¶ Adarsh Nagda
It was the legendary Steve Irwin that said born a wildlife warrior , die a wildlife warrior . My guest today is someone who I'd absolutely consider not only a wildlife warrior but a warrior for wildlife . I was honored to have 14 year old Adarsh Nagna , all the way from Nairobi , kenya , join me on the podcast .
Adarsh moved to Kenya from London when he was just a young kid and fell in love with the wildlife by visiting Nairobi National Park . From this level of wildlife has grown into a passion to protect and take care of the wildlife in Africa and around the world , so much so that he invites all of us to adopt an elephant .
Hello everyone , my name is Jake Bushman and I am the host of Journey with Jake . I am truly amazed and blessed by this opportunity . I have to speak with amazing guests each and every week . This week was no exception , as I had the chance to speak with a wonderful young man , adarsh Nagna .
His appreciation of the wildlife in Kenya speaks volumes of his character and who he is , from getting stuck in the mud with a lion nearby to seeing a cheetah attack happen live . You are going to love this episode today . Welcome to Journey with Jake .
This is a podcast about adventure and how , through our adventures , we can overcome the challenges of life that come our way . While I expect you will learn some things about different adventures , this show will entertain you . Each episode will feature a different guest or guests , as they share experiences and stories from the different adventures they have been on .
Not only will you be entertained , but you will also hear the failures and trials each guest faces and what they have done or are doing to overcome the hardships that come their way . My goal is to take each of us on a journey through the experiences of my guests , with the hope that you'll be entertained and inspired to overcome your day to day challenges .
After all , it's not a lot about the destination , as it is about the journey . This is just about the journey we've made And , as always , welcome back , welcome back , welcome back . Can't wait to take you on aелен ride . Welcome streaming , welcome back , welcome back , welcome back , welcome back , welcome back , welcome back , welcome back , welcome back .
This is episode number 59 of Journey with Jake episode . Next week , on July 11th , i had my former guest , rick Bamford from episode 35 about Arleigh Beach , australia . We turned the tables a little bit and he interviewed me Instead of me interviewing him . It's kind of fun to do .
We will talk about my half marathon journey , the race itself and just what I'm up to with the podcast and life . This will be a fun way for all of you to get to know me a little bit better . Speaking of a fun way to get to know me , check out my Instagram account at JourneyWithJakePodcast .
This is a fantastic way to see some snippets from my show , including some pictures of my guests . It's just a really great way to get to know all of my guests a little bit better . I also show some personal things as well stories and posts about myself So it's another great way to get to know yours truly .
Okay , i am excited for everyone to hear from my guest today , all the way from Nairobi , kenya and Africa . Let's get to my conversation with Adarsh Nagda . I know I'm going to butcher his name . He's already said it's okay if I butcher it . Adarsh Nagda , welcome to the show .
Thank you so much for inviting me . It's such a great opportunity and I'm so grateful .
How did I do on your name ?
That was great actually , compared to what other people say .
Thank you . He's being super nice to me right now . So , like I always do on the show , i want to know a little bit about who you are before we dive into , kind of , some of your adventures and the things that you're doing . So , if you don't mind , kind of give us a little background on who you are .
Sure . So I was born in London and I moved to Kenya when I was about seven years old . That was because of my parents' work , and I'm so grateful for that , because that's how I got involved in all
¶ Wildlife Conservation and Photography in Nairobi
of this . Conservation And while there's photography and nature-loving in Nairobi , i visited Nairobi National Park for the first time when I was about eight years old or nine years old , and I instantly fell in love with it . That was one of the best places I've visited And currently it's one of the best places where I love to do my safari .
It's just 10 minutes away from my house and it hosts these amazing opportunities for me to see lions just crossing my vehicle , leopards , cheetahs , rhinos .
The only member of the Big Five it doesn't have is the elephant , because it's a bit small , but it has everything else and it is a really nice place for me to go and just relax from the hustle and bustle of the city . So I visit Nairobi National Park every Saturday . I got my first camera when I was about 11 years old and since then everything just grew .
I got my social media , i started doing YouTube vlogs and everything just grew from there . I'm so grateful to my parents for allowing me to get a camera and for me to visit all of these different parts of Kenya where I can view the different and unique wildlife species .
