Nairobi, KENYA - To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Born Free Foundation (BFF), Cheli & Peacock, Kenya’s preeminent luxury safari company, is offering a “Born Free Safari” featuring the camps where Elsa the Lioness was reintroduced into the wild and where Joy and George Adamson, who raised Elsa from an orphaned cub, resided. Highlight of the trip is two days of talks with Virginia McKenna, OBE, founder of the Born Free Foundation and star (playing Joy Adamson) of the Academy Award-winning film Born Free. The story of Elsa is the first known instance of a lioness being successfully established in the wilderness after being raised in loving captivity.
Rates for the nine-day Born Free Safari start at $6345 per person sharing and are all-inclusive except for international flights. Remaining available dates are October 22 - 31, 2014. All bookings result in donations towards the BFF, a nonprofit organization which sponsors projects to save, rescue and protect wildlife around the world.
Safaris-goers will stay at some of the finest camps in Africa:
Elsa’s Kopje – One of the areas where Born Free was filmed and the location where Elsa was set free. While dining, guests can converse with Virginia McKenna. What was it like to work on a film set with the Adamson’s and with living, breathing lions? She’ll talk, too, about her eureka moment when she knew that meeting Elsa had changed her life forever. That transformation sparked the creation of the Born Free Foundation.
A bush breakfast is held at Elsa’s grave, located within Meru National Park. Elsa’s legacy continues through her cubs and beyond: testing has found her DNA in contemporary Kenyan lions.
Joy’s Camp – The Safari continues on to Joy’s, sister camp to Elsa’s Kopje. It was here that Joy Adamson reintroduced to the wild another home-grown cat, Penny the Leopard. Guest speakers will give talks and show films on the history of Joy’s Camp and the surrounding Samburu region, home to semi-nomadic pastoral tribes similar to the Maasai.
Tortilis Camp – This jewel of a lodge is set within the savanna of Amboseli National Park, considered the best place in Africa to see free-roaming elephants, especially large family groups including one group that has embraced two Born Free adoptees. Guests will visit elephant expert Cynthia Moss’ Research Center. Cynthia’s vital work has been funded by Born Free for 22 years. Another visit is to Born Free’s lion-proof bomas (enclosures), a project initiated in 2010 to resolve conflict between local pastoralists and lions through the use of bomas.
The final day in Kenya is marked by a farewell lunch with the Born Free Kenya team.
The Born Free Safari includes accommodation at Elsa’s Kopje, Joy’s Camp and Tortilis Camp; all internal flights; conservation/park fees; game drives; bush walks; bush meals; sundowners; membership in Flying Doctors Society; laundry and airstrip transfers.