Giraffe Manor Nairobi Kenya is an elegant, personally hosted, small and exclusive hotel accommodation, famous for its resident herd of giraffe. The Giraffe Manor Langata Nairobi Kenya offers a rich blend of welcoming accommodation, highly trained and friendly staff, as well as one of Nairobi's finest kitchens.

Travellers from all over the world now make The Giraffe Manor part of their Kenya safari holiday, the only place in the world where you can enjoy the breathtaking experience of feeding and photographing the giraffe over the breakfast table and at the front door. The Giraffe Manor Hotel is located in the exclusive suburbs of Nairobi's Karen Langata area; just 30 minutes drive from the City Centre and about 35 km from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).The Hotel Giraffe Manor offers a uniquely untouched wilderness on

the doorstep of one of Africa’s most cosmopolitan cities. It is an elegant and exclusive luxury hotel, on forested land, with superb views of the Ngong Hills. Built in 1932 by David Duncan of the 'Macintosh Toffee' family, The Giraffe Manor is modelled on a Scottish hunting lodge with views of Mt.

Kilimanjaro to the south and the Ngong Hills to the west. In 1974, the grandson of a Scots Earl, Jock Leslie Melville and his American wife Betty bought the Giraffe Manor Guest House as their home. The Rothschild giraffe lost much of their natural habitat in western Kenya and faced extinction. In 1974, two highly endangered Rothschild giraffe were moved onto the estate where their future generations have thrived and live today. Jock and Betty founded the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW). The Giraffe Centre (AFEW Kenya) was built on the property so that Kenyan school children could learn conservation/ecology and feed giraffe eyeball to eyeball! Visitors touring Nairobi have a chance to visit and pay an entrance to the Giraffe Centre.

Profits go to various projects in Kenya. Betty's son Rick has led AFEW USA and AFEW Kenya since 1983. When Jock died in 1984, and Betty returned to the United States of America she opened her house - now The Giraffe Manor - to visitors. The Giraffe Manor has been run by Rick and his wife Bryony over the years, initially as a fund raiser for AFEW. The Giraffe Manor also offers a uniquely untouched wilderness on the doorstep of one of Africa’s most cosmopolitan cities, the adjoining Jock Leslie-Melville Nature Education Centre, better known as the Giraffe Center. It is a beautiful home but what makes it unique are the rare Rothschild giraffe that live in the garden comes calling in the house, peering in upstairs and downstairs windows and doorways. Guest can feed and photograph the giraffe and the warthogs at the manor and also wander through adjoining primeval forest to view the bushbuck, dik dik and bird species.

Having breakfast with a giraffe probably tops most family and kids’ list of best-ever meals, and while they may not remember what they ate, they will always remember the company and the setting. Giraffe Manor, on the outskirts of Nairobi, offers its guests the chance to live on the grounds of special giraffe sanctuary, and yes, to feed the glorious animals. Guests, who check in to Giraffe Manor Hotel, can open their drapes in the morning and see a parade of beauties. Downstairs in the breakfast room, Lynn or one of the other gregarious giraffes will reach her head right in the window to request her morning pellets. The head houseman serves coffee and eggs to guests while they, in turn, can feed the giraffes (and their companion warthogs).

The handsome ivy-covered stone lodge, the kind you would expect to find in Scotland, has the trappings of many colonial estates—fine antiques, family portraits, well-worn books. However, in their love for animals the Leslie-Melvilles, the family who lived here for decades, went beyond collecting sculptures and painting of game. After a tour in 1974 to a Kenyan cattle ranch, Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville brought a baby endangered Rothschild giraffe home with them. At the time, there were only 120 of the species alive, and the Leslie-Melvilles were the first people known to raise a giraffe, which they called Daisy. Their initial success inspired them to acquire four more babies, which grew into a breeding herd, and eventually the Leslie-Melvilles were able to relocate offspring to reserves in Kenya and Uganda. There are now approximately 500 Rothschild giraffe living in the wild.