That is awesome . About five or what do you say , seven years old move from London to Kenya . Do you have any brothers or sisters , or is it just you ?
Yes , I have a sister .
She older or younger ?
Older , she's called Nikita .
Nikita . Nikita is the older sister , and how old are you ? I'm 14 years old . 14 years old Awesome . So I've had an 11 year old on the podcast once , and now I've got a 14 year old . So you're the second youngest not quite the youngest , but I was impressed by you because I know you reached out after I had Marshall Brown on my show .
Yes .
Who's into wildlife photography . and you kind of reached out and we're asking some things and I started following you and I'm like Adarsh has some cool things that he does and he's into some things and into some wildlife conservation So I thought it'd be fun . So you talked about the big five of Africa .
Yes .
Tell me again what are the big five . What animals does that involve ?
They're the lion , leopard , rhino , elephant and Buffalo , and I've luckily managed to see all of them in one day , actually in Masaimara game reserve , so that was a really special experience .
Very good . So you have Nairobi National Park close to home . It's right there . There's no elephants , though , because it's a little small for the elephants .
Yes .
But you've been to all sorts of different reserves and things . You said Maesamara is that one of them ?
Masaimara , where the Great Wildebeest Migration Happens .
Oh , wow , okay , very good , so , yeah . so I want to dive into some of these stories and the things that you're doing . So you get there when you're seven or eight . You said you go out there to Nairobi National Park when your first moment's there and you just fell in love with it .
Have you always kind of liked animals even before you moved to Africa , or is that what spurred you to really have this love for animals ?
So when I moved to Africa I fell in love with animals . I don't really remember , but I don't think I was a fan of animals before . I just think I visited a zoo before and I didn't really like it . But then when I moved to Kenya and I saw all of the animals in the wild and you have to really go search for them and you have to go do a game drive .
That's really what excited me to like animals .
Just seeing them in their natural habitat and their natural stay , rather than behind a wall or a cage or that sort of thing . So now you're doing that , you're checking out animals . So kind of tell me a little bit about some of these experiences that you've had , maybe some of the different parks you've been to . What are some of the things you've seen ?
I saw the Big Five in one day in Masayimara and that was one of my best experiences .
So basically , we left the camp at around 6 am in the morning to do the morning game drive And then we went through the park all the way and looked , and looked and looked And the camp was called Ashnil Mara camp and it's known for its famous rhino sightings , and black rhinos are quite uncommon in Masayimara .
So we were really lucky to start off our safari with a mother and baby black rhino , and usually they're very skittish , but when we reached we approached slowly and we got to see them . And we got to see them for a good half an hour and that was a very magical sighting .
Then we moved on to the normal stuff , such as the buffaloes and the elephants , which were also really cool to see . The elephants were mud bathing and they like to do that to cool down and they were all just having a fun time .
And then we saw some lions , and that was a really cool sighting as well , because it was a pride of , i think , 20 to 25 individuals . There were cubs , there were males , there were lionesses and they were just walking around , drinking water and patrolling the territory . And then for the leopard .
We just got a message that there was a leopard on a tree very far , like two hours away , and the sun was setting and we decided we need to get the big five in one day . So we just rushed to the leopard and we got it just as the sun was setting . So the leopard was on the tree and the sun was setting in front of it .
So I got the leopard in the golden light .
So you got to see all five , which is fantastic . Is there any of those of those top five , those big five that they call them ? Is there any one in particular that you kind of lean towards ? that's like your favorite .
Yes , it's definitely the leopard . There was actually this other time when I was in the Masaimara which you have to visit , by the way It's amazing . We just left our camp and our guide heard that there was a mother leopard and a cub seen around that area . So we searched and searched and searched on the first day and we didn't get to see it .
Then , on the second day , we went back to the territory and we were just about to leave And then my sister on the other side of the car screamed oh look , there she is .
So we went back and the sun was rising , beautiful golden light , and this leopard was playing with her mom's tail , jumping on her , doing leaps , doing acrobatics over her , and then they jumped across a river and they walked down the drunk water . Some of the sightings I've had are incredible really . I just love them .
Yeah , what does that do for you when you see something like that , what does that do for you just personally ? How does it make you feel ?
