Extraordinary Wildlife Conservation Experiences on Safari

By Sarah Gold January 29, 2025

Many travellers are so deeply affected by the majestic wild animals they see on safari that they’re inspired to help safeguard them. And while our guests are already doing their part to ensure the health of Africa’s ecosystems just by taking a safari, we are glad to offer them opportunities to do more.

At Micato, our partnerships with some of the world’s most respected conservation organizations means we can offer our safari travellers truly exceptional, hands-on experiences that aid the preservation of African wildlife. By taking part in activities like those listed below (all of which we can arrange at your request), you and your loved ones will be helping to ensure a future for these magnificent, threatened creatures.

Lion Conservation with Ewaso Lions

Samburu National Reserve, Kenya
Established by conservation biologist and National Geographic Explorer Shivani Bhalla, Ewaso Lions is the only organization dedicated to the study and conservation of Samburu’s lion population. Employing both scientific research and community outreach, Ewaso helps foster co-existence between the region’s indigenous residents and its lions—whose numbers, until recently, were in perilous decline. By assiduously monitoring lions through GPS tracking and data collection—and by engaging local Samburu warriors and community members in these research efforts—Ewaso has prompted a surge in both conservation support and lion numbers.
Micato travellers whose itineraries include Samburu National Reserve can visit the field camp of Ewaso Lions, speak with Dr. Bhalla and other conservationists about their ongoing efforts, and possibly (though this is never guaranteed) accompany them on lion-monitoring excursions.

Safari boy with elephant
Get up-close-and-personal with the elephants at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust on a specially-arranged Private visit.

Elephant Orphanage at Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Nairobi National Park, Kenya
The world’s most renowned elephant rescue and rehabilitation organization, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust sits just outside Nairobi’s city limits. Since its founding by Dame Daphne Sheldrick in 1977, the Trust has rescued and cared for hundreds of orphaned and injured elephants before successfully releasing them into the wild. It does this primarily through the extraordinary dedication of its staffers—including keepers who tirelessly attend to the baby elephants’ needs (which are considerable) day and night; and far-ranging aerial, anti-poaching, and mobile veterinary teams, which work diligently to rescue orphaned and injured animals from all over Kenya.
Since nearly every Micato safari includes a stop in Nairobi, it is our pleasure to bring most of guests to visit the Trust. There as well as watching heart-stealing baby ellies romp in the mud, guzzle from milk bottles, and cavort with their ever-patient keepers, our travellers have the option of meeting privately with members of the staff, or (for a modest fee) “adopt” an orphan elephant of their choice, in person.

Pangolin Reintroduction at Phinda Private Game Reserve

KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Once poached to near-extinction in this part of South Africa, the Temminck’s pangolin is still one of the most trafficked species in the world. But at the 70,000-acre Phinda Private Game Reserve, a groundbreaking pangolin-reintroduction programme is working ensure a better future for these shy, strikingly scaled creatures. In partnership with scientists and conservationists from the African Pangolin Working Group, the initiative allows pangolins rescued from the illegal wildlife trade to be brought to Phinda, where they are treated until they regain their health—and then released into the preserve (where they continue to be monitored). Eventually, the programme aims to create a stable breeding population of resident pangolins, which can eventually repopulate the area.

Micato guests who arrange a stay at Phinda can observe every aspect of the programme—from veterinary checks to the collection of radio-tag tracking data—that helps give pangolins a fighting chance at survival.

girl feeding baby rhino
Sasha Pinto makes a new friend at Ol Jogi

Black Rhino Monitoring at Ol Jogi Conservancy

Laikipia Plateau, Kenya
One of Kenya’s oldest private rhino sanctuaries, Ol Jogi’s 58,000-acre private reserve was founded in 1980 as a safe haven for eastern black rhinos, whose population had been decimated by poaching (and which is still critically endangered). Today it’s home to more than 100 free-ranging 100 rhinos—all of whose movements, health, and safety are carefully monitored every day by team of 120 tracker-rangers. As well as using high-tech tracking equipment and low-tech sniffer dogs to keep tabs on their charges, staffers also bring injured animals to the conservancy’s Wildlife Rescue Center to be nursed back to health. Orphaned baby rhinos are also delivered to the onsite rhino orphanage, where they’re given round-the-clock care until they’re old enough for reintroduction to the wild.

A Micato safari that includes Ol Jogi can also include visits and outings with its conservancy trackers, as well as time among rescue centre patients, and—most enchantingly—residents of the orphanage.

If helping to safeguard Africa’s beautiful, threatened wildlife sounds like a dream to you, we would love to plan a journey that lets it come true. To learn more, contact one of our safari experts today. The animals await your arrival!

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