Ol Pejeta: Sanctuaries and Conservation

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We spent the day today visiting a chimpanzee sanctuary and learning more about the conservation efforts in the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. We had fun with chimps, and saw lots of animals today, including two very sleepy lions!

We woke up quite early, in time for the sunrise, and had quite a good view of Mount Kenya. It was a beautiful clear, sunny morning. We both had slept well, falling asleep wondering what animals were making all the various noises we could hear. Before I fell asleep though, as I was putting my e-reader down I brushed against something that moved, on the side of the bed. I used the light from my reader to illuminate it, and it was a good sized, light coloured spider. Anyone who knows me knows I am a complete arachnophobe, so I flew out of bed in the opposite direction (first hopping around on the bed and waking up Susan). I cowered in the bathroom area as Susan removed it from our tent. Well, I had to come out to unzip and hold open the flaps for her. Then she noticed a very large beetle in the bathroom (it didn’t bother me like the spider did), but she removed it too. It took me awhile to fall asleep after that. The spider was very close to my face on the side of the bed, OMG!

Anyway, this morning we had a nice breakfast (I sampled various items at the buffet), and then we headed out at 8 am for our morning game drive and excursions. We saw various animals including Southern White Rhinos (Kifaru in Swahili), Burchell’s (common) zebras (Punda Milia), reticulated giraffes (Twiga), elephants (Tembo), Eland (Pefu), Cape Buffalo (Nyati), Jackals (Mbweha), Impala (Swala Pala), Thompson’s Gazelle (Swala Tomi), and lions (Simba). And probably various others I’ve forgotten. We also saw some incredible birds including the Crowned Crane.

We visited the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, which is a sanctuary for profoundly damaged chimpanzees rescued from captivity across Africa, and also home to some chimps who were born at the sanctuary. The sanctuary takes steps to stop the animals from breeding, but occasionally there are births (by mistake the guide says). There are two separate family groups, in two very large enclosures separated by the Ewaso Ngiro River. We couldn’t get as close to them as you previously could, to protect the chimps from Covid. We had to wear masks while we were there, to protect the chimps.

Kenya is quite strict about mask-wearing and hand washing/sanitizing. We have had to wear masks at the places we’ve visited, and to wash or sanitize our hands before we go in. Sometimes our temperature is taken also. We wear masks in indoor areas of the camps too. Kenya has quite a low covid rate, due to the lockdowns and restrictions that the government has implemented, including a nation-wide curfew only recently lifted. They also have quite a good vaccination rate (people who work in the tourist/hospitality industry were vaccinated first).

Susan asked the guide at the chimp sanctuary about vaccinations for the chimps, and he said that the chimps would be vaccinated in the future. I’m not sure if there is a covid vaccination for chimps currently available. We walked around the sanctuary and saw quite a few chimps. At the first enclosure we just saw two behind the fencing, but they didn’t really want to come out. We walked over to the river to the other enclosure, and after awhile numerous chimps came out to visit. The keepers don’t interact closely with the chimps at all, because of the traumatic experiences with humans they have had. They now have peaceful, safe lives at the sanctuary.

Later we drove past the Endangered Species Enclosure, which is a 283 hectare enclosure, home to the last two remaining Northern White Rhinos. They were sleeping under a tree so we couldn’t see them, but we’ll try again on our afternoon game drive. They live with a Southern White Rhino, who acted as their teacher, instructing them on how to live in the wild (since they both came from a zoo in the Czech Republic). The last northern white rhinos (9 I believe) who survived the war in the Sudan were transported to zoos. Four were later sent back to Kenya, and there are two remaining. They are both female, but there are efforts underway to implant an embryo (developed from sperm from one of the deceased males) into a Southern white rhino surrogate, and hopefully prevent the subspecies from becoming extinct. Neither of the two remaining female Northern White Rhinos is able to maintain a pregnancy, that's why they will use a surrogate.

