A Visit To The Giraffe Center.

• 

Did you know giraffes are the tallest animals in the planet earth; their legs alone are taller than most humans, about 6ft tall, yet their necks are too short to reach the ground. As a result, they have to awkwardly spread their front legs or kneel to reach the ground for a drink of water.

Before last year, it had been long since I visited the Giraffe Centre in Karen, Nairobi. Too long- almost 20 years actually, so when i planned the trip to the Giraffe center , I was pretty elated about the tour.

When I was there, I got to learn about the Rothschild Giraffe, which was an endangered species that was almost becoming extinct. Even as I pen this down, I can’t help but feel disgusted by how selfish our human acts was about to let down yet another species; but  hopeful regardless.

This is one of Kenya’s good-news conservation stories. In 1979 Jock Leslie-Melville (the Kenyan grandson of a Scottish earl) and his wife, Betty, began raising a baby giraffe in their Langata home. At the time, their African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW) was just getting off the ground, there were no more than 120 Rothschild’s giraffes (which differ from other giraffe subspecies in that there is no patterning below the knee) in the wild. The Rothschild’s giraffe had been pushed to the brink of extinction by severe habitat loss in western Kenya.

The good news is that today the population numbers more than 300, and the Centre has successfully released these charismatic creatures into Lake Nakuru National Park (home to around 45 giraffes), Mwea National Reserve, Ruma National Park and Nasolot National Reserve.

 The original house of the founders has been converted into a very impressive boutique hotel called the Giraffe Manor.  The center is located roughly 12.5 miles (20km) away from the center of Nairobi.

Now The Giraffe Center is one place I’d highly recommend for obvious reasons. Not only do you get to learn about the history of the Rothschild’s giraffes, you also get to enjoy an intimate session with the giraffes by hand-feeding or even kiss one of the giraffes from a raised wooden structure, which is quite an experience. You may also spot warthogs snuffling about in the mud, and there’s an interesting self-guided forest walk through the adjacent  Gogo River Bird Sanctuary (which I came to learn about just when I was about to leave the place) and most importantly you also get to support the wonderful community that is dedicated to protecting and conserving wildlife. No doubt the Centre makes it to my a must visit place when you’re in Nairobi.

 Happy Adventure.