Nairobi, The Giraffe Manor and more

June 30, 2014

The trip to Nairobi was long but uneventful.  We left our home at 12:30 PM Saturday, and we arrived at the Nairobi airport at 6:30 PM on Sunday, Kenya time after traveling Rochester-Dulles-Zurich-Nairobi.  We were met by our guide Andy and two Land Rovers, and drove about an hour to the Giraffe Manor, high in the hills outside of Nairobi. 

  

Although we are close to the equator, at 6,000 feet elevation the weather is quite cool and as we moved into our lodge there were fires going in the fireplaces.  Dinner was outdoors under the stars, with charcoal braziers around the table behind us to keep us warm.  We were all exhausted and got to sleep shortly thereafter.

We awoke this morning to the giraffes:

And there is a blend of molasses and grains which results in pellets the giraffes love to eat. They will even eat them from your mouth:

The giraffes enjoy being petted:

Our first outing after a lovely breakfast was to a children’s home called The Nest, where children of imprisoned parents are cared for.  The government makes no provision for the children of convicted criminals, and this place take all those children in and cares for them, reunites them with their parents after they are released, and aids in the reconstruction of a parent-child relationship when the parent is out of jail.  We had a tour of this incredible place, which receives no government support, and we left an entire suitcase full of gifts, from cloth diapers to crayons, to toothbrushes to crib sheets.  It was an incredibly moving experience to see what these mostly volunteers do with no government support.

We had a box lunch and then went to the elephant orphanage.  This is a government sponsored haven for young elephants who have lost their supports, mostly because of poaching, but also because of natural causes.  The elephants are nurtured here, including bottle feeding:

As they get older they are acclimated to life in the wild and are ultimately returned to a national park.  They need to be mentored in dust bathing, mud bathing, foraging and almost anything else you can imagine.  The mud pit was really a lot of fun.  We were able to be right next to and to touch and get dirty with the young elephants:

Finally we went back to the Giraffe Manor for the evening visit of the giraffes which we viewed with snacks and drinks:

And ultimately had a wonderful dinner.  Up early tomorrow for our charter flight to the Masai Mara.