David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust /Daphne Sheldrick Orphanage

There were numerous ups and downs in our small plane to get to Nairobi - I think we took off and landed 6 times turning a 45 min trip into a 2 1/2 hour marathon. This is the reality of flying on bush planes, sometimes you get the milk run.

Our flight was late getting to Nairobi so we went straight to the elephant orphanage, unfortunately missing out on the Giraffe Centre.

The orphanage rescues and rehabilitates baby elephants who have lost their mothers to poaching, death and injuries. Many of the baby elephants are in very bad shape when they are finally rescued. The staff nurse them back to health and raise them to be released back to the wild when they are ready. This is a long term commitment as the elephants can spend 3 - 5 years at the centre, slowly being introduced to the adjacent Nairobi National park environment before  being moved to another site where their acclimatization to the wild continues. All in all, in can take up to 10 years before the elephants are truly back in the wild.

The elephant we fostered is called Lima Lima (named after the area where she was found). She is a female born in Feb 2012. Each baby has it's own pen and if necessary a keeper actually sleeps in the pen, on an elevated platform, if they are critical or need to be fed or given meds during the night. The keepers are routated routinely so that the elephants do not get attached to any one human.

When they bring the elephants in for the night, the come running in groups of 4 or 5. They run straight for their pens as they know there will be a huge bottle of milk there waiting for them. It's quite a sight.

Here are some pictures from our visit to the orphanage:

Coming in for the night. The babies come back in groups of 4 or 5

In the back left you can see a keeper feeding a baby a bottle of specially prepared elephant friendly milk

The older ones take a shortcut

Lima Lima in her pen

Lima Lima stealing food from the elephant in the next pen - the grass is always greener - even for elephants

The keeper in the pen next door moved the branch out of her reach - not impressed

Fine then, I'll eat my own but it doesn't taste as good!

It's hard to see but this is a 2 week old baby who was rescued when she was one week old. She was in critical condition when she was brought in but according to the keeper, things are looking up for her to recover.

Resident warthog wandering around

Lima Lima asleep for the night 

A keeper with one of the elephants who needs overnight care

But I want some more!

The rhino was rescued because he was blind and couldn't survive in the wild. After many procedures and examinations by different doctors, they have confirmed he has hereditary blindness and cannot be cured. He will live at the centre for the rest of his life.