I feel connected to nature . I feel so excited . There was once I saw a leopard again in Nairobi National Park and that was my first time I ever saw a leopard there And it just crossed the road and I thought it had disappeared . And then it came out , passed our car twice . It literally did a circle around our car . I was just shaking .
I like gave the camera to my dad because I wasn't getting anything good And I was just shaking . I was so thrilled to see a leopard finally in Nairobi National Park that I couldn't believe it .
That's great And I love how you feel connected and I feel like due to your connection , I know now that you've kind of gotten into wildlife conservation a little bit . What kind of things are you doing as far as wildlife conservation goes ?
So for conservation . I'm part of the Friends of Nairobi National Park and we do they do monthly activities , So I participated in a Parthenium pull out once and that means Parthenium is an invasive plant that can make animals sick if they eat it , So we have to go out and manually pull out the plants from around the National Park .
I've also helped in tree planting activities and the cleaning up of litter in the National Park . That is one of the major issues . as it's so close to a city it can usually get filled with litter . So , especially around the borders , we go there and we try to pick up some litter , and that's all related to conservation and helping the animals .
Talk about is it Team Sayari ? Am I saying that right ?
Yes , Team Sayari .
Yeah , what is Team Sayari ? I see you're part of that . What is that ? You're kind of a spokesman for them , I guess , right .
So Team Sayari is a show on National Geographic and Disney , and Sayari means planet in Swahili , and it's basically about a group of five young budding presenters and conservationists that are facing Africa's climate and conservation issues And we're looking at how to resolve them in fun ways .
So there's a DIY section where we make stuff about helping and solving these conservation issues . We are with Funzi , who is an AI computer and she's described , she's shown as a double helix in the middle , who with glowing LED lights , and we basically communicate with her and she tells us information about what we need to know .
And then this field reporters from around Africa that send us videos of what's happening in the country whether it be interesting wildlife opportunities or experiences or encounters or issues such as pollution and they send it to us and we review it and we have clues and we have to solve the issue .
How often does that show happen ? is that like a once a month thing ? is that every week thing ?
I finished filming season one . It used to be every Saturday , so every Saturday we used to go to the studio and film our show . It can take very long , the hours can be very long , but it's all fun because I get to be with my friends who I'm filming with .
That's good , good deal good for you .
¶ Kenya Wildlife Adventures and Mishaps
So I want to hear about some of these stories . You kind of mentioned a few of them seeing these leopards , things like that . Have there been any stories of , maybe , where it was ? it didn't kind of work out , the some of your adventures didn't kind of work out the way you thought , but maybe something else happened instead .
I don't know , just some thoughts and different safaris , different things that you've been on . And then for someone like me who's never been , what would you suggest ? for someone like me who wants to go see ? what should I do ?
So if you want to see wildlife , i would definitely recommend you to come to Kenya . Kenya is filled with wildlife and bird life over 1000 species of birds and so many species of mammals and reptiles and amphibians And on just like a two night trip to Masaimara , if you're lucky , you can see the big five , plus so many more animals . You can see hunts .
It's so easy all you need is a good guide and your set . And for some of the mishaps , i would say there was one time in Opajata Conservancy in Nanyuki , kenya . I was At the Conservancy on a game drive and it got a bit late and I remember we were following this lioness . She was roaring and looking for her cubs And it got late .
So we were about to head back when the lioness sat down next to the road and we weren't looking at the road and we got stuck in the mud because it had just rained And we were stuck .
The lioness was next to our car and we couldn't do anything about it and the sun was going down and it was becoming dark and it came up to a point where it was literally dark and we had to use torches To see around and we could just hear this lioness next to us who is roaring and roaring and we were stuck .
So eventually we had to call the KWS , which is the Kenya Wildlife Service , and they helped us get out of there . They told our car out of the mud , but that was a really unusual sighting . I didn't know how to feel . Should I be scared or should I be excited and remember ?
there was one time where our doors were all open so that the tow rope could fit on the car and the lioness was just there ? Yes , i want to . I kind of want to . I'm picturing that in my mind .
So you're there . You got the lioness right outside your car . Yes , you're stuck . You're not going to get out there and try to push it out or anything , because the lioness is right , there , right , i mean that's you can't do , that that's little , that's too dangerous , too scary . So finally , you just had to call for help and they came in help .
