Giraffe Manor
Giraffe Manor is truly a once in a lifetime experience!
We managed to save enough to spend two glorious nights in this magical place. I had never heard of Giraffe Manor until last year when my friend showed me a photo on Instagram of a girl she knew that literally had breakfast with giraffes. After seeing this photo I immediately had to show Aaron who then looked at me and said ‘we are going!’. That evening we spent researching what is involved to stay there (as we didn't even know where in the world it was until our Google search).
Giraffe Manor is located in Nairobi, Kenya. It has ten suites, that are unique and come with their own names. If staying in Giraffe Manor is on your bucket list of places to visit, then I suggest setting a date and contacting the Safari Collection which is the parent company of Giraffe Manor. We had sent a few emails about our request to stay there. It fills up fast and choices of rooms decrease if you leave it too last-minute. We had booked ours months in advance and our entire trip to Kenya was based on staying at Giraffe Manor. We were lucky enough to book the “Betty” room on our first night. It is a beautiful room in the main house that has a huge private terrace where we are able to feed the giraffes from our room.
The “Betty” room was booked for another guest for our second night so we were scheduled to stay in the “Marlon” room which is a smaller room. However, on our second day when we had to move, we were pleasantly surprised when we were put up in a huge family suite called the “Karen Blixen” room! Apparently there was a cancellation and they decided to put us in this room instead for our comfort.
There was a *huge* king-size bed, a second-floor loft with two additional beds, another twin bed on the main floor and a huge sitting area in front of the wood-burning fireplace. The bathroom was also more modern that the one in “Betty” which I preferred.
Staying at Giraffe Manor is not cheap however the quality of service you get is top notch. On our first day I was feeling very unwell. I actually stayed in the room a majority of the day. Aaron met one of the workers at lunch named Kennedy. Kennedy ended up coming to my room with Aaron while I was sick and had soup especially made for me. He also brought me ice packs for my head as I had a major migraine. He was so attentive and caring and it just felt so genuine. He truly made our stay memorable.
Giraffe feedings occur every morning at breakfast around 6:30am, as well as during afternoon tea at around 5:30pm.
On our first day we experienced afternoon tea feedings and Kennedy asked permission to borrow our SLR to take photos. He was like our very own personal photographer and he kept getting different angles to take shots. He was just phenomenal!
Afternoon feedings are usually your first chance to meet the giraffes upon arrival. There were about 6 giraffes at the sanctuary that came to Giraffe Manor when we were there. There is Kelly (who is a biter, so watch out!), Eddie, Stacy, Margaret, Wee-wun,and “No Name” (she literally has no name, but only until the age of 1 or 2). You are given pellets for the giraffes to eat so they can literally eat out of your hands. For the bold & brave, you can put a pellet in your mouth and the giraffe can kiss you for it. Apparently giraffes have antiseptic saliva, so doing it is not harmful. I kissed the giraffe once but it was so gross that I stopped.
Aaron on the other hand kept kissing them…
Early-morning breakfast with the giraffes is what people come to Giraffe Manor for. The key to getting the best spot and best photo opportunities is to arrive *early* to the breakfast room. The breakfast room is very small there with only a handful of tables, and the best tables are the ones right against the windows (and there are only three). The table that is second from the right side of the wall is the best spot! Waking up very early and coming down to the breakfast room and placing something on the table to reserve it is your best bet on getting the best spot.
Unfortunately on our first breakfast, we were were too late. We got there for 6:00am and someone had already beat us to it. On our second morning we came down to reserve a table at 5:00am by leaving some camera equipment on "our table" and this time it worked out.
Kennedy was again fantastic on our first breakfast. He stood on chairs and took lots of photos for us and captured many angles. He even would put pellets on our table so the giraffes would come to our table and he also poured juice in our glasses because he said it looked better. We honestly did not ask him to do any of this he just volunteered and we appreciated it so much!
All meals and drinks are included at Giraffe Manor, transfers are also included, as well as there being a driver available to take you around while staying at the Manor.
On our second day we ventured out to some souvenir shops with the driver. To be honest we did not want to do much away, because Giraffe Manor is seriously amazing.
The food is phenomenal. There are set 3-5 course meals for lunch and dinner and the staff are the best if not *the best* we have ever met. It is a pricey experience to stay at Giraffe Manor but we agree that it's worth every penny and it would be a trip that you would remember for the rest of your life.
xx The Travellees
P.S. If you end up going, say hi to Kennedy for us!
