After breakfast the truck arrived and we got to meet the others in our group, 16 in total, some more to be joining later. I think most of us will be doing the 77 day trip, so we’ll probably know eachother pretty well at the end!
Our first stop was the Giraffe Center in Nairobi, where we got to meet and greet these gracious long-legged and -necked creatures. They were rather friendly, apart from one called Selma, who liked to headbutt people if they didn’t offer treats fast enough.
After the giraffes it was time for baby elephants. We headed over to the nearby David Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage, where they rescue baby elephants after they’ve got lost from their families or their mothers have died. They keep them there until they are around three years old, after which they are re-introduced into the wild, a process which takes about five years to complete.
Needless to say, those baby elephants were absolutely adorable! They could chuck down a big bottle of baby formula in mere seconds, in fact they need about 24 litres a day! The formula they use is actually the same that is used for human babies. At the time of our visit the orphanage was looking after 17 baby elephants in total.
After the elephants we headed down to a big, modern shopping mall where we stocked up on food and other essentials. I tried to buy a sim card, but it turned out you need to have your passport to buy it, they don’t accept ID cards from foreigners. From the shops we drove out to our first camp site nearby, pitched our tents, relaxed in the bar and had dinner. I was happy to find out they served cider in the bar as well! We also had the luxury of hot showers, and everyone went to bed early due to an early wake up the next morning.
Jenni's Africa 