In mid 2007 the state of our Super Cub became cause for concern and we had to look at options to replace the aged aircraft. Through the very kind efforts and help of a number of Lewa supporters we raised the funding we needed and started a long and somewhat protracted process of finding a replacement (in the US) and shipping it to Kenya. This turned out to be a long, and on occasion, tedious process. However two weeks ago I took delivery of her in time for the Tsavo game count.

As you will see from the registration, we applied for LWC (for Lewa Wildlife Conservancy) and luck was with us and it was approved by the authorities.

We said good bye to our old and faithful Super Cub 5Y-BHL on 26th January and collected 5Y-LWC from Mombasa where it had been assembled. Straight away she has been put to good conservation use and flew from Mombasa to Tsavo National Park on the 27th January to take part in a Kenya Wildlife Service game count over 5 days of the Tsavo ecosystem. There were many other pilots looking on with envy I must add. From Tsavo up to Lewa on the 31st January, where in the last 5 days 5Y-LWC has been put to very valuable use. 2 missions to treat injured black rhino on Ol Pejeta Conservancy that had wounds sustained from fighting and then the whole day yesterday assisting Ol Pejeta in a follow up to armed poachers that had poached a rhino the night before! It was a very sad loss and a dark day in our rhino conservation history. More on this subject to come.

Without a fully functional and reliable bush aircraft such as 5Y-LWC, Lewa's conservation objectives (in particular rhino conservation) could not be fulfilled or be effective. This aircraft is one of the key tools to enable us to achieve a secure environment for rhino and other wildlife species that we endeavor to protect, especially now that rhino poaching has reached our own back yard, the arrival of 5Y-LWC is very timely indeed.

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