Lion Kids Camp Solio: Day 1

The Ewaso Lions Kids Camps is an inspiring program designed to educate children who live alongside wildlife about the importance of conservation in their communities. Find out more in the introductory post here.

Diary Day 1

We arrived at Honi primary school on the dot of 8am as planned and all the children and their teachers were eagerly waiting for us.

Already it is clear to see that the children from Mweiga are more gregarious than the children in Samburu, they climbed into the cars and chattered away excitedly for the short drive to the ranch.

As we drove through the gate to the sanctuary we saw Giraffe, which elicited a whole new level of chatter and laughter, and by the time we reached the lodge we had already seen buffalo, water buck, and Impala.

The adventure began with chai and madazis (traditional Kenyan donuts) and then an introduction to Solio Lodge.

Shivani and Fred started doing the pre camp questionnaires while the others settled in and chatted amongst themselves. The questionnaires which we do pre and post camp are an important part of the evaluation process – are these camps really achieving what we hope they are and what can we do to make them better?

Once the questionnaires were complete we ran through h the camp rules and then started the Mammal and bird presentations before heading off with a packed lunch for a game drive. None of these childr en had ever seen a lion or a rhino before.

Somehow we avoided an amazing rainstorm, and had a fantastic game drive – we saw several white rhino, two black rhino with calves, two male lions, one beautiful young male who loved the attention, and we had a great picnic lunch – thank you Solio!

Back to the lodge for chai and biscuits before a little down time, showers and supper followed by a showing of African Cats.

It’s very easy to spot a little super star in such an intimate environment and Teresa stands out from the crowd – she is bright as a button. I looked for her art entry to try and learn a little more about her.

I found a four-page story by her that recounts, in enormous detail, the story of “Tortoise Has No Tail”.

It goes like this: Simba “ The King of the Jungle,” is the only animal with a tail and he decides after taking a year sabbatical, that all animals should have tails. He sets up a booming industry called “Tails Ltd” manufacturing tails in “Bamboo Land”. With Warthog in charge of personnel the business was booming. Throughout the essay she makes statements that acknowledge an understanding of the environment.

Her story is magical and imaginative a and inspiring all at the same time.

This is what Lion Kids Camp is all about!