What better time than the new year to get inspired by projects that help to build a more just world. At other times of year, we often forget that in almost every trip we’re going to run into activities that affect the animal environment.
From NUBA, we’d like to tell you the heartwarming story that linked us to the Kenya elephants’ orphanage and that reduces human impacts on nature.
After a marvelous prospection trip in Nairobi, we happened on two elephants that had been orphaned. Thanks to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, that works every day to conserve and protect East Africa wildlife and their habitats, we have become family. We adopted Mbegu, a three-year-old female, Rapa, a two-year-old. Both are now members of the NUBA family.
Daphne Sheldrick founded the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in memory of her husband,, the famous naturalist and founder of the Tsavo Reserve, Kenya’s largest natural park. Husband and wife fought for wild animals’ survival and wellbeing, particularly elephants and rhinoceroses.
These days it’s one of the most visited places in Kenya, though it only opens to visitors for one hour a day. Those who have been, assure that it is a truly special and unforgettable refuge, especially if you come with children. Private visits can be organized as well. The association’s goal is to shelter elephant calves—like Mbegu and Rapa—who have been separated from their mothers as well as to protecting them from illicit poachers who hunt elephants for ivory. Today the refuge holds around thirty elephant calves.
For NUBA, it’s especially exciting to participate in this project, that drives sustainable tourism as well as other, , related travels such as the reforestation La Tigra Forest Reserve, collaborations with the Spanish ONG known as “Born to Learn Tanzania,” that works in favor of literacy among children who live in the community of Newlands. These actions seek to conserve the planet and turn it into something (even more) beautiful.