Kimana received a visit from the Masai men who rescued him from Imbirikani Group Ranch, situated next to Amboseli National Park, on the 27^th May.  Richard Ole Supeet, Daniel Ole Kirasi, James Ole Selengia, and Musa Ole Melita all made the long journey to Nairobi, arranged and sponsored by Richard Bonham, in order to catch up on Kimana’s progress and to view the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s Orphans’ Project.  They were in awe of what they saw and the visit proved to be not only extremely educational but most enjoyable for all concerned.  

 

Before the men left they shared with us a touching Masai Fable, one that explains their cultures’ deep empathy for elephants.  They believe to this day that all elephants were once human.  The fable tells of a young Masai girl who long ago, on her way to being married, glanced back at the Manyatta from where she had come, back to her family’s boma.  Instantly she turned into an elephant, and since then no young Masai bride ever glances back, but instead they look forward, towards the new life that lies before them.  They believe that all the elephants that roam Africa’s great plains come from that one young girl who dared to glance back.