A number of the descendants of the original Daisy still wander the 140 acres surrounding the Giraffe manor. And with the breakfast ritual in place, sightings are guaranteed.

There’s a wonderful ambiance in the house, which still feels like a private home stay, thanks to the family’s memorabilia. (Be sure to look for the book Raising Daisy Rothschild and other titles that Betty wrote documenting her animal adventures in Kenya.)

Guest rooms resemble those that you would find in the house of a grand elderly aunt with floral bedspreads and ceramic tiled bathrooms. Apparently, the Giraffe manor has been sold recently, to the Carr-Hartley family, renowned Kenya safari operator and travel Agents, who will hopefully keep it

intact. After all, if the children love feeding the giraffes, for their parents, a stay here affords the chance to step into an era of Africa that feels very distant but treasured. Since many international tourists on safari in Kenya or Tanzania Safaris require accommodation in Nairobi city, this is a charming lodge accommodation that is especially popular with families, honeymooners or business travelers. You will feel that you are a guest in a friend’s grand manor house with Dr. Doolittle worthy breakfast companions. Most guests spend between one to three nights of spread between vacations in Kenya and tour the adjacent Giraffe Centre, David Sheldrick Elephant Trust, and Nairobi Game Reserve after breakfast.

At Giraffe Manor Nairobi Kenya, you will love having breakfast with giraffes. They don't talk about the weather or the Iraq war. Rather, they whiffle gently at the homemade jam and exercise some light quality-control over the toast, with their necks—longer than Gisele Bündchen's—waving from the garden to the sunroom. Giraffes have been popping into Nairobi's Giraffe Manor ever since the Earl of Leven's grandson, Jock Leslie-Melville—a relic of the White Mischief days—and his American-born wife, Betty, a former beer-commercial model turned rip-roaring animal conservationist, bought the faux Scottish hunting lodge.

That year, the amiable herbivores that kept poking their heads interestedly through the first-floor bedroom window were about to be dispossessed, their habitat lost to farmland development and their lives threatened. Betty persuaded her husband to allow the giraffes to live on their 15-acre estate, and the couple began the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife, based in Kenya and Maryland, which later bought an additional 105 acres for the giraffes. They adopted Daisy, one of the highly endangered Rothschild's giraffes—which can be as tall as 20 feet, making them the tallest of the species. Daisy's descendants have since proliferated, and as you arrive at Giraffe Manor, her latest great-grandchild is wobbling across the lawn, taking its first steps.

Birth is pretty startling if you're a giraffe: life starts with a six-foot drop. It has just six bedrooms, one furnished with the writer Karen Blixen's furniture (colonial Danish Ikea). The log fireplaces are baronial, the dining room lit only by candles, and, outside, warthog families, the comedy acts of the bush, strut their stuff. The gin-and-tonics have the kick of, well, a giraffe. And after a few, seeing a giraffe put its head through the front door, hoping to find the butler, seems perfectly normal. The butler obliges with nuts. Of course. It is the cocktail hour. Visitors have included Walter Cronkite, Johnny Carson, Stephen Sondheim, Brooke Shields, and Sir Mick Jagger. This is where you must stay in Nairobi. First, because it is mad—an endangered commodity in our world of global homogenization.

Second, because the Kenyan capital is crime-ridden, traffic-jammed, and without a decent hotels. Giraffe Manor, out in the suburb of Langata, doesn't pretend to be swanky. It can be a delicious and decent introduction to Africa, or a rest after a full-on safari to Kenya.

"It's a luxury home, and you are our houseguests," says Bryony. "No spa, no television. Here you walk in the forest, you talk, you sleep, and you read." There are views of Mount Kilimanjaro and the Ngong Hills, meals made with organic fruits and vegetables, and Jock's mother's piano, brought to Kenya in 1919.

