Elephant Nursery — Attraction in Nairobi

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is based in Nairobi, Kenya, its headquarters boarders Tsavo East National Park. This wildlife park works across Kenya to secure safe havens for wildlife especially elephants and rhinos not limited to animals alone, they protect the diverse flora and fauna which create a stunning natural beauty in the park.

There are a lot of elephant orphans in the park, some were recused from drought, starvation, poaching etc hence this is the first and most successful elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world.

On call every day of the year, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust travels throughout Kenya to rescue orphaned elephants and rhinos left alone with no hope of survival. Many of the orphans rescued are victims of poaching and human-wildlife conflict and are in a terrible state of emaciation and distress.

After each orphan rescue, the long and complex process of rehabilitation begins at the DSWT’s Nursery nestled within the Nairobi National Park. For milk-dependent elephant calves it is here, during this crucial phase, where they are cared for and healed both emotionally and physically by the DSWT’s dedicated team of elephant Keepers who take on the role and responsibility of becoming each orphan’s adopted family during their rehabilitation.

Each elephant remains at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s Nursery in Nairobi National Park until they are ready to make the journey to the next level.

I got to learn a lot about the elephants and their stories, I was moved to adopt an elephant, her name is Maisha, she was recused as a result of drought. She is currently 2years old, her story was quite touching as I was moved to tears, I am so happy that Maisha is safe and she will get the life she deserves. Everyone including animals have a right to live a well deserving life.

If you are in East Africa or Nairobi, I recommend this park for you. You will learn a lot, the park is surrounded by nature, trees, birds, some cute animals, flowers, plants and a well-manicured garden. I sure can camp here! If you adopt an elephant, you can come later at night to put your child to sleep after her/his night milk. Less, I forget I never knew elephants drink milk till I got here and they look so old yet they are just small age wise! The atmosphere is clean and serene. One word, God is Good!

Don’t forget to follow @tourwithswagger and @gbogbo_swagger

In addition, it is child friendly and a good hangout spot for friends!

Life is beautiful......

I visited the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust today, arriving via Uber. Before going, I found the instructions for accessing the orphanage from the KWS gate (as referenced on the Sheldrick website) to be a bit unclear. I wasn’t interested in doing a game drive to get there, as I had already done several in other national parks.

When you arrive at the Mbagathi Gate, you’ll need to present two things: • A reservation confirmation for the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust • A valid ticket to Nairobi National Park

It’s best to have both documents printed, as this helps speed things up.

Once your documents are checked, the gate attendants direct you to walk about 2–3 minutes to a designated waiting area, where a Sheldrick shuttle vehicle picks up visitors and takes them to the orphanage. Although walking all the way to the orphanage is allowed, I wasn’t comfortable doing that, so I waited for the shuttle instead.

I waited around 30 minutes for the shuttle to arrive. The drive from the waiting area to the orphanage was under five minutes, but walking the same distance could easily take 20 minutes or more, depending on your pace and comfort with the terrain. The shuttle only seats four people, so if others are waiting, you might need to wait for multiple trips. The return shuttle works the same way—arriving in intervals—so be prepared to wait a bit on your way back as well.

I reached the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust around 9:55 AM, and then waited about an hour before the program began and visitors were let in. The line builds up quickly, so arriving early is key if you want a good spot. I got to the KWS gate at about 9:20 AM, and because I was early, I was able to stand right at the front for the viewing.

If you plan to visit, make sure to factor in extra time before and after for shuttle wait times and entry lines. While the process requires some patience, the experience of seeing the baby elephants up close is...

Absolutely horrible experience. The booking system did not work (apparently a very typical thing). We came to politely check if there were any vacant spaces, as we came here three years ago and it was possible to do so. Our driver asked the young lady at the gate if this is possible to do. Instead of explaining the situation and politely rejecting us, she started being absolutely rude, scoffing/laughing in our face and behaving inappropriately. Our driver remained polite, yet this woman sent us off with the words “There is no point in waiting I won’t let you in. We don’t do things like you do around here”. Mind you our driver was Kenyan and the lady was white. All people behind us that were white were treated with a completely different attitude, smiling laughing etc. For somebody living in a country that is not theirs this racist behaviour is insane. In 2023 you would think people moving to Africa would have at least a shrivel of human decency and not be racist. Very ironic that this place is an orphanage, reliant on donations and volunteer work. It is a disgrace to have such people working in an institution like this. In hindsight, we are more than happy that this place did not take a penny from us because that money would be wasted paying people that cannot find the decency to treat people...