An upcoming series on conservation from the perspective of a young upcoming youth conservationist.

Today was a special day in my life, it was my second time at the Nairobi National Park. I first went to the park earlier this year on my birthday and I just couldn’t get the dazzling plains out of my head. I kept reliving the moments I first saw lions, rhinos and the springing impalas and gazelles live – through the photos I mainly captured through my phone.

It was more than an attraction, it was the validation of a calling.

Early Rise

I got out of the house at 5:56am super eager for the day ahead, it was a much awaited day.

On the way I couldn’t thank God enough for the wonderful opportunity that was before me. I wrote about lions three weeks ago for the first time as a result of being triggered to action not only as a student and member of the youth but because I felt it right to do so for the future of these species and for future generations too.

I was fortunate enough to start a campaign on World Lion Day and get a massive amount of youth (at least 100) to start talking about conservation and the roles they could play in the journey to save the lion and bring back their numbers.

As a result of the widespread growth and audience that the post got, I had the privilege of speaking to a conservationist – one who has worked with lions in the past at the Nairobi National Park, her name is Lesley Hannah.

She not only sparked my already growing interest and curiosity on the idea but went the extra mile to help me connect with other like minded people and find avenues to share stories about these precious creatures, and so I joined the Friends of Nairobi National Park (FoNNaP).

Today is special not only because it was my first engagement with them and all the amazing children and adults who came out to share in their passion for conservation, but because for me it was the first step towards a journey I have always wanted to take and be apart of.

The Treasure Hunt

It’s now 7:50am and we just got into the park ready to begin our adventure. I was in the back of a double cabin Toyota Hilux driven by Jacob, with Reinhard in the front passenger seat. I was in good hands. They both have ventured into the park more times than I have and Reinhard has a special story that I will hold to the end of this post 🙂

I was handed the camera and took a quick look at the plethora of animals highlighted on the list getting ready to start taking photographs.

To give you a sense of scale, the Nairobi National Park is about 117 square kilometres in size, and is the only National Park in the world within a city. We had till 12:30pm to transverse the entire park, find and photograph all the animals below:

Spoiler alert 🚨 our team was soo good we saw most of them 😂😂

We started off at the Impala view point that allowed us to see much of what the exquisite park had to offer. I could smell the fresh gust of wind that blew over the view point while the glimmering sun slowly began to rise, illuminating the zebra, buffalo and giraffe in the open plains. The birds twittered as they panned across our view. It was a moment worth reliving.

We then ventured into the forest, home to Koko and her family of majestic leopards 🐆, it would’ve been a sight to see but unfortunately we didn’t happen to encounter her or the other 15 leopards in the park.

We then ventured into the plains; spotting the Marshall Eagle, Impalas, Zebras, Buffalo and Eland. All in the early hours of the day. We were on a roll.

I was learning by engaging all my senses to the environment around me. I believe it’s the best way to feel connected to something you love.

The next animals we saw as the sun got brighter took a lot of effort but we still managed to catch some glorious sightings.

As the sun gets hotter; most cats and some wildlife tend to hide in bushes to cool off and as a result we encountered a lioness but could barely see it as it hid deep in a dark lit bush.

Nonetheless, we were blessed to come across Jackal, White Rhinos and the Serval Cat- which we are 100% sure we were the only ones fortunate enough to capture as he hid in the bushes, too shy to greet us 🙂

We continued to persist and came across the Rock Hyrax, Vervet Monkeys, Crocodiles and a wide range of birds as we continued to screen the dams and the vast plains.

When engaged with nature and being right at the heart of it all it is very easy to lose track of time and as we were trying to find Wildebeest and Black Rhinos time caught up to us and we had to head back to the main meet up point at King Fisher Picnic site to share our sightings and tally the points. On the way our car broke down but that did not stop our adventure or down our spirits, its the norm with exciting expeditions and thankfully we managed to prevail over the situation and make it back.

But wait

Why does this story matter so much?

Well first of all it goes back to what I talked about in the previous post but more so, I am looking to tell these kind of stories and exploring different places while taking you with me.

This way I can show you the wonderful treasures our country, continent and even our world have to offer. It is a call to action.

I am hoping to spur the greater audience young and old to take action. Positive action that will not only allow for us to create safer spaces for these wild animals but that will ensure their homes aren’t tampered with in the first place.

It is my duty to ensure that my children and their children can search for and find these treasures and so together we must join hands and continue to fight for their lives.

Today I was privileged enough to meet and spend an entire day with Reinhard. He is a passionate conservationist and has dedicated his life and his knowledge to finding solutions and creating awareness on how we can better safeguard these treasures.

I asked an immense load of questions as I sought to, in some way, download all the information his gathered over the years he has served into my brain. It was a whole lot.

Reinhard will be leaving the country to go pursue his Master’s Degree in Conservation and Leadership at the University of Cambridge, with the hope of coming back to Kenya and transforming the way we view wildlife and conservation.

He not only sparked an immeasurable amount of interest in me, but also connected me with amazing people who share the same passion he has and who can help me document these stories and share them with you so that I too can trigger change and eclectic ideas in you the same way he has in me.

I was more than pleased to see an immense amount of locals, especially young children who have already began to devote their young minds to the same and it is so inspiring to know that these lions, gazelle, wildebeest etc have hope in the upcoming future generations.

I could go on for days but this is where I will end for today. I will leave this photo here because this is a story that will continue 🙂