aberdare conservation placement


		ABERDARE NATIONAL PARK Ranger adventure. The park is located in Central Kenya, 17 kilometers away from Nyeri town and a couple of kilometers away from Africa’s second highest point – Mount Kenya. Characterized by tall green trees on a spectacular terrain of hills and valleys known as the Aberdare Ranges, it is home to East Africa’s largest indigenous forest. The Aberdare is one of Kenya’s main water towers with the highest waterfall in the county. The fall (Karura Falls) cascades in three breath-taking steps with the highest one of them all being 273 meters high. Established in 1950, the the 767 square kilometers park is the most visited after the Masai Mara and Tsavo East and West National Parks. The park teams up with the forest under conservation to form a 1700 square kilometers mass of land with a rich biodiversity supporting 200 birds’ species, 44 mammals and 772 plant species. Some of the animals include endangered species like the black rhino, elephants and others that are the brink of extinction like Bongo and the Aberdare cisticola. Two years after it was established, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth visited the park. She was staying at the Treetops Lodge (adjacent to the park) when she received news of her ascending to the thrown. Given a chance to ask the queen to recollect and paint a picture of the park that has not changed much since, one is likely to get a master piece of the Chania Falls, the Karura Falls, the Queens caves, an expansive moorland tinged with the big five that comprises of Elephants, Buffalos, Rhinos, Leopards and Lions.		Volunteering, working holiday, Kenya, conservation, teaching in Africa, overseas nursing, work in orphanages, volunteer breaks, gap year, working vacation. Group charity work. Volunteer in Africa
		Once placed at the park, a volunteer instantly becomes part of the Kenya Wildlife Services staff. This gives a volunteer mandates almost similar to the park wardens. The work is usually spontaneous and would change according to the demands and needs in different parts of the park. Therefore, a volunteer could go out with a team tracking a run away herd of elephants causing havoc in a nearby human settlement on a Tuesday, mend an elephants broken fence the following day and carry out animal census, biomass assessment or enter data in the office the day after. Like it is the case in a number of Kenyan parks, multi-movement is always restricted owing to lack of enough vehicles. Consequently, the park can only handle a number of activities at a given time. Volunteers must be prepared for some slow days under the sun!
		This placement would suit any one with love for animals at heart. A desire for conservation of all types is also essential. The park has great camping sites and would suit those who would wish to work and camp in the wilderness. The tents are pitched next to the wardens’ bases providing ample security. Sometimes hard work and often frustrating, but get stuck in and get your hand dirty and you will have tales to tell forever.
		One could choose to live at the park’s camp sites in a tent, the Kenya Wildlife Service Banda or a guest house a couple of kilometers away from the park.
		The Aberdares National Park would suit adventurous people. A person must be flexible and spontaneous in terms of work allocation. Unlike our other conservation projects, Aberdare is more overgrown and the terrain is more rugged. An adventure not for the faint hearted!
		While at the Aberdares, the exploratory are able to climb to any of mount Kenya’s peaks or hike to the 4001 meters high Lesatima peak For groups of two people or more, picnics and nature walks at any of the waterfalls would be in order. One could also go picnicking with friends that he or she shall have made in Kenya. Nyeri town is 30 minutes away from the park. At the town, one can find all things modern, from Internet to pubs and five star safari clubs.

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