Kenya is a land of natural wonders, home to so many animals that had always captured our hearts as children, even more, when we learned about them as adults. Today, our story is about a unique adventure that we were fortunate enough to take in as part of our partnership with Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Are you ready to travel with us?

Here we are heading to the airport with a load of enthusiasm! Driven by our curiosity, determination to explore, and the none-stop love for adventure. As we depart our beloved UAE, we promise to return with more knowledge of conservation. After about 5 hours of flying, we were able to see some areas of Africa in all their beauty and magical glory! We approached the Republic of Kenya to land at "Jomo Kenya International Airport” where we took another plane to our beautiful destination; Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.

Looking from the small plane’s window, we can see those endless green spaces that embrace the herds of Zebras, Elephants, Giraffes and many animals that we have not seen before! The Conservancy is one of the most important UNESCO World Heritage sites and extends over 250 square kilometres! No wonder it looks endless!

Finally, we landed. The safari vehicles were waiting for us; those vehicles can overcome the ground's roughness and grass density. They could also blend intelligently with the surrounding environment with their dark green colour. We arrived at the Conservancy’s centre to find the same hospitality that we have seen since we came to this lovely country, and we enjoyed all together with the beautiful sunset view. Are we going to sleep in these eco-friendly huts? Wow, there are curtains around the beds to protect us from mosquitoes too.

Our daily trips were full of adventures and learning experiences; we participated in counting herds of Elephants and Rhinos as these animals are the hunter's first targets. This monitoring and counting activity ensure these animals' safety. One morning, the Conservancy declared a state of emergency after the disappearance of a female Rhino. The Conservancy teams started searching; unfortunately, we found the Rhino dead after falling off a cliff to break her leg and die at 30 years old. It was a distressing scene! The Conservancy team started cutting the dead Rhino's horns to prevent the greedy traders from coming and killing more Rhinos. Then the team sent the horns to the capital for safekeeping.

On another day, we witnessed a strange movement in the Elephants' herd, and after close observation, we discovered that an Elephant is giving birth! Hey, how lucky we are! Watching the delivery of an Elephant is a rare moment! How cute is this calf! Speaking of Elephants and their safety, electrical wires were put in place to prevent the Elephants from wandering out of the Conservancy. But these Elephants are very smart, as they come out crawling sometimes. They even raise their trunks to taunt the rangers. Don't you find animal intelligence fascinating? And the way they react to people funny?

On the other hand, our Zoo supports the Lion breeding programs in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, so we went in an incredibly risky adventure through the Lions and Hyenas Watch Program. We learned that there are spots under each lions’ eyes that could distinguish them from each other.

We made a dinner feast on the last day for the Lewa Conservancy team, to give them a simple glimpse of our Emirati culture. We created so many memories during this wonderful trip and we undoubtedly await your visit! Goodbye Lewa Conservancy. Goodbye Kenya. We are going back to Al Ain Zoo’s team to share our experiences and get ready to open the new Elephant Safari ... soon!