After leaving Lewa Downs I travelled with trust trading staff and Scouts to catch up with staff from Zoos Victoria at Melako but on the way we purchased beadwork from several conservancies and met many of the women involved. Most of this beadwork – over 25,000 units - had been ordered for Xmas sales through Zoos Victoria. The Melako area is famous for Grevy’s Zebra and is home to the Grevy’s Zebra Trust. The main town there is Laisamis and the zebras come through town to drink at the permanent water there every night during the dry season. With only 2500 left in Kenya they are truly an endangered animal.

Lewa Downs was a cattle station which has been converted by the conservation-minded Craig family into a wildlife haven. While there I saw Reticulated giraffe, Grevy's and Grants Zebra, Leopard, Black and White Rhino, Grant's gazelle, Beisa oryx, Buffalo, Eland, Klipspringer, Warthogs, Olive baboons, Vervet monkeys, Somali ostrich, Crowned cranes, Secretary birds, Kori bustards and more. Lions frequently walk through the guest house area.

Last October I visited Northern Kenya as the guest of the Northern Rangeland Trust. This had been arranged through Zoos Victoria which already supports a community conservancy area there called Melako. The trust has been helping to facilitate community-led conservation initiatives in this region for many years and now works with Samburu, Rendile, Maasai and Borana people in an area covering over 1.36 million ha.