Bucket List - Giraffe Manor
Our time at Giraffe Manor was amazing. I mean truly a once in a lifetime experience. We were welcomed by Gideon, the hotel manager, on a porch overlooking the 130+ acres that the giraffe center is built over. The boutique hotel only holds 32 people max and is all inclusive, so we were given a tour of the property before we were brought to our rooms.
The main building is a home that was built by a British expat named Sir David Duncan in 1932 for his family. The house was modeled after a Scottish hunting lodge and was actually used in World War II by the British army. When Kenya started moving towards independence Sir Duncan moved to South Africa and sold the house. In 1974, it was purchased by Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville, who fairly immediately became activists in conservation of the Rothschild giraffe, which was a very endangered species. Conflicting reports say there were only 70 left at this time. Daisy was the first giraffe rescued and used to stick her head in the windows looking for treats. In 2009 the house was sold again to a couple who transformed it into a 12-room boutique hotel. The house itself is incredible with steel casement windows and amazing wood paneling, and they have built the garden wing and just finished a second addition.
The main house is reserved for people who are staying more than 2 nights or going on their whole safari circuit, but Liz talked me down to one YOLO night in this crazy priced place. I booked it last summer in order to get one of the 3 rooms that are not in the main house that the giraffes can come to the window in the morning to eat.
Our first activity here was lunch, an amazing 3 course meal. Prosecco was free, so why not?
After lunch we headed over to the giraffe center for a nature walk to the top of Ngogo, overlooking the hills where the giraffes live. There are 3 kinds of giraffes in Kenya- Reticulated, Maasai, and Rothschild, which were the ones we saw. They are known for their “white socks”, because they do not have spots on their lower legs. At the giraffe center, which was built to educate mostly students on giraffes and conservation, we learned more about the ones on property. There are now something like 1500 Rothschild giraffes in the wild now. We saw a skull and a leg bone and the leg bone was sooooo heavy! Giraffes kick and head butt in defense and it is said that one kick can kill a lion. They also have 7 neck vertebrae which supposedly is the same as humans? At the end I got to meet and feed some of the giraffes- they eat little alfalfa pellets with molasses. Giraffes eat something crazy like 100kg of food a day, so the daily feedings at the giraffe center do not put a dent in what they need. They also only sleep for 5 minutes a day- what?! Babies sleep for up to two hours. Another fun fact- giraffe moms are pregnant for 15 months but if the climate conditions are not right for childbirth they sometimes choose not to have the baby for another up to three months.
After feeding the giraffes we walked back to the manor and hung around at the hot tub. We needed to be walked back to the manor so the keeper could protect us from the warthogs aka pumbaa- which I never realized is from a Swahili saying pumbaavu which means “stupid”. They are called stupid because they will run towards danger. They are so funny- they kneel on their front legs when they eat because they always have the mindset that they are competing for food. Also they back into their dens butt-first which I would have loved to see.
It was then tea time! Delicious crumpets and pastries that we had one of everything. Back on the front porch, the giraffes came by after the Center closed and came over to get their own afternoon snack. We fed all of the giraffes, who also have different personalities. The one who likes to be pet the most is Eddie, a 14 year old alpha male. The matriarch is Kelly, who is currently pregnant with her 10th baby. Then there are little ones named Salma, Daisy, Jock, and Betty. They are introducing new giraffes to avoid inbreeding because Eddie is currently the only male. You can tell a male because the horns are less hairy and the spots are darker. All of the giraffes came up to us at tea time, and when we ran out of food then meandered back into the trees to eat more and not sleep. The staff know every giraffe and each of their personalities- like Eddie is the one who likes to be pet the most, Salma does not like being pet (she will head butt you) and Jock (the other boy) also likes to be pet. You can actually start to see their tendencies and recognize them too! Eddie is super into Kelly - always looking around for her, and she flirts back too!
For dinner we again got one of everything- a Kenyan cheese plate and broccoli ceviche for appetizer, lamb and gnocchi for dinner and then a delicious chocolate lava cake with miso ice cream. The place has 3 Michelin stars- not sure if that is for the hotel or the food specifically, but it was really good- and more prosecco which I enjoyed with a splash of hibiscus juice. We definitely weren’t hungry but wanted to eat all the food of course. Then after dinner we took a walk around the property and ended up playing dominoes at the bar and chatting with Oliver while Gideon the hotel manager watched Chelsea had an epic come from behind win in the study next door.
Oliver was such a charismatic guy. He explained a lot to us about life in Kenya. He in Luya tribe, he said there are many tribes in Kenya, twenty main tribes or so. Of course everyone we met was of a tribe and headed to Nairobi for either school or work. The Luya tribe are farmers- his family specifically took care of cattle and then would sell it. They didn’t kill the cows for meat, he said you need a permit to do that. He was living in the village and his aunt was in Nairobi and was talking to him about school, as he did not have the grades to get into college. He ended up at a hospitality school for 3 years where he learned to specialize as a barista and mixologist. He ended up getting an internship unpaid at Giraffe manor and then they hired him shortly after that- he said he was very lucky. Our waiter, Shadrick, was explaining that they do 24 hour shifts and there are servants quarters on property where they sleep, but then they all rent houses a little bit off property where they go for their off days. Oliver said he played volleyball- he was a defender but the setter he called a “tosser” and hitters are “boosters”- lol Liz was a booster in college…
While we were sitting at the bar his girlfriend (we think) came in and walked behind him and he gave a little giggle. He wouldn’t give us any dirt on other cultures of tourists from other countries but did say most tourists were American but increasing numbers of people from Russia since their credit cards are not usable in Europe- didn’t realize that. Overall the people here seem to have a lot of joy sharing their culture with us. There were 2 birthday celebrations that they came out to sing for and sang a Luya song and a Swahili song to celebrate.
So after that we retired to our rooms and set alarms early for 6am giraffe feeding! Our wake up call included to-order lattes delivered to our room and Just as predicted- we opened the window and there was a giraffe at our neighbors balcony getting her morning snack. We opened our windows and she came to us next- just stuck her mouth right through the window like “feed me”. Their tongues are so long and they wrap around your hands to get the pellets.
After that we went down to feed the giraffes again before breakfast. The giraffes hung around for a while in the morning munching on trees and ivy on the building while they were waiting for more pellets. But they did stick their heads in the windows to get snacks, which was just so freaking cool.
After breakfast we felt more of the reality that we were leaving but went over to the wellness center to sit and paint a little bit, and then went to the gift shop and I bought the cutest giraffe ring. At this point our laundry was done, seemed like it was a challenge to do it all in the morning but it was great to have clean laundry. And our last stop was the coffee bar where i had a cappuccino with Kenyan coffee. Our driver, Joshua pulled up at 10am and we were off to our next adventure!
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