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Ol Pejeta Sweetwaters Conservancy, Kenya Safari
Ol Pejeta Conservancy
(informally
known as Sweetwaters for the location of Sweetwaters Tented Camp), is a 90,000 acre wildlife conservancy situated between the foot hills of the Aberdares and the magnificent snowcapped Mount Kenya.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy boasts an astounding variety of animals including the non-indigenous chimpanzees and the big 5 (the endangered black rhino, leopard, elephant, buffalo and lion).
The combination of amazing wildlife and stunning views across the open plains of Ol Pejeta guarantees an unforgettable safari experience.
Why Visit Ol Pejeta Conservancy (Informally Known As Sweetwaters Conservancy)
Ol Pejeta conservancy is the only place in africa that offers the opportunity to see chimpanzees and the big 5.
Ol Pejeta conservancy is a 90,000 acre wildlife conservancy.
Home to over 40 chimpanzees, 73 endangered black rhino, 5 endangered white rhinos, elephants, lion, leopard, buffalo, grevy zebra, giraffe, cheetah, thomson's gazelle, black-back jackals, ostrich, grant's gazelle, baboons, waterbuck, oryx, eland and several hundred bird species.
Only a three hour drive from nairobi on good roads, ol pejeta conservancy is the closest place for you to come and see the big 5.
Sweetwaters tented camp offers fine quality tented accommodation overlooking a large watering hole backed by a spectacular view of mount kenya, a lovely swimming pool and a game viewing bar.
Ol Pejeta house offers large luxurious rooms, a stunning garden with watering hole, and two swimming pools.
During your stay at sweetwaters you will have to opportunity to meet and greet morani the tame black rhino and to go and see chimpanzees living naturally within their dedicated sanctuary. Sweetwaters tented camp also offers a true safari experience with night drives, bush walks and breakfast in the wild.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy Conservation Efforts and Community Projects
The Chimpanzee Sanctuary
The Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary opened in 1993. Lonrho Africa, the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) and the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) established a facility to receive and provide sanctuary and housing to an original group of 3 chimps orphaned at a young age by the bush-meat trade. With the evacuation of the JGI facility in Bujumbura due to civil war breaking out in Burundi, the chimps were brought to Sweetwaters. In 1995, 9 older chimpanzees arrived, followed at the beginning of 1996 by 10 younger chimpanzees.
The Sanctuary is partitioned into two parts, with the river acting as a natural border between the two groups. The eastern side of the sanctuary is 96 acres and home to the older group while the western side is 151 acres and home to the younger group. The sole objective of the sanctuary is to provide a safe, secure and permanent refuge for theses chimpanzees in an environment that is as natural as possible.
Owing to the ongoing destruction of the West African rainforest and continued demand for bush-meat, Sweetwaters is compelled to continue accepting new orphaned and abused chimpanzees. The sanctuary now holds 40 chimpanzees with 16 fully qualified staff taking care of them day and night.
The annual cost of taking care of each chimpanzee is approximately $6000. Any contributions we receive help us to give these chimpanzees the life they deserve.
If you would like to help the chimpanzees, Ol Pejeta now offer 2 new improved adoption packages available to people visiting The Ol Pejeta Conservancy. The money from these adoption packages and any donations goes toward the feeding, housing and care of the chimpanzees.
The Rhino Sanctuary
The population of black rhino in Africa plummeted from an estimated 65,000 to about 10,000 in the early 1980's. By 2001 the total African population was estimated at 3,100.
The population of black rhinos in Kenya dropped from an estimated 20,000 in 1970 to an estimated 450 animals presently. Kenya is the stronghold of the last remaining population of the eastern subspecies (Diceros biconis michaeli), holding 88% of the population.
In response to the drastic reduction in rhino numbers through poaching, Kenya decided to set up specially protected and fenced sanctuaries for rhino conservation. The creation of these sanctuaries was designed to maximize the breeding potential of rhinos, using surplus animals to re-stock any new areas. Sweetwaters game reserve is one such sanctuary.
Sweetwaters game reserve was set up in 1989 and covered an area of 24,000 acres. Twenty-two black rhinos were introduced into Sweetwaters from other sanctuaries between 1989 and 1993. The carrying capacity for black rhinos was then estimated at 90 animals but due to the high densities of competing species, especially elephants and giraffes, the estimated carrying capacity was reduced to approximately 40 animals.
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Community Projects
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy works to conserve wildlife, provide a sanctuary for great apes and to generate income through wildlife tourism and complementary enterprise for reinvestment in conservation and community development.
Through business enterprises and with the help of willing donors (both large and small) Ol Pejeta works to develop the funding necessary to pay for Ol Pejeta's wildlife conservation work, and to provide financial assistance to projects that assist the people living within the neighboring communities. The projects include:
1. Education Projects
2. Health Projects
3. Water Projects
4. Road Projects
5. Agricultural Projects
6. Ecotourism Projects
History of Ol Pejeta Conservancy (Informally Known As Sweetwaters Conservancy)
During the colonial era, the Laikipia Plateau was utilized as an extensive cattle ranching area. Lacking the rainfall required to successfully cultivate crops, cattle ranching was seen as the next best way to utilize the land. In those days wildlife was perceived as having little or no value to landowners.
Ol Pejeta's past is filled with many colorful characters.
John & Jane Kenyon took over the management of Ol Pejeta in 1949 when it was owned by Lord Delamere and together they spent the next 15 years putting their lives and souls into the development of the ranch.
When John first took on Ol Pejeta he was joined by a school friend named Marcus Wickham Boynton. Together they took on the challenge of organizing the then 57,000 acre ranch into a successful beef producing company. Over the next few years they successfully expanded the farm to cover an estimated 90,000 acres.
Quotes Jane Kenyon: "Cattle and wildlife were not considered a healthy match. If you were a farmer you were a farmer, you took the rough with the smooth, your goals were to have a good herd, with good births and low deaths and wildlife was not part of that equation"
John and Jane left Ol Pejeta in 1958, returning in 1959 for a further ten years before finally retiring to run their own cattle ranch to the north.
Since that period the conservancy has had a number of owners, all entrepreneurs in their own right. They included John Kenyon's old school-friend Marcus Wickham Boynton, notorious for occasionally shooting cattle "he didn't like the look of".
Over time cattle ranching became less and less profitable. Increasingly elephant populations that previously used the ranch as a transit area from the north to Mount Kenya and the Aberdares were forced to take up permanent residence on the property. As a result the fences required to maximize cattle productivity were destroyed, becoming impossible to maintain cost-effectively.
Consequently, in the face of declining wildlife populations elsewhere and as a means to effectively utilize the land, the recent past has seen increasing emphasis placed upon wildlife conservation.
In 1988, the Sweetwaters Game Reserve(24,000 acres) was opened by another of Ol Pejeta's previous owners, Lonrho Africa. Primarily started as a sanctuary for the endangered black rhino, wildlife populations (including the "Big Five") have steadily increased since that time.
In 2004 the reserve was purchased by Fauna and Flora International, a UK based conservation organization. The Sweetwaters game reserve has now be extended to encompass the entire ranching area to create the "Ol Pejeta Conservancy", approximately 90,000 acres in extent. This has created the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, with the aim of generating profit from wildlife tourism and complementary activities (including cattle) for reinvestment into community development in the local area.
Documentation Credits: Ol Pejeta Conservancy
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