This blog post somehow got lost and although it took place a few months ago, it is still very relevant and links in well with Part 2 which is coming soon!
Visiting renowned human-wildlife conflict expert from the US, Nina Fascione and her husband Steve Kendrot and I, decided to take 6 students from Lpus Leluai Primary School in West Gate, on a game drive in Samburu National Reserve. The headmaster Johnson selected 3 boys and 3 girls who he said deserved a special treat for doing really well academically. I am glad Johnson made the selection -I would have really struggled to chose the children -hoping to take them all!
We entered Samburu and after about 20 minutes or so, we began to see giraffe, tons of elephants close-up and were fortunate to see one of the Samburu lionesses, walk in the middle of the Ewaso Nyiro River. The students were thrilled. For most of them, they have never really seen animals close-up. They may have seen the tail of a lion disappearing when they were young children herding livestock, or elephants running away from villages. This time, the students got to see the animal’s behaviour and what they actually look like.
Edward and Moses learn how to use a camera with Ricila’s help
We stopped at about 10 am for some chai (tea) and a break. I also gave the students a talk on the lions of Samburu – why they are important and the need to conserve them. I also showed them how each one is identified individually and we went through the various lion IDs of the reserve. The students had many questions. One good question was had the numbers of lions changed over the years in the area. Our question and answer session went on for about 30 minutes by which time we headed back.
Explaining about the importance of wildlife
Showing the students lion IDs with Steve’s help
The students were really excited to have gone out on a game drive with us. We stopped at the Save the Elephants research camp on the way back and they were given a talk on elephants by the researchers. It was a fun time for them all and they chatted animatedly all the way back to school and relayed their experiences to the other students.
A few weeks later I happened to be reading some wildlife essays that the students of West Gate had written when I came across one written by Scholastica. She had written about her experience when she saw a Samburu lioness for the first time! It was a great essay and a step forward in getting the students to know some of the Ewaso Lions.