We then went to see Baraka, who is a blind black rhino. He lives in an enclosure because of his blindness, and is quite friendly to humans. He was sleeping when we got to see him, tired out from foraging throughout the night. The Morani Information Centre is located here, with displays of horns and skulls from various animals and information on the animals located in Ol Pejeta, as well as information about the efforts to conserve the rhinos. It was a very interesting place.

We were back at our camp around 12:30, and went to the bar for a Tusker Lite, then had lunch (a nice cauliflower soup and salad for me). The weather changed after lunch, turning first cloudy, then getting windy and cooler, and it’s raining now. I believe it’s quite common here for it to rain for a short while in the afternoons. It is forecast to stop later. We’re heading out on our afternoon game drive in a 1/2 hour (at 4 pm) so I’ll sign off for now. More when we return!

We had a fun afternoon game drive, but the elusive leopard and cheetah continued to elude us. First we stopped to see the two remaining Northern White Rhinos, Nanjin and Fatu. They were sleeping in the shade of a tree this morning but were up and about this afternoon. Information signs provide a brief description of the last four Northern white rhinos who used to live here, but both males have died (of natural causes) and only the two females remain.

We continued our drive, seeing more rhinos, Cape Buffalo, and various antelopes. We were driving down a road when I could see something tan coloured on the side of the road. As we approached I could see it was a lion, laying on its back with a paw up in the air. I was certain it had been killed by a car or the electric fence. Then we spotted another lion, also laying down, a short distance away. It turns out they were both just sleeping! I had rained just prior to this, and apparently lions don’t like to be in the wet grass, so they will move to a road. I couldn’t believe how relaxed the lions were, with us so close by in our jeep. They were lying on their backs, occasionally rolling over, and appearing just like very large house cats! Stanley said that they are not concerned about people when we are inside vehicles. However, if you were to leave the vehicle, that would be a different story. They would become agitated and I’m not sure what they would do, but I wouldn’t hang around to find out.

As were were moving past the two sleeping females, we saw a large male (with a nice mane) on the other side of the fence. Ol Pejeta has various fenced areas, it is not just one huge open area. Stanley at first thought that the male had somehow gotten outside the conservancy boundaries, but it turned out that he was still within the conservancy, just in an adjacent enclosure. It was fantastic to see him, even if we had to see him through a fence. We were the first safari jeep to spot the lions, and more were coming as we were leaving.

We continued our drive, seeing lots of animals, but not what we were really hoping to see, a cheetah, or even better, a leopard.

We got back about 6:30, and once again went to the bar for a G&T. We finished the bottle of Chardonnay we got yesterday, and enjoyed our dinner. I had the vegetarian Indian dishes, which were excellent.

Time to sign off, tomorrow we leave at 8 am for our long drive to Lake Navaisha, where we will see hippos!

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Photos

Chimps can get covid
We had to wear our masks to protect the chimps

Comments

[Faye Walker]

Ol Pejeta:Sanctuaries and Conversation
Knowing you Lori good thing you had brave Susan to remove the spider. The photos of the chimps look like they were posing for you. You two are having a great time on Safari. Way to go!

[Waddads Travel]

Spiders
Thanks Mom! Yes I’m glad Susan was there to remove the spider. We are having such an amazing time here in Kenya!

[alex waring]

Northern White Rhinos
Wow, I'm so amazed you were able to see Nanjin and Fatu. I recently watched a documentary on the plight of the Northern White Rhinos. How lovely you were able to see them, but how sad the story is. I was very interested to read your words about the efforts to breed through a surrogate Southern White Rhino. I do hope they have success there, that would be amazing. I think I would have the same reaction with the spider in the bed...!

[Waddads Travel]

Northern White Rhinos
It was such a privilege to see these last two northern white rhinos, and yes, it is so very sad. I'm so hoping their efforts at a surrogate pregnancy are successful.

[RENanDREW]

Wow!
Just stunning! How lovely to sit and watch such majestic creatures :)

[Waddads Travel]

Wow!
Yes, it really was so incredible. It was such a joy to see such animals. I'll never forget it.