You'll experience part of something old—the struggle and romance of pioneer Kenya—and something new: the struggle for wildlife conservation in the midst

of an overflowing, impoverished population. As for the giraffes, they are eventually released into the wild. "They adapt very quickly," says Bryony. "But transporting them is tricky. They have the highest blood pressure of any mammal, and have to be strapped upright, otherwise they faint. We avoid low bridges."
Since there are only six bedrooms in the house, you need to make your reservations way in advance. If they it’s full, it’s worth putting your name on the waiting list as spots do open up.

You may also want to try to specify your room as not all have ensuite bathrooms. The best one for a family is the one above the living room, which has a master with a bathroom connecting to a room with twin beds for kids. It is also possible to reserve a day room if you are departing on a late flight from Nairobi. Contact African safaris and Adventures your preferred travel agent in Kenya

Giraffe Manor Hotel Accommodation
The manor has six double guest bedrooms with either adjacent or connecting bathrooms. One of the bedrooms boasts Karen Blixen's 'Out of Africa' furniture which she gave to Jock's mother in 1932, and the upstairs hall houses the original bookcase made for her by Denys Finch-Hatton. There are six bedrooms at The Giraffe Manor, each with its own bathroom. One of these rooms is suitable for children (under 18 years) traveling with parents.

The children's room, specially decorated for younger visitors, is enchantingly sunny and bright, and has giraffe patterned bed-linen - wonderful as Giraffe Manor is for adults, it is absolutely magical for children. The exquisite cuisine at the Manor is prepared by a gourmet chef and served in an elegant dining room panelled in rich, dark wood. A light, airy sun room looks out over the grounds and is the perfect spot in which to take afternoon tea.

It is no wonder that Giraffe Manor is a Heaven for "the great and the good": Johnny Carson, Richard Chamberlain, Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall, and Brooke Shields are just a few of those who have succumbed to its charms.

Giraffe Manor Activities
Within five minutes of Giraffe Manor are several excellent shops and craft workshops of interest to guests, and a little further on are Dame Daphne Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage, and the Kenya Wildlife Service Animal Sanctuary.Giraffe Manor also offers guided walks through its 140 acre grounds which include thick forest, as well as well kept gardens. Guests can learn about traditional uses of the varied flora, view some of the 180 bird species and perhaps meet a warthog or bushbuck.

What to do
    * The Giraffe Centre - to learn more about and hand feed giraffes.
    * The Daphne Sheldrick Wildlife Sanctuary - where you can interact with and adopt       elephants and rhinos
    * The Nairobi National Park - the only wildlife reserve in the world located right next to a major city
    * Visit exciting markets in Nairobi or take a visit to a range of other small home industries which can be arranged directly from the hotel
    * Within five minutes of The Giraffe Manor are several excellent shops and craft workshops of interest to travellers
    * Combine a safari with your trip and experience the unique African wildlife

For Children
    * Children of any age are welcome
    * Giraffe Educational centre located next door

Dining
   * Highly trained staff and one of Nairobi’s finest kitchens
Giraffe Manor Additional Information
Giraffe Manor is a real treat; it’s a short drive from downtown Nairobi, but worlds away in atmosphere, it’s a lovely "country" home and close to some nice "boutique" style shopping for local handicrafts in nearby Karen district. Upon arrival, you are promptly greeted by the manager-hosts and their wonderful dog and served warm towels and cold drinks/snacks after your flight. The Manor home is quite comfortable and the rooms very large, perfect if someone is traveling with kids. The fire is lit when you return from dinner.

The dinner is a fabulous several-course meal with wine and the hosts couldn't be more pleasant. But the highlight is the giraffes, they assemble up to the terrace of the house and you get to feed them, pet them, and even give them a "kiss. You will be thrilled with the entire experience as adults; sure kids would be amazed as well. A wonderful alternative to Nairobi city hotels and not a long distance from the airport for flights. It’s worth the visit if you can fit it into your Kenya holiday. (If not, there are some areas away from the house open during day for public feeding of the giraffes.

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