1. Both the Conservation and Biodiversity, and the Conservation Science and Policy field courses
flew over 8 hours from Heathrow to Nairobi on Thursday morning. Many of us endured the long
haul from Penryn Campus to Heathrow through the night but of course it would be worth it! After
having the agonising wait at Nairobi airport the Conservation Science and Policy trip whisked off
to our first stop – Oscar’s Camp in Kitengala, Nairobi. Within minutes of leaving the airport on
route to the camp we spotted zebra and impala. We couldn’t believe it! We’d only been in the
country for 2 hours.
We arrived at camp at around midnight and attempted to put up our tents in near darkness;
completely surrounded by the wilderness. Finishing the night off with some typical English tea
and biscuits before going to sleep at 2am…and with a 6am start we were thrown straight into the
trip. After what felt like half an hours sleep, all alarms went off and groans of tiredness swept
through camp. But with some caffeine and the sun starting to rise we couldn’t wait to set off for
our first morning walk in Kitengala on the outskirts of Nairobi national park. As we exited the
camp, within minutes we were surrounded my a magnificent diversity of species. We spotted
many impala through the trees along with vervet monkeys up in the canopy, and a diverse array
of birds such as the superb starling; my personal favourite so far.
We then moved out from the shrub into the open and were welcomed by what we didn’t expect
so soon into the trip. Herds of both zebra and giraffe spread across the grassland, some only
within 20 metres of us. I couldn’t contain my excitement at what we were seeing! We all stood
looking out at this scene, trying to realise just how lucky we were.

2. After heading back to camp to pick up some lunch we then had an engaging discussion on the
local area and the current conflict there. In the afternoon we had a focus group meeting
organised with a male and female tribe group to discuss human-wildlife conflict. Questions
focused on whether their tribes had experienced predation on their livestock and what they
thought the best solution would be. In particular regarding the cases of lion predation and the
conflict this causes. Responses varied between the male community members; some saying
they felt the government should give them compensation for loss of livestock to predators or
others feeling they would resort to illegal killing of lions as the main culprit. This contrasted with
one member in particular speaking out about how he loved lions and that they have just as much
right to be here as we do.
The opinions of the female members were very different as they wanted to protect lions as it
brought them a source of money through eco-tourism. Both focus groups truly were eye opening,
and brought to the surface just how difficult the problem is to resolve. It emphasises that
communication between these people, the government and Kenya Wildlife Service is critical.

3. After some down time at camp and our first group presentation on land use and Nairobi national
park, we got our things together for a night drive with our full beam torches and binoculars at the
ready. We headed out in convoy and saw a different wealth of wildlife than we had experienced
in the day. Thomason’s gazelles were in great abundance, along with wildebeest and spring
hares. After driving around for a while we spotted something in the distance that we were sure
could be a lion…and after attempting to get a closer look we realised it was a female lion (our
first lion spot hoorah!). We drove alongside her for a while, before letting her go. We carried on
where bush babies, giraffe and nightjars were also seen. It was such an incredible night to see all
of these species out in darkness. We then drove back to camp ready to pack up in the morning to
head off to our second destination – Lake Naivasha.
With another 6am start upon us we prepared for another dawn walk in the hope of seeing some
hippos at a nearby river. Although we weren’t fortunate in seeing one, the walk consisted of such
a great biodiversity of birds, much to the excitement of the student bird enthusiasts (not forgetting
Dave and Chris the lecturers of course). Malachite kingfisher and lovebirds were some of the
amazingly coloured birds seen throughout the walk, as well as many, many baboons.

4. We walked back to camp and jetted off to our next camp, not before stopping at a school which
was sponsored by the local flower farm. As we arrived, we were told of how the flower farm
supported the school but had recently gone bust, leaving the future of the school uncertain. It
really emphasised just how grateful we should be to have the opportunity for education back in
the UK. But on a happier note, the children were so excited to see us! They told us all about what
they did at school and what they wanted to be when they grew up. They asked us to dance (to
our surprise) and so with our skilful dance moves we performed and sang the Macarena in front
of the girls, much to our embarrassment but they loved it. They waved and hugged us all
goodbye and soon enough we were at our next site – Fisherman’s camp.
We ended the night with a walk to the pub, whilst on the way finding our first hippo out of the lake
at night! What a way to end our first couple of days in Kenya. We had already seen such a vast
amount of wildlife, and we couldn’t wait for what the next few days would bring.