Baby Giants and Giant Babies

Shez had a day off from her training today so we met up with her ex work colleague and friend, Sarah, who has just moved to Kenya. Sarah is working for UNHCR doing "needs assessments" in Somalia - better her than me!
We hired a taxi for the day and headed off to the Nairobi National Park to see the elephant orphanage. We didn't go into the park proper, which is apparently is a good place to do a safari if you're short on time. It's only ten or so kilometers form the centre of town so you can see things like giraffe, rhino and lions all roaming around with the city skyline in the background - weird.
Anyway, we were here to see orphaned elephants being fed at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. I had seen these guys on several TV docos and have been keen to see the real thing for ages. Basically, this self funded charity rescues orphaned elephants and rhinos that, are usually the victims of poachers, to eventually rehabilitate and return them to the wild. This is an intensive care program, with the green coated minders staying with their charges 24/7. As well as feeding (every 4 hours) and keeping the stables clean (a good idea since the keepers sleep on the hay with the elephants), they teach their charges to forage, mud bath and play soccer etc - you know all the essentials for an adolescent. Once they're ready, at about 2 or 3 years of age, the elephants are transferred to a half way house in one of the game reserves where they are introduced to older elephants. As they get older and more confident, they wander further afield until the eventually just stop coming back. The whole process is very intensive and takes years. To keep the funds ticking over, they open the Nairobi centre for 1 hour a day for a public display of feeding.
The little fellas troop out like a football team and run to their keepers who are holding large bottles of milk formula. Very cute. It's funny to see the different personalities, from cheeky to very shy. Some are still getting over the trauma of seeing their mothers killed. After the elephants were done feeding and led away, a 3 month old black rhino calf came out for a feed - also very cute! All in all, it was good fun watching them.
After the baby elephants, we headed off to the Giraffe Centre to see the endangered Rothschild Giraffes. The centre was started in 1979 by the Kenyan grandson of a Scottish earl who started by raising a baby giraffe in their Nairobi home. That home is now the world famous Giraffe Manor. Alas, we couldn't afford the small fortune required to stay overnight in the Manor where giraffe are free to steel your breakfast through the window and smaller giraffe have been known to wander through the house. However, we were able to feed the giraffe which was kind of fun. One greedy guts in particular was at the feeding station (a raised platform) from before we got there until after we left over an hour later. Apparently she was pregnant and happy to get all the food she could. She acted a bit like a child though. If no one happened to hold out a hand to feed her a pellet, then she'd happily head-but the nearest onlooker in protest. Very funny to watch - from a distance! We had lunch at the centre and then headed off to to the nearby Kazuri Beads and Pottery Centre.
The centre was set up to help single mothers earn an income. From the original two mothers, there are now over 200 employees making beads for export all over the world - apparently they have an agent in Australia so you may have seem them. Anyway, after a brief tour and explanation of the art of making clay glazed beads, we entered girl heaven - a shop full of brightly coloured necklaces, ear rings and bracelets. Sarah tried in vain to control herself, all the time mumbling, "I don't have to get it all now - I'll be back" and "I can see this is going to cost me a fortune". For you girls reading, I'm sure you know the feeling - for the boys, just imagine a shop full of your favorite beers at bargain basement prices. Needless to say, we eventually dragged ourselves out with heavy bags and light wallets.
All in all, a good day at the office.
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Written by Roscoe On