTES:

VISA INFORMATION

Please be aware of a change in the Visa application procedure for travelers coming to Kenya.

This change is part of on-going Government efforts to enhance service delivery by moving various services to the on-line platform. Visas should be applied for online before arrival into Kenya. The new service went live in July 2015.

However, visitors can still get their visas on arrival at the Airports until further notice.

General important information:

Once issued, the eVisa is valid for 3 months before you travel. Once you present yourself to immigration control at the port of entry, you may be issued with a stay period of 90 days.

Once the application is in process, the e-Visa application fees are non-refundable.

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