The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust operates a world-famous elephant orphanage in Nairobi. You may have read Dame Daphne Sheldrick’s autobiography Love, Life and Elephants , and seen the wonderful story about the Orphanage in National Geographic . I was hoping for the best, and the reality was much, much better. If you are in Nairobi, even for just half a day, make the effort to visit this remarkable project. Find out how to get there, when to go, how to adopt your own little elephant, and more details below.
About the orphan project
Baby elephants depend exclusively on their mother’s milk for the first two years of their lives. So if they lose their mother, their fate is basically sealed. Dame Daphne has worked with elephants for over 50 years and, by trial and error, she finally invented a winning elephant formula, based on human baby formula instead of cow’s milk. In 1987, after the death of her beloved husband, David, Dame Daphne achieved success by raising a 2-week-old poaching victim named “Olmeg,” who today is among the wild herds of Tsavo.
By 2012, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, created in David’s memory, had successfully raised more than 140 baby African elephants, all under the supervision of Dame Daphne Sheldrick, along with her daughters Angela and Jill. The Trust has helped a remarkable number of orphaned elephants survive thanks to the ongoing care of a team of dedicated keepers.
Once the elephants are old enough, they are returned to the wild in Tsavo East National Park. Here they meet and mingle with wild elephants at their own pace. The transition can take up to ten years for some elephants and none of them are rushed.
Visiting hours and what to expect
The elephant nursery is only open to the public for one hour a day, between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. You walk through the small center and enter an open space, with a rope fence around it. Young elephants trot out of the bush to greet their keepers who are ready with giant bottles of milk. Some of them can feed, and others are still fed by their caretakers. For the next 10-15 minutes you can watch each little one swallow their food. When they are done, there is water to play with and guardians to push and get hugs.
You can reach out and touch and pet any elephant that gets close to the ropes, they will occasionally slip under the ropes and will have to be chased by the guardians. As you watch them play and take photos, each baby is introduced by a microphone. Find out how old they were when they got to the orphanage, where they were rescued from, and what got them in trouble. The most common reasons for being orphaned: furtive mothers, falling into wells, and human-wildlife conflicts.
How to get there and entrance fees
The Elephant Orphanage is located within the Nairobi National Park, which is located just 10 km from downtown Nairobi. With traffic, expect to take about 45 minutes if you stay in the city center or 20 minutes if you stay in Karen. Getting there requires a car, but every taxi driver knows which gate to go through to get to the orphanage. If you have a safari booked, ask your tour operator to include it in their itinerary when you are in Nairobi. Other nearby attractions include the Karen Blixen Museum, the Giraffe Center, and good shopping at Marula Studios.
For an exclusive visit to the orphanage, followed by three days in Tsavo East to see how the former orphans get along, you can take a safari with Robert Carr-Hartley (Dame Daphne’s son-in-law).
There is a small entrance fee. Once inside the park, there are some t-shirts and souvenirs for sale and of course you can also adopt an orphan for a year, but you are not required to do so at all.
Adopting a baby elephant for a year
It’s hard not to be touched when you see the dedication and hard work that keepers require to keep young elephants happy and healthy. Feeding occurs every three hours throughout the day, and keeping them warm and playing with them requires great efforts and, of course, money. For just $ 50 you can adopt an orphan, and the money goes directly to the project. You will receive regular email updates from your orphan, as well as a copy of their bio, an adoption certificate, a water-based painting of the orphan, and most importantly, the knowledge that they have made a difference.
Once you adopt, you can also make an appointment to see your baby at bedtime, at 5pm, without the crowds of tourists.
Rhinoceros orphans
The orphanage also welcomed rhino orphans and raised them successfully. You may see one or two during your visit, as well as a large blind rhino.
