Protecting East Africa Together
Our final location on the recent East Africa safari was the remarkable Ol Donyo, nestled in the Chyulu Hills of southeastern Kenya. Ol Donyo has long been one of my very favourite places in Africa but what was remarkable on this trip was comparing the wildlife viewing experience to my first visit over 15 years ago.
In the early 2000’s Ol Donyo was mostly about the diverse experiences (horse riding, walking, biking etc), birdwatching, unmatched views of Kilimanjaro and giant elephant bulls connecting with the Tsavo-Amboseli systems. These elements remain but in addition we enjoyed excellent lion viewing (and vociferous calling every night from the lodge waterhole). We also spent a morning following a coalition of three male cheetah and had multiple sightings of hyena, including time observing their social shenanigans at a den site. The predator population evidently benefiting not only from the numerous prey species in the Mbirikani area but significantly also from the work of the Big Life Foundation and their multi-faceted conservation and community programmes.
Key amongst these is their Predator Compensation Fund which has restored a completely depleted lion population to 250+ lions in the past two decades. Quite extraordinary.
Big Life Foundation is an example of what a brilliant team of people can achieve by bringing invested communities, conservation programmes, safari tourism partners and supportive donors together. If you are able to support Big Life please do so by clicking the link below – or visit them in the Chyulu Hills and be inspired to play your part in securing this special corner of Kenya!
Support Big Life by donating here.