ITCHY FEET TRAVELS

Elsamere, Kenya

Aug 1, 2024

Born in 1910 to a wealthy Austrian family in Troppau, Silesia (present day Czech Republic), she broke the mold before it was considered a mold. Intelligent, feisty and creative, she had studied fields as diverse as music and medicine. A talented artist, her paintings of African flora and fauna were published in textbooks, shown in exhibitions in London and feted by royalty. And then came the books that catapulted her into even greater fame.

Her name was Joy Adamson, known best for her book about rearing an orphaned lion cub called Elsa. The book Born Free, is a narrative of how she and her husband George Adamson, a game warden, raised Elsa and successfully rehabilitated the lioness into the wild. They were the first to do so. The book captivated audiences around the world and was made into a film that proved equally popular. Then followed other books about Elsa’s cubs and their lives and Joy Adamson became a household name in the sixties.

I remember reading Born Free decades ago and being fascinated by the story, their passion and dedication. It was here, on the shores of Lake Naivasha that Joy and George Adamson made their home. The house has been made into a museum and it was this that I came to see. The house still stands, much the same as pictured in the book and film with the pillared veranda looking out on the lake. The truck that featured in their many rambles in Kenya too is here. A few photos grace the reception area.

The property is now a lodge with an unfortunate if predictable, shifting of values to purely monetary. The staff care not a fig for either the story, or the museum or conservation. No photos are allowed in the one room crammed with memorabilia, but I was allowed to view the documentary on Joy Adamson. The photos taken from grainy footage are poor at best. Even so, the extraordinary bond with Elsa comes through.

And it was not only Elsa. The flickering images show her lifelong passion for conservation and her work with rehabilitation of Pippa the cheetah cub as well as other animals.

Joy Adamson, along with her husband George Adamson were pioneers in the field of wildlife conservation; the funds from books and films were put in trust for just that. Much of the wildlife we come to see on safari today would hardly exist, were it not for men and women who fought for conservation and dedicated their lives to it. I wonder how many of the busloads of tourists who come for game viewing, know of the history and battles fought? 

Joy was murdered in 1980 and Geroge in 1989 by poachers. Many are the men and women who were and are as passionate and have spent their lives for this cause. Some of the names must be familiar to all: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Marc and Delia Owens to name a few. How ironic is it that all were threatened and most murdered in their adopted countries, essentially, for caring too much.