Travelbeat Inside Information Update: November 21, 2007 Breakfast With A Giraffe Most people visit Africa for a wildlife experience, but few will get as up close and personal as those who choose to stay at Giraffe Manor, just outside the Kenyan capital Nairobi. This small, elegant hotel is also home to a healthy herd of giraffe who have been known to lean through the window when the breakfast buffet is served. In fact, guests are encouraged to feed the visitors. Built in 1932 by David Duncan of the 'Macintosh Toffee' family, 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 Manor as their home. Around this time the giraffe population lost much of their natural habitat in western Kenya and faced extinction so in 1974, two highly endangered Rothschild giraffe were moved onto the estate where their future generations have thrived on 140 acres of indigenous rainforest. Jock and Betty founded the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW) and built a Giraffe Centre (AFEW Kenya) 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 the Giraffe Centre. Profits go to various projects in Kenya or stay overnight at the manor. There are six fully furnished luxurious bedrooms at The Giraffe Manor, each with its own bathroom. The Master and Giraffe Room together make for excellent family accommodation. The Karen Blixen Suite is larger and contains one double bed and two single beds, which are chargeable at half the standard rate if occupied. (David Baker & Associates) Back to Front Page