After spending time with Zambia’s Book Bus project in and around Livingstone, near the border of Zimbabwe, we fly to the capital city of Zambia: Lusaka. Lots of dusty, red roads, lots of corrugated metal roofs. And always welcoming, bright smiles.
We stay south of the city center at Sandy’s Creations - a lovely green lodge where we have our own little bungalow, somewhat noisy being very close to the main north-south road, but with lovely thatched roofs, a kingsize bed and very comfortable surrounding with a pool. This resort is not far from the elephant orphanage we plan to visit. One day we actually walk there - a long, hot trudge along a red, dusty road.
Some research is more exciting than sitting behind a computer!
The main reason we are here is to spend time at Lilayi Elephant Orphanage. I am here to do research for a book and keep pinching myself… After seeing the website so many times, after watching You Tube videos of elephant feedings, we are finally here - in real life and up close.
Lilayi Orphanage is run by Game Rangers International. Their motto is Protect, Preserve and Prevent. Wildlife and protected areas in Zambia are increasingly under threat from poaching and encroachment. To address this, GRI's Resource Protection Programme (RPP) empowers government and community Rangers to better secure Zambia's protected wildlife areas, via support to anti-poaching teams. GRI supports operations with essential equipment and supplies and delivers training to ensure that Rangers have the skills to operate effectively and safely.
Babies love playing in mud!
Playing makes you hungry!
They operate educational programs in local schools to ensure that the citizens of tomorrow realize the importance of wildlife protection, and they work with the communities to educate and engage people about the dangers of poaching and need for protection.
The Elephant Orphanage is a natural outcome of this mandate by rescuing and rehabilitating injured or orphaned animals. If a mother elephant has been poached, her baby is often left to die. How do you rescue and care for a baby elephant?
Caretakers prepare formula and medicine for their charges.
Volunteer and trained staff at Lilayi have spent many years learning the best ways to do this. After being cared for at the Elephant Nursery in Lusaka, the young adults will live at a Release Facility in Kafue National Park where the orphans are gradually reintegrated back into the wild, often forming new ‘family’ bonds.
The infant elephants on a forest walk.
It is heartwarming to see the small elephants frolicking, splashing in the mud, playing with each other and emptying their milk bottles in 10 seconds flat. The volunteers and caretakers are all dedicated to giving the best possible care to these little orphans.
Lilayi Elephant Orphanage, Lusaka.
You can even sign up to work here as a volunteer. There might not be many more exciting jobs on the planet than to care for baby elephants!
And if you can’t travel here, consider adopting your very own orphaned elephant. The website lets you choose a baby. For a small amount of money, you can help provide food, care and medicine for these endangered animals. In return you will receive updates and photos of “your” elephant. A great Christmas gift for a wildlife lover!
Next door, on the grounds of Lilayi Lodge, a luxury resort which donated the land for the orphanage, we take a 2.5 KM walk and spot warthogs, monkeys, hartebeest, waterbucks, guinea fowl, zebra and giraffe. All in the wild. What an amazing experience to just hike and see these animals in their natural surroundings. I am pleasantly surprised at the lack of creepy animals, so far. No scorpions or deadly snakes like in Australia…
The elephant keeper
ISBN 978-1-77138-561-9, Kids Can Press. Illustrated with my photos and art by Pedro Covo.
Skipping Stones Honor Award, a finalist for the Diamond Willow Awards, Saskatchewan Children’s Choice; nominated for the Silver Birch Express Award, Ontario Library Association. It was named Winner, Best Children’s Books of the Year, Bank Street College. It was a Winner of Teachers’ Choices List, International Literacy Association and received a Starred Review in Best Books for Kids & Teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre.
The book also won the Eureka! Gold Award, California Reading Association and OLA Best Bets, Ontario Library Association.
But best of all, many of the schools I visited with this book have adopted elephants!
For three days in a row we visit the Elephant Orphanage and take lots of photos which, eventually, end up in my book The Elephant Keeper, the true story of Aaron - one of the caretakers here, who grew up in a poaching community and now is one of the best caretakers of the baby elephants. Aaron bottle feeds and sleeps next to the orphans.
On our last day here we are lucky enough to join the elephants for a forest walk. The caretakers act as the babies mothers, showing them which leafs they can eat, which animals or insects to watch out for and where the mud puddles are. I’m surprised to learn that trees here turn green in anticipation of the rain, which should come soon. Amazing that the trees turn green BEFORE the rain comes. That shows the power of nature and the importance of protecting both wildlife and their natural surroundings.
Check out these resources:
https://www.gamerangersinternational.org/
https://www.gamerangersinternational.org/adopt
https://sandyscreations.net/sandys-lodge
https://www.gamerangersinternational.org/volunteer
Our entire trip to Zambia was arranged by Mambulu Travel:
BOOKS about Zambia, click then scroll down to Z.