Chimps are not native to Kenya and the Sweetwaters Sanctuary is the only place in the country where they can be seen. There are over forty chimps at Sweetwaters and most are rescued orphans of the bush meat trade, they are often physically & mentally traumatised when they reach the sanctuary and have to be carefully nursed back to health.
The orphans have to be hand reared and will always be semi-dependant on humans, making it impossible to ever release them into the wild, so they are gradually integrated into the Sweetwaters community before they can enjoy the remainder of their life in the 250 acre enclosure.
The chimps live in two large groups separated by the Ewaso Nyiro River and are observed and cared for by a dedicated group of carers. Guests at Sweetwaters Tented Camp and Ol Pejeta House can visit the Sanctuary, which is open daily at 9:00am to 10:30am and 3pm to 4:30pm. Until you can get out to Kenya I recommend you have a look at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy website where you can read about the individual chimps and their different characters and there’s also a great blog called Chimpanzee Chat which is written by the carers and documents life in the sanctuary.