Dorothy visited the Lewa Conservancy in Kenya. During her visit, she saw all of the "Big Five" wildlife - elephants, lions, leopards, rhinos, and cheetahs. She also observed many other African savanna species like giraffes, zebras, ostriches and wild dogs. Her guide, Raymond, provided informative game drives and bush breakfasts during her stay. Climate change is negatively impacting the region, as rainfall has been low in recent years.

1. Lewa
Conservancy
January
2015
http://www.lewa.org/
Dorothy’s
Visit

2. Welcome
to
Lewa!
I’m
greeted
by
my
driver-­‐guide,
Raymond
with
his
trusty
truck.

3. Mid-­‐January
landscape.
The
rains
had
not
been
good.

4. Lots
of
elephants
(one
of
the
Big
Five)

5. The
Big
Five
are
elephants,
lions,
cheetah,
rhino
and
leopard.

6. On
our
last
day,
we
saw
ALL
the
Big
Five.
Plus
of
course
giraffe,
buffalo,
lots
of
hoofed
things
…
and
did
I
menTon
the
wild
dogs?
hVp://www.lewa.org/

7. Lots
of
giraffes
(reTculated)

9. Currently
Lewa
is
taking
care
of
three
orphaned
baby
rhinos.
Here
they
are
being
walked
by
two
of
their
surrogate
mums.
There
are
few
cuter
animals
than
baby
rhinos.

10. Look
closely
–
this
is
a
rare
sight,
a
two-­‐headed
cheetah.

11. Actually,
these
are
the
Two
Brothers.

13. A
rare
sight,
wild
dogs!
Never
before
seen
in
Lewa.

14. The
porch
of
my
tent.
On
my
first
day
I
looked
out
on
elephants
feeding
below.
Enjoyed
my
morning
tea
&
biscuits
here
every
day
watching
the
day
begin.

15. Hornbills
in
Camp!

16. Cory
bustard.
Huge
birds;
we
saw
a
lot
of
them.

17. White
rhino.
Much
nicer
than
the
blacks;
gregarious,
oaen
found
in
family
groups..

18. Mum
white
rhino
with
youngster.

19. Black
rhino.
Solitary.
NoTce
how
far
we
are
staying
back
…
and
follow
the
sequence
-­‐-­‐

20. He
noTces
that
we
are
staying
….

21. ….And
he
is
not
happy
that
we
are
there.

22. Breakfast
in
the
bush!
Every
morning,
tea
and
biscuits
at
6
am,
game
drive
at
6:30,
breakfast
wherever
and
whenever.
Sandwiches,
fruit,
yogurt,
juice
–
thank
you
Raymond
and
the
kitchen!

23. What
Not
To
DO
• Aaer
one
such
Bush
Breakfast,
I
reTred
to
use
the
Rest
Room
behind
a
big
bush.
• While
there
I
noTced
a
hole
in
the
ground
about
3”
in
diameter
in
size.
• I
poked
a
sTck
down
the
hole;
it
went
about
6
or
8”
then
turned
at
an
angle
and
was
smaller.
• I
decided
to
desist
further
exploraTon.
• Went
back
to
Raymond
and
described
the
hole,
asking
him
what
it
might
be.
• Oh,
he
said,
it
could
be
a
–
snake.

24. A
bit
of
natural
history
…
• Apparently
some
of
Kenya’s
snakes
burrow
in
the
ground.
They
dig
a
fairly
wide
vesTbule
–
such
as
my
iniTal
8”x3”
hole
–
because
they
oaen
go
in
head-­‐first,
especially
if
they
are
being
pursued.
But
then
they
turn
around
and
go
tail-­‐first
into
a
deeper,
narrower
burrow.
• So
here
is
the
fun
part:
their
pursuer,
say,
a
silly
human,
sees
the
snake
go
in
head
first
and
expects
to
be
able
to
pull
it
out
by
the
tail
like
the
Crocodile
Hunter
BUT
• The
snake
is
now
headfirst
and
whammo!
• Of
course
the
snake
may
not
be
venomous
but
sTll,
it
will
hurt
and
almost
certainly
get
infected.

25. Zebras
(they
give
new
meaning
to
“zebra
crossing”)

26. Male
Grevy’s
zebra.
Grevy’s
are
highly
endangered;
Lewa
has
about
one
quarter
of
those
remaining.

27. Lots
of
other
hoofed
things
like
elands

28. Sundowner
every
evening
in
special
spots.

29. Sundowner
bar.

30. Our
guides
at
Sundowner.

31. Male
ostrich
at
sundown.

32. This
is
an
unusual
sight
in
Lewa
-­‐
a
gerenuk!
(They
stand
on
their
hind
legs
to
eat
the
high-­‐up
leaves)

33. Cheetah
mum.

34. Mum
cheetah.
Her
cub
is
to
the
lea.

36. Typical
landscape.
Rains
failed
again.
Climate
change
is
very
real
here.

37. Crowned
cranes
–
quite
common
in
zoos
and
at
Lewa.

38. Waterhole.

40. SpoVed
the
wild
dogs
again
as
they
prepared
to
hunt
…

42. Male
Somali
ostrich.
Models
of
paternal
care.

43. Ostrich
family.
Males
do
most
of
the
work.

44. More
elephants.

47. Oh,
right,
and
lions!

48. Thinking
about
hunTng
for
the
pride

49. The
women
do
the
work
while
the
male
rests…

50. In
fairness,
this
Daddy
Lion
is
really
old
and
lame…
in
fact
the
rangers
called
and
asked
us
to
make
him
stand
up
to
see
if
he
was
sTll
limping.
(He
was,
though
it
looked
like
arthriTs
to
me).
Raymond
had
to
pracTcally
run
him
over
to
get
him
to
even
stand
up.
Note
collar.

51. Ho
hum
–
lots
of
elephants

52. Last
night
–
the
fiah
of
the
Big
Five.
In
the
headlights,
quite
unconcerned.

53. Female
leopard,
preparing
to
hunt;
Raymond
stood
on
the
seat
and
leaned
over
to
get
these
shots

55. The
End
–
except
that
I’ll
be
back
next
year!
And
the
next!