In the morning we went to the elephant and rhino orphanage. The baby elephants are super cute, we even got to touch them! Most of their mothers were killed by poachers. One of the elephants was attacked by two lions and was wounded. After we got to see a black rhino, I really enjoyed it. Then we went to the Giraffe Centre. We actually fed a giraffe there! They used their tongue to grab the food from our hands, but their tongues are really slimy and gross! Alexandra was super brave and put the giraffe food in her mouth and had the giraffe slobber all over her face!! After that we took a tour around a bead factory. It gives single mothers a chance to get a job. All the beads are made from clay and once you fire it and let it dry you can decorate them. When we went into the shop I was blown away by how beautiful everything was. – Isaac
I was surprised by the amount of poaching that happens in the parks. At the orphanage we also saw one of the highly endangered mysterious Black Rhinos. It could not survive in the wild because it was born blind. After, we fed giraffes and I kissed Abraham, one of the babies. I love them because they are such gentle giants. – Alexandra
A lady that runs conservation programs in the Mara was visiting at the centre with her grandson, and told us that poaching is getting worse. She said just the week before, her group had caught poachers with AK47’s in the Masai Mara. They were taken to court and were out the next day with a slap on the wrist.
The keepers bring the babies from the national park back to the nursery to feed them. The keepers stay with them always, just like a mommy elephant.
They are fed formula made from vegetable oils, coconut and oatmeal. If they are fed cow’s milk they will die very quickly.
This baby was teething and being a fussy feeder as a result
The keeper told us that some of the elephants are born naughty, like this one, and are kept in check by the most senior female of the group.
The keepers sleep with the elephants. It is a huge commitment
At the time we did not realize how lucky we were to see 50 Rothschild Giraffes at Lake Nakuru. There are only 300 in the world, so this centre exists to help breed them before releasing them back into the wild.
This giant press makes big sheets of clay
They measure the clay into balls of specific sizes
This is one of the two original employees of Kazuri
They dry in the sun before they are painted
After they have been painted they go in the kilns on special racks
Special designs are added afterwards
Then they are strung
Searching for green beads for Kim
Making Kim’s bracelet
The original home of Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) is just around the corner from Kazuri. They used a different house when filming Out of Africa.
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