The first time I went to Kenya was in 1993 with my son, Michael, age 18. We went there to visit my sister, Lucile and go on Safari in Tsavo . The second time I went to Kenya was in 2005, again to visit Lucile and her husband, Rory, and this time I went to the Masa Mara.

Both times, the most enlightening and interesting part of the trip was a visit to the Nairobi National Park. The park is literally on the edge of Nairobi and is very small in comparison to the other Kenya Parks, as it is only 44 square miles. The park, by the way, has it all! Virtually every animal that can be seen in Kenya, lives in this small park too.

But the Park’s best attraction is The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, where you can see the work of Daphne Sheldrick and her orphanage.

Daphne Sheldrick is the Mother of All Mothers’. She is the matriarch of orphaned elephants found in distress throughout all of Kenya. She is devoted to the care and mature growth of these elephants. Many of her babies are there as a result of poachers killing the mother elephants for their ivory tusks. Yes, the poaching still goes on.

On my first visit, Daphne was with the crew from 60 Minutes. Although she was busy with the filming crew, she took the time to greet us and give us a tour of her elephant shelters, the baby bathing time, feeding and caring of the baby elephants. There was a baby rhino there too, for the same reason; poaching of his mom’s horn.

Some people don’t know that an elephant has the same life span as a human being. A two year old elephant hasn’t a prayer if it’s left alone after the death of its mother. It will cry it’s heart out and die of starvation, because even though it’s two years old, it still is breast feeding.

When an orphan is found and brought to the Trust it is cared for by the group of Keepers, who live, feed (bottle feed) and care the babies until they are old enough to move to Tsavo National Park, where the Trust has, what I call, a half-way house. There, the teenager is transitioned for a period of up to 10 years and joins a family of elephants.

Sadly, not all the babies make it to be teenagers, there are emotional and physical problems that can’t always be solved. Elephants have long memories and loosing a mother, when you are a baby elephant has devastating long term effects.

A visit to The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is a must see, if you are going to be in Kenya. By the way on the ride to the Trust, you can spot giraffe, antelope, wildebeest and lions, at a distance, of course and keep your hands inside the car, please…

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