Face to Face

Linda Lou Burton posting from Nairobi, Kenya –Sunday morning in Nairobi and our Globus Tour begins today! It was a pre-safari day, a day for exploring Nairobi; and Rick and I were the only two signed up. Our Globus Guide for the day, Blethwell, and our driver, Daniel, met us in the lobby just at 9 AM, reviewed the day’s itinerary, and escorted us to our Globus 6-passenger transport. Our first stop: the Giraffe Centre.

It was an 11-mile drive to the Centre on Duma Road, where our first directive was to “wash our hands.” Just by the front gate, sinks and sanitizers were part of the “allowing in” process. Then a walk up a winding ramp to a stop for a pellet-filled coconut shell (the green pellets are alfalfa, the tan are corn and molasses, guess which was the favorite!). “Hold the pellet between thumb and forefinger and lay it gently on the giraffe’s tongue. Do not lay the pellets out flat in your palm.”

Armed with coconut shells and cameras, we stepped onto the platform that put us FACE TO FACE with the Long Tall Sallys of the animal world. First thing to note: these giraffes were polite but not shy as they fluttered those movie-star eyelashes, extended their long gray-velvet tongues, and downed our offered pellets. Everyone on the ramp was giggling, age no issue. A kid on his Daddy’s shoulders. A gray-headed granny. It was just plain fun.

Eunice, the Ranger who was answering questions right and left, called out the names of each giraffe; told us of their good, and bad, habits. She pointed to the mother and baby standing back under the trees. “The baby is so new we haven’t gotten close enough yet to know if it is male or female,” she told me. I studied Mama and Baby, commenting “A baby has a long way to fall, are they ever injured?”

The answer: giraffes enter the world front legs and head first, followed by their body, and then back legs. Mama stands for the birth because – well the baby is BIG and its neck is LONG; the 6-foot drop from womb to ground snaps the umbilical cord, tears the birth sac open, and stimulates the baby to take its first breaths. Baby is up and walking within hours, ready to feed, and ready to run, if need be. This protected baby didn’t have a worry!

The Giraffe Centre is the creation of the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW), a Kenyan non-profit organization. Its main purpose is to educate Kenyan school children and youth on their country’s wildlife and environment, as well as give local and international visitors an opportunity to come into close contact with the world’s tallest species.  

The AFEW was founded in 1979 by Jock Leslie-Melville, a Kenyan citizen of British descent, and his American-born wife, Betty, after discovering the sad plight of the Rothschild Giraffe, a subspecies of giraffe found only in the grasslands of East Africa. At the time, the animals had lost their habitat in Western Kenya, with only 130 of them left. Jock and Betty brought two young giraffes to their home in a Nairobi suburb, Langata, where they started a program of breeding giraffes in captivity. This is where the Centre remains today. In 1983, funds raised by AFEW USA helped build the Educational Centre on this 60-acre sanctuary. The Giraffe Centre opened its doors to the general public and students the same year. There are now over 300 Rothschild Giraffes living safely and breeding well in various Kenyan national parks.

If you can’t make it to Nairobi, then go to the Centre’s website to learn more about the seven females — Betty, the oldest; Kelly, Daisy IV, Salma II, Margaret, Nandi, and Lilly — and the three males, Olerai, Mpingo, and Edd, 18 feet tall and the friendliest; he is father to all the calves. Keep up with the babies via the blogs. And oh yes, a warthog family lives there too! Here’s the link to the site, lots of video. They love donations, be generous.

Giraffe Centre: https://www.giraffecentre.org/

If you CAN go to Nairobi, and really want to get Face to Face, book a stay at the Giraffe Manor, a hotel which is part of the same property (see in background of other photos). In the second-floor suites of the Manor, those same giraffes Rick and I had so much fun feeding might just stick their head in your bedroom window and give you a wake-up call. This is what I call Totally Awesome. Stay in Jock’s Room, or Betty’s, or the Karen Blixen Suite. For a price! Put it on your Bucket List?

Giraffe Manor: https://www.thesafaricollection.com/properties/giraffe-manor/

Giraffes should be regarded as “intelligent, group-living mammals which have evolved highly successful and complex societies, which have facilitated their survival in tough, predator-filled ecosystems.”