Every year in Kenya there is an event called “The Rhino Charge”, an off-road 4 X 4 competition held in the wilds of Kenya that raises funds to support the activities of The Rhino Ark Trust, an NGO which supports and protects Kenya’s mountain range ecosystem and the ‘water towers’ of the country.
The Rhino Charge that took place on the 31st May 2025 raised $2,100,000 plus. The enclosing of these areas, now totaling 650 km of electric fencing, has led to a 97% reduction in the human- wildlife conflict allowing humans and wildlife to be protected and preserved from each other. Apart from the importance of the conservation work, the event provides support for the district in which it takes place, which varies from year to year.
The course consists of several square miles of extreme geological features, an area laced with rivers, valleys, ravines, gullies, hills, and broken ground, and the object is to cross the area from a predetermined start to finish whilst checking in at 13 checkpoints which are marked on a GPS, the time allowed to do this is ten hours…………
I will let that sink in…….
It is a combination of courage, intelligence, skill and insanity all rolled into one. Anthony and I have been members of our team for a number of years. I can honestly say that it really is an experience that leaves you absolutely exhausted, and frequently covered in bruises. On my maiden voyage a few years back, apart from nearly being run over twice by our trusted driver, I also lost large areas of skin from being torn apart by the famous ‘wait-a-bit bush’, with a cut over one eye and a large collection of bruises. But despite all the bumps and bruises at times sheer fright, it was always a thoroughly worthwhile and exhausting experience and we were back every year for another go.
Winching 2.8 tonnes of hybrid Landrover / Cruiser (Range Rover Chassis, Toyota Engine, Landrover gearbox and Unimog Axels) off a cliff with a 30 degree angle is no mean feat. Not quite Formula 1 – but certainly equally challenging. Aside from assuring the driver and navigator that this is a good idea and will save us meters – it is just damn stupid.
Our team, Car 49, has won the event once and has won several ‘tiger lines’ and the mighty “Gauntlet”, a particularly extreme stretch littered with unimaginable challenges, on four occasions. On some years we have been unable to finish within the time limit, and on one memorable year we rolled and our engine caught fire – the car was pretty much destroyed. We are certainly a determined and competitive team, and I have no doubt Car 49 will be winning again in the not too distant future.
This year however, I decided to ‘hang up my sports bra’ and exit the team to make way for my eldest child, 16 year-old William to take my place. He was extremely excited and I could not help but chuckle to myself at his complete unawareness of the ordeal he was about to endure. Having watched me compete in the event over the years, he genuinely believed that I was a sensitive little flower who made a fuss about nothing. A day later, having completed the event, his opinion of me had change radically, as had his appreciation of how much effort from every team member is required.
This year we had an added danger with The Bees! Yes, Baringo county has swarms of these hostile and extremely aggressive African bees. One poor participant was so severely stung he had to be medically evacuated out of the competition. Did I mention also the danger of snakes, scorpions and the possibility of larger dangerous wildlife such as buffalo and elephant? Yes, these were an issue too – just to make it all a little more challenging – and of course there is the extreme heat. This year the mercury hit a whopping 35 degrees This combination of challenges might even have caused Indiana Jones a thoughtful pause.
This year was a very successful year for Car 49 as out of 64 cars competing, only 15 completed the course and our team of rookies came in 6th, a few kilometers off the winning team, who had a winning distance of 28 km within the set time of ten hours. My son won the trophy for the youngest Charger to complete the course – which is a huge accolade, and everyone survived again without serious injury – which was a bonus too. Even better news, is our rookies want to do it all over again next year, so my sports bra can actually go into the bin now!
This is by the way a full family team, all of whom are Emakoko. Our tough and experienced driver was my brother in law Patrick, (this would be his 22nd charge driven), Anthony was the ‘rookie’ navigator charged with guiding the team to the checkpoints, and in the back, our team of runners consisted of my other brother-in-law Chris (8th charge) and 3 rookie runners, cousins aged 18, 17 and 16 years old respectively. Speaking of family, none of this can happen without the support of our other family, Bush and Beyond, who support so many conservation initiatives.
Speaking of sponsorship, so many people supported us and a big thank you to: JS & Co, Mahia Auto Spare, Green Seasons (our veggie supplier), Animet, Timaflor Flowers, Modern Hardware and Geerloffs Refrigeration Ltd to name a few!
The Rhino Charge, and therefore Rhino Ark itself are one of many community and conservation projects that The Emakoko supports. With the Childs family having such a big impact on education in Africa (brief history, but Anthony’s parents moved to Kenya in 1975 as British Council Teachers……now 50 years later there are 5,700 students in 12 campuses in 4 countries in East and Southern Africa who are part of what is called the Braeburn group – Anthony’s father being the founder). We have also recently sponsored four children this year with secondary school bursaries, with more children to follow by the end of the year. This is an exciting new project for us, and we look forward to supporting these young people all the way through to their higher education.
On a lighter note, Anthony was called to visit one of the homesteads a few weeks ago to rehabilitate a reptile that had taken possession of the outside kitchen. On arrival he was delighted to see that it was a large and extremely grumpy Egyptian Cobra, Anthony being considerably happier to find the snake than the occupants of the kitchen were to host it. He quickly extracted it from a pile of firewood and popped it into a bucket with a lid he had thoughtfully brought with him, as a safe way of transferring it back to the lodge on the back of motor-bike rather than allowing it the freedom of the back seat. Whilst Anthony was concentrating on confining the snake, a fascinated crowd started to gather to observe all of this, and once it was secured safely in the bucket there were cries of relief, admiration and general applause – what an amazing hero he was! The snake now safely in the bucket, the crowd pressed closer, full of congratulations and praise for his courage. With the bucket on his lap and in the process of trying to tie it down, a passing hornet appeared on the scene, and taking an instant objection to Anthony, stung him on the neck right behind his left ear. This unprovoked attack was both surprising and extremely painful, and with a howl of agony he leaped into the air!
As you can imagine the crowd, not knowing the cause, feared the worst and assumed that the Cobra had escaped from the bucket, and every man, woman and child fled the scene in terror. I think the 100m sprint world record was broken that day ……
On The Emakoko side of things, the high season is here and we are delighted, as always, to have so many visitors of different nationalities crossing our bridge on a daily basis. We have managed to escape the catastrophic 2024 flooding so far this year and it brings me much joy to see our new pool and bar area completely unscathed.
Our resident Rhino is still pottering around and can be found from time to time having an afternoon snooze behind the pool. There are also a pride of new ‘mummy’ lions who’s cubs have just made their debut onto the circuit and are seen on a regular basis now using the roads to navigate the park. Just the other day Rihaz had a wonderful sighting of the most humungous group of Giraffes moving through the park – a very rare sight indeed.
Schools in Kenya and abroad are all ending their school years now and we are looking forward to having our daughter back. She is currently ‘cricketing’ her way around the South West of England and will be home soon to complete our family once again. Then Anthony heads out on safari for most of the summer and we will be in and out of the lodge over the next few months. Between Rhiaz, Anthony and I we are excited to be welcoming guests, old and new over the next few months!
