Northern Kenya's Magical Rains

Northern Kenya has experienced the most wonderful rain this year, leaving the Mathews Range beautiful and green, with thick cover for all of the unique wildlife to breed and thrive. This was not the case last year, as with several failed rains seasons, we suffered from one of the worst droughts on record. The ground was left bare, water tables at their lowest, and wildlife battling for pasture.

The elephant populations were clustered close in to Sarara - we measured that they were drinking 22,000 litres of water provided by the Sarara Camp spring! Human-wildlife conflict increases dramatically during these times, with wildlife and livestock competing for the valuable resources, coming in to closer contact at water points and other key points off pasture. Although poaching numbers were way down, it exposed a new threat to wildlife - that of conflict killing. This is certainly becoming the new threat to the prosperity of wildlife and people in Northern Kenya, as both rely heavily on the health of the environment for their survival. The jagged line where humans and wildlife meet, has always been a key focus of Sarara - incentivising the protection of nature through eco tourism and livelihood improvement, and working to restore landscapes to health, in order to allow for their inhabitants to thrive.

It has been so incredible to see the land regenerate so quickly after the rain - vegetation blooming, rivers roaring, migratory birds flowing through, frogs erupting in song at night and all in harmony once more. Wildlife populations continue to increase in Northern Kenya, and it is our mission at Sarara to ensure that communities continue to benefit from this.