Lewa Wildlife Conservancy: Humans and Wildlife Live in Harmony

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kristynotes

3 min readJun 7, 2018

They say that running through the Lewa has to be one of the toughest marathons in the world. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a UNESCO World Heritage Site found in the heart of Kenya. You may know Lewa Wildlife Conservancy from the Safaricom Marathon and have even been lucky enough to run this tough race. Lewa is one of the few of its kind in Kenya.

I was lucky to have a courtesy visit to this conservancy earlier this year. We were given a game ranger and a Land Cruiser which is very ideal for the rainy season. After a visit to one of the local schools, we were taken to the elephants’ common hangout. The range is extensive and is surrounded by communities from Isiolo, Meru and Samburu to mention a few. In fact, the infamous Ngare Ndare is here.

The Conservancy can be accessed through the Meru/Isiolo junction. We used that route that day and the gate was about 10 minutes from the junction on the left. We had a firsthand encounter with an elephant being relocated. I believe that is the biggest elephant I have seen with my own eyes. Relocation of elephants to Tsavo is a norm and happens more often when an elephant is being troublesome. We were fortunate to come up close to a rhino which was just from wallowing in mud. There are other white rhinos in this area but for that particular moment, we saw one. On our drive to the school, we saw zebras and a dik-dik (small creature it is).

Lewa Conservancy runs multiple communities programmes supported by donors and partnerships. These programmes enhance the welfare of the locals by improving access to healthcare, water, education, micro-credit and Agricultural land. It is a perfect example of what happens when humans live in harmony with wildlife. You have to see the impact for ourselves so do plan a visit. By getting on a safari or running the marathon, you put a smile on a child’s face, hope in local’s heart and a sanctuary for the wildlife.