If you would like to get up close and personal with a lovable giraffe, then Giraffe Manor in Kenya is were you need to go.
When returning from Africa, a group I was with had a layover of about 10 hours at the international airport in Nairobi.
We didn’t want to sit around all of that time in the airport, so we went for a quick tour of the city, and ended up at Giraffe Manor.
As we were out and about we decided to visit a local animal park to get a glimpse of some of the wildlife.
Big disappointment!
There weren’t many animals to see (they seemed to be in hiding) and the ones we did find weren’t active in the least bit.
Or maybe they were members of a local wild animal union and taking a well-deserved break.
Probably the biggest disappointment was that we were really looking forward to seeing giraffes, and they had been temporarily removed from the park for some reason.
Lucky for us our taxi driver came to the rescue.
It was about five or six in the afternoon, and our knowledgeable driver mentioned that it was around this time that the giraffes over at Giraffe Manor were moved and given a snack.
He said we may get to see some beautiful giraffes up close and personal, so we took his advice and asked him to take us there.
What a great decision that was.
We got to a road behind Giraffe Manor in Kenya just as they were drawing the giraffes to a gate with some kind of meal pellets that those magnificent animals seem to like.
We walked up to the animal keepers and they let us feed some of those treats to the giraffes by hand. These giraffes were majestic to look at and as gentle as a horse.
They slurped the pellets out of our hands, leaving a good bit of their slobber behind, and they would sometimes nuzzle their large heads close to our bodies and nudge us a little as well.
When the animal keepers opened the gates on both sides of the road the giraffes knew the drill and obediently crossed from one side to the other and through the opposite gate.
It was absolutely incredible to be that close to these huge unleashed animals as they went about their routine. It was easily one of the best wildlife watching adventures of my life.
This interactive experience was better than any wild animal park I had ever been to.
It just goes to show that some of the best adventures are the ones that just happen without being planned.
That was certainly the case with Giraffe Manor.