If you are revealing your achievement of feeding elephants or other domesticated wild animals, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! In Nairobi, Kenya, a country located in East Africa with the coastline on the Indian Ocean, there is a popular Scottish-style mansion, called The Giraffe Manor. It offers the unique experience of feeding giraffes. And you don’t have to go to their habitat to offer them their favorite tit-bits, these unique animals literally come to your dining table!
The Giraffe Manor was built in 1932 on the heights overlooking Nairobi. In no time, it became a tourist attraction and has been ranked among Time’s 100 most popular tourist spots in the world. This mansion is a regular destination of a herd of Rothschild giraffes, who not only visit the mansion, but also stick their long necks into the windows to greet guests and partake of whatever goodies are on offer.
This mansion was originally owned by Betty, who was popularly known as ‘The Giraffe Lady’. She had spent her life in protecting the giraffe species. In 1984, when her husband disappeared, she turned this mansion into a hotel and called it ‘The Giraffe Manor’. Her aim was to donate the profits of this guest house to AFEW, the Endangered Wildlife Fund.
The mansion offers 10 rooms whose furnishings reminds one of old-world romanticism. You have the choice of Room Betty that has a direct access to a big terrace on the first floor. This affords an amazing view of these tall creatures roaming freely in the park. The Karen Blixen Suite displays the décor by the famous Danish author Karen Blixen, who wrote the book ‘Out of Africa’ that was first published in 1927. Not only this, but the mansion also houses an ornate staircase and an old-era dining room complete with antique and refined furniture, and a charming Victorian ambiance.
In addition to catering to tourists, the hotel also acts as a rehabilitation center for Rothschild giraffe. This is what makes it possible for visitors to have a direct access to these gentle animals. These creatures have become so friendly with humans that they quite regularly stick their heads through the windows of the mansion, looking for a friendly pat or the tasty food pellets that they simply relish.
As far as rehabilitation goes, there has been an unprecedented increase in the numbers of Rothschild giraffe from 90 in 1974 to over, 400 worldwide today.
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