Instead we headed back to
Nairobi via Elsamere at Lake Naivasha, the house where Joy had lived when
George was in the bush and where she worked with Pippa the cheetah and
Penny the leopard.
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George was too much of a wilderness lover to spend much time there, though he had a small house near the main building. Today Elsamere is a museum to George and Joy and their work, maintained by the UK-based Elsa Wild Animal Trust. It is also a field study centre where British and Kenyan children learn the value of conservation. Lake Naivasha, once an idyllic spot, is now ruined by intensive horticulture, but Elsamere was, and is, an oasis of calm and natural beauty.
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The staff at Elsamere were very welcoming and very helpful, and didn't bat an eyelid when we rolled up, travel-stained and tired from our long days on Mt Kenya. We'd originally meant to camp at Fisherman's Camp on Lake Naivasha but Elsamere has a small number of guest bungalows and it didn't take much persuasion for us to stay there. George Adamson has always been a big hero of mine, and to stay at Elsamere I found a very moving experience, amidst his books, photographs and bush kit, and surrounded by Joy's paintings.
) One for the Landy fans back home - Super Britanic evidently make Land Rover spares! |
) Every breakdown truck seems to be an old Series III. I chatted to Peter, the owner of this one, who grinned and said that as long as you stick with Genuine Parts, these old trucks never die. |
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