DISCOVERY: Hitting the safari trail from the very comfort of my sofa
Wednesday June 17 2020
Buffalos browse at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya. PHOTO | KARI MUTU
Like many other tourism destinations in Kenya, Ol Pejeta Conservancy in central Kenya has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Not long after the first confirmed case was reported in Kenya in March, visitor numbers dwindled. The conservancy put out positive social media messages encouraging people visit later, revised the booking and payment terms, and made emergency appeals because tourism is a major source of income.
One of the most exciting new events at Ol Pejeta is a daily schedule of virtual tours called ‘sofa safaris’. Over the last few weeks of restricted movement I have travelled into Ol Pejeta many times from the comfort of my home, and seen more than I ever did on a physical visit.
Several times a week, the conservancy live-streams game drives in the morning or late afternoon, hosted by staff such as safari guide Jimmy Mbogo, rhino keeper James Mwenda, zoology student Ellie Jones-Perrot, and the conservancy’s managing director, Richard Vigne.
The drives are in their open-top safari vehicles so audiences get unrestricted views and it really feels like you are in the wilderness among the animals. One morning we "drove" past a large herd of buffalo spread out over the plain. At another time we drove into a marsh where a group of elephants was feeding.
In the predator-free section of the conservancy we encountered the endangered Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi) and eland, the largest species of antelope. One late afternoon, we were treated to a pride of lions with cubs.
The sessions take at least an hour so you can play Ol Pejeta in the background as you do other things in your house. People log into the sofa safaris from all around the world and send questions that the host answers on the spot, creating a sense of immediacy.
APPREHENDING POACHERS
I got to watch their anti-poaching dog team and handlers demonstrate tracking and apprehending poachers.
Their sanctuary for rescued chimpanzees is currently closed because of fears that great apes could potentially get infected with Covid-19. So it was a special sofa safari when we visited the chimpanzees for their evening feed.
On a quick Twitter immersion, I listened to one of the wildlife rangers talking about exciting bush experiences like scrambling up a tree to get away from nearby lions.
On another occasion I visited the enclosure of two northern white rhinos, only viewable with advance booking. Ol Pejeta has the single highest number of black rhinos in Kenya, 134 animals plus 36 white rhinos.
The conservancy achieved worldwide renown in 2009 when four very rare northern white rhinos were brought from a zoo in the Czech Republic.
The two males have since died. The two females, the last of their kind, are still alive but neither of them can breed. In 2019 scientists harvested their eggs in the hope that in-vitro fertilisation can save the species.
Recently the sofa safaris went into a classroom-style discussion on YouTube about the extinction of northern white rhinos, which are native to central Africa, Sudan, Chad and parts of Uganda.
It was hosted by the rhino keepers, giving a local voice to the conservation message, in line with the conservancy’s innovative style of conservation.