One of Kenya’s more
informative activities is a visit to the country’s most historic
house. On the banks of picturesque Lake Naivasha lies the former
home of the conservationists George and Joy Adamson. Built amongst
giant yellow acacia trees, it is home to a troop of curious black and
white colobus monkeys and restless fish eagles.
Elsamere, named after the best known lioness in the world, is now
a museum and conservation centre dedicated to one of the most famous
wildlife stories ever told. The story of the Adamsons' relationship with Elsa
the lioness was immortalised in Joy’s 1959 book “Born Free”
and the subsequent movie.
The Adamsons rescued Elsa as a cub after her mother had been shot.
They raised her, taught her how to fend for herself, and successfully rehabilitated
her into the wild. The Adamsons proved for the first time that
it was possible to rehabilitate lions. In later
years George went on to raise and release another twenty. Both of them came to an
untimely and tragic end. Joy was murdered in 1980 at the age of 70, either by
poachers or possibly a member of her staff; George was
shot dead nine years later by a Somali poaching gang at the age of
81.
Today their house is a museum and houses a collection of memorabilia
from the Born Free story. Everything has been left as it was when
they lived there; Joy’s typewriter still sits on her
desk. The Elsamere experience begins with a video about Joy and George’s
life, including an interview with Joy, followed by a look around the
house and a sumptuous cream tea on the lawn overlooking Lake Naivasha.
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