After all the wonderful and exciting, yet deep experiences this week, today was spent enjoying Kenya's wildlife. The first stop was Giraffe Centre, a giraffe sanctuary where we were able to feed giraffes. We all learned they have very long black tongues that are fairly scratchy and leave behind a sticky saliva. A few brave souls fed the giraffes by mouth.
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| Gabriela feeding a giraffe |
Then it was off to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an orphanage for elephants whose mothers have been killed usually by poaching. They have about 20 elephants ranging in age from a couple months to three years. Once they are three, the elephants are moved to another area where they are rehabilitated to return to the wild. The program is enormously successful and has saved many, many elephants who would have otherwise died as babies.
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| Baby elephants at Sheldrick. |
Finally we went to Kazuri, a bead and pottery making factory that employs over 400 women. Most of these women are single mothers and this is a way for them to support their families. It was amazing to see the craftsmanship and artwork these women are doing. The beads are entirely handmade, yet they look like a machine made them.
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| Woman making pottery at Kazuri |
-- Gabriela Gualano
