Local woman has adventure of a lifetime

Sarah Lawrence on a horseback safari in Kenya. photo provided

Some people live for adventure. Sarah Lawrence, 21, of Lower Bridge is one of them.

She spent the last year adventuring on the rivers of the West and in the wilds of Kenya -- on horseback.

Lawrence is an Environmental Studies and Sociology senior at Whitman University in Walla Walla, Washington.

She spent four months last year studying river systems in the West, before heading to Kenya to attend the School of Field Studies affiliated with Boston University.

The school has bush camps at Kilimanjaro and at Nairobi National Park, and conducts courses in wildlife management and conservation biology. Students have an opportunity to observe African wildlife and also learn about local communities and human/livestock interaction with wildlife.

The highlight of the year was the summer months spent on El Karama Ranch, located on the equator in the Laikipia Plateau between Mt. Kenya and the Great Rift Valley.

Lawrence learned about the ranch from "a friend of a friend," and when she called to say she knew how to ride and train horses, an invitation was extended to come and help for the summer.

El Karama, which means "a precious possession" or "answered prayer" in Arabic-based Swahili, is a large, family-owned ranch, headed by Guy Grant, whose grandfather emigrated to Kenya from Scotland. The ranch produces purebred Sahiwal cattle and also breeds its own horses. Sold primarily to Maasai tribesmen as breeding stock, the 900 Sahiwals are tended by a diverse group of Kenyan stockmen.

"The whole Maasai culture is based on their cattle. They will live in mud huts and spend thousands of shillings to buy good cattle. That is their wealth," said Lawrence.

The cattle graze on pastures around the vast ranch, but are put into corrals called "bomas" at night to protect them from the wildlife that freely roams the ranch.

"Kenya is not like a big zoo," said Lawrence. "All the big animals are really aggressive and you never go anywhere alone, and never at dusk or dawn when the animals are hunting."

A new tourist venture offering a horseback safari is being established on the ranch and is run by the Grant's daughter, Laria. Catering to experienced riders and definitely upscale (by wilderness camping standards), the safaris travel for six to eight days, never leaving the boundaries of the ranch. The camps are moved every second day, using camels for transport.

"The guests don't see a vehicle during the safari. You can go places on horseback that you'd never go on foot because of the speed of the horse," said Lawrence.

The homebred horses were a combination of Thoroughbred, Arabian, and Somalian/Ethiopian bush horses.

"They are raised here and they are fit, fast, and responsive. They tend to be a bit spooky because they are always on alert for predators," said Lawrence.

The safaris take guests through herds of giraffe, zebra and impala, and Lawrence came upon a lion kill one day. At night, the horses and camels are put into a boma if one is near. Otherwise, the horses are picketed in the middle of camp and the camels stay near their handlers' tents.

When Lawrence arrived on the ranch, she was put in charge of the horse program. Training nine young horses, feeding and trimming feet on 30 others, as well as guiding a safari and teaching natural horsemanship principles to the four men who looked after the horses made for full days.

"The experience of the ranch was different than the school in that we were among the wildlife on a daily basis," said Lawrence. "At school, our contact was very controlled; out there it was part of the day."

Visit www.horsebackin-kenya.com for information.