But yeah , i mean , that would be kind of Be exciting in a way , but also a little nervous , little scary . I think it's kind of all those feelings wrapped into one .
Yes , those ranges are really brave because they just got out of their car and helped us .
In the lioness she was still kind of roaring calling for her cubs . is that what she was doing ?
Yes .
Okay , wow , okay . So I'm just picturing this . This is incredible . Wow , how often are you going out and seeing the wildlife ?
It depends because , like I said , i'm in Narubi National Park every Saturday , so I'm viewing wildlife in lions and cheetahs every , mostly every Saturday And to the big parks . I usually visit them in my school holidays . so , like Masaimara , ambe , selie , savo and another thing that I don't like about all of these parks , yes , they're really good for wildlife .
it's the tour vans and the vehicles that really upset me , as some of them have no respect for the wildlife or for the nature and they would just go off roading And they would not respect the animals and give them right of way .
There was this time when there was a lioness on the road and she was trying to hunt , and this has happened so many times , even with cheetahs . The car is just overcrowd and it's impossible to first get good photos and they can't hunt successfully because of how many cars are there just ruining it .
That's why I would recommend you to go off season , when there's not that many tourists around . It's nice and peaceful and you get to see the animals when they're relaxed .
That's an interesting point . I haven't really thought of that before , but I guess during the peak season at some of these bigger parks you've got all kinds of tour companies and people gathering around trying to take pictures and you're right , that is disturbing their .
I mean they're trying to hunt , they're trying to live and survive And we're messing that up for them . We're kind of we're messing that up . Speaking of hunting and seeing a hunt , i saw a video that you had posted where you , i think you saw I believe is a cheetah cheetah hunting down a gazelle . Yes , what was that like ? Tell me about that experience .
So that was just last year or this year , i can't remember in Masaimara This was a cheetah who we got a message that was looking to hunt . She's a very old cheetah called Nora We . I had never seen a hunt
¶ Wildlife Encounters and Bird Watching
. I think that was my first hunt that I've ever seen in my life and it was really special because the cheetah was there and it all happened so quickly . But I remember we had to wait for quite a while for it to happen . The hunt was very quick but you know how long it takes . It takes up to five hours of waiting , three hours .
But we saw the cheetah and we saw that she wanted to hunt But she wasn't going to hunt anytime soon because she had to wait for all of the impalas to come closer . Eventually they did and she failed the first time . So we decided OK , let's go just a bit , just like five minutes away , to the nearest tree , and we had our breakfast and we came back .
And as soon as we came back we just waited for five , 10 minutes and boom , she just went . She went for it unexpected , totally unexpected . None of us were ready . I just had my camera on record and I saw her and she just caught it And that was my first hunt I ever recorded . That was really special .
And my second hunt was in Nairobi National Park , where I posted a video of that too . There were two lions attacking a wildebeest on the road and that was my favorite hunt that I've ever seen out of the two , because that is really special , especially to see that up close in the road with no cars running your shot in the background .
We were waiting at this dam with these two lions Unlike the cheetah . It took literally just 10 minutes the whole hunt . They stalked just for about two minutes and the wildebeest was sitting on the road and they just ran for it and they jumped on it and one suffocated it while the other one was on its back trying to push it down .
And once they got it down , they feasted on it and they had a good meal . And that happened in the dry season , when the animals aren't that strong and they can't fight back . Right now it's the wet season in Kenya and I can tell you the lions are really thin and they're struggling .
They killed so much in the dry season because they're opportunistic whatever they get , they hunt . But right now they're struggling because all of the game has become stronger So they can't just have fun and attack them anymore , so they're trying to learn how to do it .
Those were two sub-adults sub-adult lions , so they were still learning how to hunt and it was a really great sighting .
Were they male lions or female lions ?
There was one male and one female .
Okay , sub-adults , so they're kind of like teenagers , sort of like trying to figure things out . Hunting That's an interesting point you brought up , because I never thought of that . I thought during the wet season , when there's animals are flourishing and things like that , that would be like the prime time to be hunting these animals .
