Elephants, Giraffes, and Warthogs! Oh My!

We were recently able to see some of the wildlife of Kenya up close and on one account VERY personal. Thankfully, these encounters were within the confines of fences with wildlife experts and gamekeepers nearby.

The Sheldrick Wildlife Orphanage brings in baby elephants and rhinos who have been abandoned due to mothers being poached or injured. Were were able to visit the orphanage and see some of the baby elephants being fed, though apparently the rhinos don’t do so well with lots of people, so we didn’t get to see them.

When the baby elephants are brought in, one gamekeeper becomes more or less their mother for the next potentially 10 years as they are slowly introduced into the wild. The game keepers even sleep with the elephants!

On the same day, we also stopped by a giraffe center that allows you to feed giraffes and they will even kiss you! (if you put food in your mouth). Needless to say, John was willing to try, while Clarissa was not.

I guess the warthogs are friends with the giraffes because they were wandering around their feet the whole time.