Elephant Safari in Kenya: The Rumblings of a Calling

It's nearly a year after my visit to the elephants in Kenya, but my heart aches with as much longing as the day I left. Only 11 days on the mother continent, and I felt bonded and grounded there. Now, when I look to the East from my balcony, toward the estuaries that surround San Francisco Bay, I imagine elephants roaming through the golden grasses...hiding amongst the California oak trees. But alas, it's just the spirit of Africa calling my soul home once again. And I realize that I should journal these memories while the details are still fresh in my mind.

Why Africa? Why Kenya? Truthfully, although I've always been compelled to visit Africa, a trip to India was first on my mind. But a series of intrigues and affections pulled me towards Nairobi instead. My love affair with elephants began when I was a toddler. I absolutely adored the elephants at the San Francisco Zoo. Of course, I was too young to understand that the cramped quarters there were not suitable for them. I just loved watching them use their enormous trunks to eat and play, occasionally scooping up bits of dirt that they would blow over their backs to protect themselves from the sun. (Someday, I need to see if my elephant-shaped zoo key is still in storage with the family mementos left behind by my mother when she died.) But my adult philanthropic love affair with elephants started a couple years ago when I began supporting The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi.

One day, I thought about how much I love the elephants, and decided to do some on-line research to learn more. I can't even tell you how it all came about, except that my studies led me to learn more about the migratory nature of elephants and the inevitable human/elephant conflict that results from the over-population of humans in ancient elephant paths, and the devastation of poaching for the ivory trade. It overwhelms me how the earth's largest living mammals need protection from us overly-developed primates. Only our conscious awareness can reverse the trend of humans taking over elephant territory. Shall we overcome our animalistic nature and use good judgment over our stewardship? Or will our lower animal instincts reign supreme as we dominate all other species in our way? I feel a calling to connect with the conservationists who are determined to correct the downward spiral...and help in whatever way I can.

When I came across The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust website, I found myself weeping at the tender stories of the orphaned elephant babies and the nobleness of the keeper's diaries. Immediately, I donated some money and adopted little Nalitu, a baby girl ellie. Her story of loss and abandonment was something that moved me deeply, and I looked at her photo every day and eagerly awaited news of her progression. Sadly, on my birthday morning, I received word that little Nalitu had died suddenly of pneumonia, a condition common to elephant rescues. I was truly heartbroken. However, it was that day's grief and compassion that forged my new conservationist heart. Disappointment and losses are an inevitable part of being involved with something as fragile as orphan rescues. So while I wept for the loss of this baby girl, I typed out an email to my friends and clients, encouraging them to support the specialized work of this small organization by adopting a foster baby elephant.

Several baby elephant adoptions later, I came across the important work of the Save the Elephants foundation. Iain Douglas-Hamilton is a well-known elephant researcher who has made history with his research on elephant family systems and how they convene in both small and large groups. His organization is still doing some very important studies involving GPS tracking collars on elephants to determine their migratory routes, with the intention of preventing human conflicts in those areas. But as famous as his work is, it was his wife Oria Douglas-Hamilton that intrigued me more. I simply had to meet her!

Oria Douglas-Hamilton is not a researcher per se, though she's lived the life for many years. Not standing in anyone's shadow, Oria has created many of her own projects including book-writing, educational & cultural programs for Kenyan youth and families, and creating a wonderful ecological safari camp in Northern Kenya called Elephant Watch Safaris. We emailed once or twice, and I told her I was coming for a visit.

It was as sudden and as simple as that. I decided that I was going to Kenya to meet Oria and the little babies at the orphanage. There was no mulling about, no hesitation. I told my husband I was going to Kenya for a couple weeks, and asked if he would like to join me (he did.) It wasn't a vacation for me. It was a spiritual pilgrimage. I followed the inner-rumblings of my heart to the elephants in Kenya.