But I didn't realize , oh , they're a lot stronger , they're a lot quicker , they're a lot faster . It's gonna be tougher from that respect , and so it's kind of the opposite . So then in the dry season the roles kind of reverse a little bit and now they're taking advantage of the weakness .
And also game is easier to find in the dry season because everything is attracted to the water . So all the lions have to do is just sit there and they'll get a successful hunt .
They just gotta hang out by the water And they'll be like oh man , you got some good stories and some fun things .
So tell me just kind of walking away from the wildlife , just for a minute , because I'm just curious what's life like living in Nairobi as a youngster , as a teenager , I know there's some stereotypes about Kenya and Nairobi , but I have really enjoyed life .
School life and residential living in Nairobi is amazing , especially for the bird life with , like I said , over 1,000 species of birds . You can get so much in your backyard And it's really nice . And also , schools are nice , the roads are nice . I think everything is fine .
You just have to be on the right side of Nairobi and you can live a very happy life .
I think that's kind of like anywhere we live , right , I mean I think there's good parts , there's bad parts everywhere And I think it's what you make of it . Sounds like you're making the most of it . It sounds like you're flourishing in Nairobi . So that's fantastic . It's fun to hear You are definitely my first person that I've ever spoke to from Africa .
I've had some Australians , some Canadians , some New Zealander , i've had UK , but I've never had anybody from Nairobi , let alone Africa . So like this is fantastic . So I appreciate you sharing that . I was just kind of curious because I was just kind of wondering what life was like in Nairobi . It's pretty big right . It's the capital of Kenya , correct ?
Yes , it's the capital , And Nairobi National Park is part of the county as well .
Okay , very good . You said very close to where you live , So very good . Yeah , what other stories you got for it ? I've just I've been enjoying these stories . I saw just recently you went to , oh , some lake readers , a ton of flamingos . I mean , talk about birds a little bit .
What's your favorite bird to see and tell us a little bit about the bird sightings .
I like to describe myself as a birder . I recently started bird watching and I love it . It's actually today in the morning I went to Nairobi National Park and I saw , i think , seven or eight new species of birds that I haven't seen before , so that was really successful .
Then I came back and then I was ready for the podcast , and Lake Bogoria is where I went . It's located in , i think , beringo County of Kenya And that's where I went to see all the flamingos , and the flamingos are beautiful And there's so many of them . It's like a sea of pink .
It's a really unique sighting And basically you can go on foot and you can go right up to the lake shore and you can get up close to the flamingos as they like eating the algae of the shores . So it's a really nice sighting And basically what they do is they fly up , they go to one corner of the lake and then they come back to the other corner .
So if you're a photographer , you can get amazing photos of the flamingos flying in the line or landing in this in the lake . And apart from that , i went to Lake Paringo , which is located just one or two hours away from Lake Pogoria , and I did more birding there . I stayed at Tumbele Cliff Lodge and we did a birding walk , which was really fun .
We worked for hours and for night jars during the day . So those and courses , three banded courses during the day . So all of those birds are nocturnal . But we decided , with a very experienced and knowledgeable guide , we went out and he showed us all of these birds .
We started off with this bird called I think it's called a Eurasian scops owl I'll just have to confirm later . But it was in a parking lot and my guide knew the territory . He's like you guys , we have to look for this owl . So we went , we entered the parking lot and he looked on the left , i looked on the right and everyone is searching for the owl .
And then we had a parrot , a mare's parrot , which was a really cool sighting , especially because parrots are quite rare in Kenya , and on the way we saw the owl . So it's a really tiny owl high up in the tree , but I got a nice photo .
Then we moved on , saw another nocturnal species called a three banded coarser , and we saw two grayish eagle owls And for that one we really had to trek . We went , i left the other people and I just went alone with my guide because there were some old people in our group and they couldn't do it .
So I went with my guide and we climbed down and he's like this is guaranteed . It's a guaranteed chance that you'll see these owls . And I got so excited and we went down and I saw one that flew away . And then I got disappointed because I was like no , it flew away . Then he's like oh , i'm sure you're disappointed .
And he showed me this other owl that was so relaxed , just sitting on the branch . I got one meter away from it and I could get really nice photos , and seeing owls in the day is always special .
That's awesome . I love that too . You're just like me , and the guide are going to go check this out . Yes , just do our own thing and check it out . Wow , so you've gotten into birding quite a bit , so you call yourself a birder . Is that what they're called ?
