Safaris in northern Kenya are a lesson in conservation (with plenty of epic animal sightings) | Canada Voices

Early one morning on the Loisaba Conservancy in Kenya, our truck was trying to keep up with the rhino tracking team by following the clouds of dust left by their vehicle. Just as we were catching up, our guide, Joe Karobia, quickly changed course. He’d just spotted lions with a fresh kill. I quickly learned that veering off course is what happens on a safari. There is a plan until there isn’t.

Since this was my first safari, I asked him how he knew when to switch gears.

He said he saw the lions by watching what other animals were doing: Are the impalas standing completely still? Are the giraffes all looking in one direction? Follow their eyeline and you’ll find something: “Nature never lies.”

In July, I visited two private conservancies in northern Kenya – the Loisaba Conservancy and the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy – both of which are working to reintroduce endangered black and white rhino populations to the land and allow visitors to take part in the efforts.

Visitors here get an unvarnished glimpse into nature. Karobia, 51, has guided safaris since he was 24 years old, and his enthusiasm for hard-to-find animals is contagious.

We came across lionesses biting down loudly on the flesh and bones of a hartebeest (RIP), seemingly oblivious to us in our vehicle just a few feet away.

Later that day, we came back to find all that remained of the hartebeest was the top of its skull with the horns. I asked Karobia if there is ever culling in the conservancy and he said never, because nature knows how to balance itself out.

By the time we caught up with the rhino tracking unit, they had spotted two southern white rhinos walking ahead of us. We got out of the vehicle to get closer. With their thick skin and unearthly faces, they looked more like machines than animals. We were so close that I could hear their steps on the hard earth and their grunts as they moved.

Up until two years ago, there hadn’t been rhinos in Loisaba since the 1970s. But with concentrated conservation efforts, there are now at least 30 eastern black rhinos and 12 southern white rhinos. We learned that 11 rhinos have been born here, which is an early prediction that the population is and will remain safe.

The rhino tracking officers in Loisaba often take out guests of the Elewana Collection lodges, located in the conservancy. Rhino officer Peter Meshami explained that many of the rangers are from the surrounding communities, trained and employed by the conservancy.

By hiring local guides and investing in community-partnered initiatives such as education, health care and infrastructure, the conservancy has built trust with local residents, which has made poaching in the area almost non-existent. As we spoke, I could feel Meshami’s and the other rangers’ passion for the job as they risk their lives to protect the growing rhino population.

When it was time to leave Loisaba for our next safari destination, it was hard to say goodbye. We’d spent at least six hours a day chatting with Karobia on game drives – you get to know a lot about each other.

We boarded a small prop plane with just enough room for the two of us and two pilots. After a 30-minute flight southeast, we landed in an entirely different landscape at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Loisaba had dry, rocky escarpments with winding lush river systems but Lewa was full of grasslands and rolling hills, with the bluest of skies and perfect Simpsons clouds.

We immediately spot a rhino, then another, then another from our safari vehicle on the way to the lodge from the plane. Lewa’s rhino reintroduction started 41 years before Loisaba’s (in fact, its robust population helped kickstart the Loisaba conservancy’s repopulation).

Lewa, with a rhino population that has grown from just 15 in 1983 to 300 today, was full of the beasts. Spotting them in Loisaba felt like a gift. In Lewa, it was an everyday occurrence – and it was lovely getting used to seeing them around almost every corner.

Our guide and driver in Lewa, Daniel Lotukoi, has been guiding for 26 years. I soaked up his encyclopedic knowledge: He pointed out every bird we passed, no matter how far away, sharing its name, where it nests, what it eats and how it mates.

At one point during the game drive, he asked me: “Are you scared?” to which I quietly replied, “yes.” He chuckled and said he would never put me in danger, and that most animals simply don’t care that we’re there.

Lewa’s elephant conservation efforts are as impressive as the rhinoceros repopulation. Lewa connects to a 14-kilometre wildlife pathway called the Mount Kenya Elephant Corridor and we learned about tracking programs using GPS embedded into collars on the animals. Conservation officers get real-time insight into elephant herd movement and behaviour while being able to respond quickly to threats such as poaching or any human-wildlife conflict.

The Lewa conservancy also offers walking safaris with an armed ranger and I jumped at the chance to head out on foot. This became one of my most unforgettable moments of the entire trip. Once out of the safety of a safari vehicle, I was walking on the same ground as the animals. The intimacy and danger of this demands respect between human and animal at all times. At one point I was staring at a massive rhino about 40 metres away that stared right back. It was a one-on-one experience, even if there was a guide with a gun nearby.

The rangers also showed us where elephants traced their trunks along the red earth, how they escaped the fencing that’s designed to keep them out of certain areas (they learn to crawl under!), and how to determine whether rhino poop came from a black or white one in the area.

On safari, there are a lot of memorable moments, though. On our last day, as we headed out to the airstrip, we ended up on another unplanned detour after spotting a herd of elephants. Lotukoi parked the vehicle a good distance away, but, one by one, they slowly moved toward the truck and passed right in front of us. The sun gleamed on them as they strolled on by, ignoring us completely as we held our breath.

If you go:

The East Africa experts at Cheli & Peacock Safaris helped plan my trip, explaining how safari experiences differ when exploring in a national park/reserve versus a private conservancy. National parks and reserves often allow a higher number of visitors a day. It is not uncommon to see more than 10+ vehicles crowding one animal. A private conservancy, however, caps daily visitors and limits the number of vehicles near animals. This leaves animals less stressed, and tourists can have a more intimate experience.

After much discussion, I decided to visit Elewana Collection properties in Loisaba Conservancy and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.

I also liked knowing that company profits funded environmental and wildlife protection and local community initiatives. Working with both elevated my safari adventure, and I loved the hot hand towels at the Nairobi and conservancy airports and having a travel agent to contact at any time during my trip.

After landing in Nairobi, I spent a couple of days getting over jetlag at the Fairview Hotel Nairobi, Vignette Collection in a garden-facing room (start at $334). This newly refurbished property is a quiet, lush oasis in a city buzzing with action.

In Loisaba Conservancy I stayed at two of three properties there. Elewana Loisaba Lodo Springs features eight luxury tents, and each has a veranda overlooking a watering hole where elephants often come to drink. I loved the infinity pool here, too.

On another night I slept in the Elewana Loisaba Star Beds. The rustic platform sits on top of a cabin and lets guests sleep under the stars in hand-made wooden beds at the top of a rocky outcrop called a kopje. I woke up to watch hippos playing in the watering hole below.

In Lewa Wildlife Conservancy I slept in a large, designer decorated tent. Elewana Lewa Safari Camp (rooms start at $476 a person based on double occupancy, not including game drives). This boutique camp was just reopened in June after a complete renovation and also features a dining menu with different cuisines from throughout the African continent.

The writer travelled as a guest of Elewana Collection, which did not review or approve this article. Stories are based on merit; The Globe does not guarantee coverage.

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