I visited a baby elephant orphanage in Kenya - here's what it was like

Chris Weller/Business Insider

• I recently took a trip to Nairobi, Kenya, where I visited the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
• The project started in 1977 as a way to rescue orphaned elephants and rhinos.
• More than 200 elephants have been rescued and reintroduced into the wild.

The clapping started immediately.

Behind a roped-off mud pit, over 100 tourists and I watched as a small parade of baby elephants walked single-file from the thick bush, down a dirt road, and up to the handlers awaiting them. They were soon rewarded for their brave entrance with oversized milk bottles and reassuring pats on the head.

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I was at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, in Nairobi, Kenya. There was little structure to my visit: Stand behind a rope for two hours as about a dozen 200-lb. toddlers frolicked in the mud, guzzled milk, and carried branches from one spot to another.

In these tumultuous times, I felt lucky to experience such innocence firsthand. Here's what I saw.