Yes , birders or birdwatchers ?
Birders , birdwatchers Excellent . What's kind of the future for you ? I mean , what are you looking to do ? I mean , you've got all this great background now in wildlife and team Sayari and all these things . What do you want to do ? You're 14 years old . you're a young man , but you're going to be an adult here soon . What are you looking to do ?
So I want to sell my prints for conservation . That's probably the next step that I'm going to do , because I feel like people would buy my wildlife prints and then I can donate all or some of the money to different conservation practices All over Kenya .
And I recently developed an application with my friend Vier called My Natural Wild , and I basically moved from big wildlife , which is lions in Narobi National Park , to birds in Narobi National Park and then to wildlife in urban and residential areas .
So this app that's available on the Play Store basically helps you to recognize the wildlife species in your areas And then we have a map filled with pin locations of everybody's sightings So we can get kind of an idea where are the animals and where are the birds of urban areas leading to birds .
And then eventually I want to work with the government in order to protect these forests and these areas So we can avoid human-wild life conflict and have peaceful coexistence with the wildlife . But it always takes time and it's just started . It's doing quite well . We've got some sightings coming through , but we'll just have to be patient and see what happens .
Yeah , i like that . I like the fact that you have goals . I mean , it sounds like you have your idea of what you want to do and you're going for it . I'm inspired by you . I appreciate what you're doing . I think that's fantastic . Any other thoughts you want to share with us before we wrap up ?
Any other stories you want to tell , or just any other thoughts on conservation and maybe things that what's something that anybody can do , someone who loves wildlife ? They don't , maybe they're not even from Africa , but they're from anywhere . What can they do to help as well ?
For them to help in conservation
¶ Conservation and Wildlife Challenges
. There's all of these organizations where you can donate money through online , and there's this place called Sheldricks Wildlife Trust , which has elephants and they're orphaned baby elephants which they rehabilitate and send them back into the wild .
It's actually located just north of Narubi National Park , so it's in the city as well , and you can basically adopt an elephant there And I believe I have a friend who adopted a rhino there before And basically you pay for the elephants' needs , you pay for the food , you pay for the shelter and you can go there and you can see its progress whenever you want .
You can take your friends and you can like even sleep with your elephant in his shelter , and you're basically saving the elephant's life so that they have money to send the elephants back into the wild .
They send them back to Savo National Park , which and anywhere over Kenya , which was the first place I saw two flamingos which is relating to your story , my story on Lake Bagoria And two flamingos there were kind of unusual , kind of rare . They were the first flamingo species recorded in Savo East National Park , so that was nice .
That's awesome . I think that's a cool way to do conservation , Like , hey , it allows you to adopt an animal , pay for its needs , and then you kind of have that bond and that connection with the wildlife . That's awesome . You mentioned Savo . Savo has that reputation for those lion attacks , The lions of Savo , you know kind of a big thing .
Is there any fear at all , like with these animals ? I think some people , you know the median stuff makes it out to be like oh , lions are scary and dangerous and elephants are scary and dangerous . What are your thoughts on that ?
I think it's the way the people behave towards the wildlife . You have to respect them and give them away .
You'll see people the same ones that are complaining about that are the same people that are off-roading , going to disturb the lions , getting out of their car at the National Park and literally going like 20 , 30 meters away to the shore of a lake , like in Nairobi National Park , and they expect to not get injured or to not get harmed .
I feel like people need to be educated as well . Yeah , they need to be educated . People need to stop screaming at lion sightings , stop disturbing the wildlife and especially the guides need to teach their guests how to behave correctly in the National Park . None of this would happen .
You know elephants and buffaloes are aggressive creatures So if they are provoked they will attack and rhinos they will charge into your vehicle . But you can't have 30 cars literally like less than a meter away from a rhino that's trying to cross the road . You don't expect it to get mad and charge you , especially with all the noise of the engines .
It's chaos basically sometimes , but sometimes it's really nice when you have the rhino to yourself and you can maintain your distance and you can view them interacting with each other When they're around cars . They just get scared and they're very , yeah , scared . They just want to run away and Kill everything in their path .
