Kisses with Giraffes at the Giraffe Manor in Nairobi
During our last trip to Africa we flew through Nairobi. We initially had a 10 hour layover, which I worked out an itinerary for us to see a little bit of the Kenyan city before heading back to the States.
Thee Giraffe Manor, an all-inclusive property tends to be featured on high end itineraries and is a great way to decompress from an overseas flight or a great way to end your East Africa adventure on a high note. Because of its popularity, it usually books a year or two out. On a whim, I emailed the lodge to see if they had any availability. Visitors traveling to their other portfolio lodges tend to be prioritized but they happily added me to a waitlist. 3 weeks before we embarked on our trip I received an email that they had availability and would be able to accommodate us for 1 night! I immediately changed our 10 hour layover to a 24 hour layover.
The Giraffe Manor is situated in a suburban area of Nairobi very close to The Karen Blixen museum (If you haven’t seen Out of Africa I 100% recommend it!).
There are two key periods of your stay at the Giraffe Manor where you get to interact with the giraffes- first thing in the morning when the giraffes come to the Manor looking for breakfast and during afternoon tea on the patio.
In the early morning, giraffes will come to your room windows as well as the windows in the breakfast room looking for their morning feed. We spent a couple of hours feeding as many giraffes as we could!
After a massage in the manor spa followed by lunch the action begins! Around mid-afternoon, you’ll spot your first Rothschild Giraffe off in the distance, slowly making their way to the manor then more and more will follow. They’ve been trained over time to know there will be lots of humans ready to feed them. In case you’re not stuffed from your three course lunch with wine, arrive early for a prime patio seat near the tea c sandwiches and cakes with a good view of the approaching giraffes. The Manor Staff are on standby with bowls of pellets of food ready to show you how to feed the giraffes. Bonus points for them knowing how to get the perfect instagram shot.
The food is fantastic at the manor where visitors will enjoy multi-course meals. Dinner is a shared experience in the various dining rooms lit by candlelight around the manor where we got to share travel stories with other travelers hearing about their experiences adventuring around East Africa. Typically, I stray away from these types of interactions, but everyone we met was absolutely lovely. If you’re looking for a more private dinner, request a private dinner in the Orchid House.
Borderline cheesy and forced, but when else are you going to have a wake up call at your window from a giraffe looking for breakfast? It was an amazing experience and I hope I have an opportunity to go there in the future!