Yeah , they're just trying to get themselves out of that situation and that's how they react . I mean , that's I think that's true and I've I've been , i've been listened to another podcast . It kind of talks a little bit about wildlife conservation and that's the biggest thing is we're the ones messing it up for them .
Really , is what it comes down to , where we're definitely the ones kind of making it tough on them .
I've got Yellowstone National Park , which is not too far away from me It's about four hours away and there's , you know , big herds of buffalo and things and people are just Getting right up next to them and then they wonder why they're getting attacked or why they're getting exactly . You know , and there's rules but people just don't seem to to follow rules .
Would you say that's the biggest challenge . Is just the people not being educated and not following the rules . Is that probably the biggest challenge you see with , with the wildlife , things like that ?
for wildlife . I feel like it's not just that , it's also Habitat destruction and habitat loss which is affecting our wildlife of Kenya . You can just have people cutting down trees illegally .
In these protected forests , like Kaka mega forest , you'll find people just cutting trees and They're not allowed to , but there's there's bribery and you can pay the ranger to cut down trees And it's not . It's not okay .
And then there's also these people that like Taking animals from national parks , although you're not allowed to , and then start an illegal wildlife trade And that's not . That's not good at all .
Besides , just the tourism and people not being educated , it's , it's taken away their resources , cutting down trees , doing those things that are that are a problem . Well , i appreciate all these thoughts that you shared with us . I think you're way above your years . You're only 14 years old , but you're way above your years . You're very talented .
You've got a lot going for you . That's been fun . And just any last-minute thoughts you want to to leave with us about Kenya or any of any of these things , let us know . Yes , what do you got ?
I want to leave Kenya as well And not forever just leave for holiday and see the other parts of the world , see the wildlife in other parts . Like America , i'm sure it has lots of bird life and wildlife , so I want to try see that South America has a lot . I visited Namibia and that was an incredible experience .
You can see wild dogs African wild dogs in the wild , which reminds me I did see African wild dogs . They're extremely rare to see and I spotted them in , like Kipia , which is the home of the black leopard , which I didn't see , but the wild dogs I saw . We were tracking them and we saw their footprints .
This is a place where you rent out the whole conservancy , called an asoit . You were into the whole conservancy and you have it to yourself so you have no disruption of cars or vehicles and You can be alone with the wildlife . So we saw their prints and we tracked them down and In the end we did see them .
They were , there was a pack of 12 and they crossed the road in front of us and that was a really special sighting . But in Namibia it is very unique . That habitat is unique . I visited that place I don't know the name that has the desert and the ocean right next to each other , and there you can see seals and camels .
You know , everything is so unique and I would love to visit South Africa as well , and Botswana . I hear they do a boat safari , which will be a really incredible opportunity .
So if people want to follow along and kind of see what you're doing and see some of your photos and things , where can they find you ?
I'm on all . I'm on most social media Facebook , other schnagda , instagram , others dot naga . I'm on YouTube as well . Are there shnagda ? where I post vlogs of me Exploring different national parks in Kenya and different destinations ? I also have a website called wwwmagicalwildcom . That's where you can find me .
Adarsh . Thank you so much for coming on journey with Jake . This was fun to talk to you . Thanks for coming .
Thank you so much for inviting me to this opportunity . It's really great .
Special thanks to my guests . Adarsh naga I apologize if I'm butchering your name the whole time , buddy , i'm really sorry about that . Fantastic to hear from him grateful for him . I do want to suggest that you follow him on Instagram So you can see some of his photos that he takes and just learn a little bit more about him .
That's adarsh naga , adarsh dot naga , ngda . Give him a follow on Instagram . You'll find a lot of great information there .
¶ Appreciation, Review, and Story Request
Thank you all to the listeners each and every week for coming on board and checking out journey with Jake . Really appreciate it . It would mean a lot to me if you could leave a review on Apple podcast or wherever you listen to your podcast . That would mean a lot to me . I would really appreciate it .
If you have an experience , something you do , maybe you do something fun and exciting , adventurous , let me know . I want to talk to you on the podcast . Send me an email , jake at journey with Jake dot net , or message me on Instagram at journey with Jake podcast . I would love to hear from you .
Just remember , it's not always about the destination as it is about the journey . Take care everybody .