Big City Animals

It's super cool that in 2011 a member of the Janssen family established a new record in Africa.  The Muthaiga country club was THE place for British colonials to hang out and talk about their hunting kills, their flights into uncharted territories, etc. No where in the annals of the distinguished club's history could we find a reference to a monkey attack on the hallowed grounds.  Let alone a monkey attack that was repelled by a valiant mother. We live in rarified air.  Making history, surviving history.

 

OK so still a bit jet lagged.  It may have been Curious George looking for a snack in a hood but we'll never know the truth as that scoundrel of a Sykes monkey bounded away into the bushes.  Despite the attack (as history will call it), we had what was probably our most amazing family day ever.  We ventured across Nairobi to the suburb of Karen (named for Karen Blixen, the lady featured in "Out of Africa" who was a hugely important pioneer for Nairobi).  We enjoyed a great lunch in a beautiful outdoor restaurant called Tamarind then headed to what honestly has to be the most amazing place a person could visit...Giraffe Manor.  This is a 30's era ranch that through various owners has devoted itself to the preservation of the rarest of the 3 species of giraffes: the Rothschild Giraffe.  You can check out the website for details but the abbreviated version is it is a very small manor on a huge swath of land in the middle of Nairobi dedicated to breeding, caring for, then releasing into the wild these magnificent creatures.  These are wild creatures, yet they are allowed to walk a very fine line and be fed by the manor's guests.  When I say fed I mean the guests are allowed to hand feed these gentle giants.  Keep in mind that giraffes can both forward and hind kick with enough strength to kill a lion.  In America, our litigious society would prevent such a place from ever happening.  Here it is magic.  Safe yet wild.  I mentioned hand feeding, but there are several giraffe that like to kiss.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. 

 

After an hour here, our wonderful guide told us she had a special surprise for us....to the moans and groans of all we reboarded a van and put our lives at stake to head to a special place. I should note here that Kenyan vehicles are approximately 6 feet wide and the roads are no more than 13 feet wide. They pass each other on these roads at about 40-50 mph, +/- 40-50mph depending on whether or not they are passing a lorry (truck), are being passed by 3 people and cargo on a motor scooter, if there is a speed bump ahead, if part of the road is washed out, etc. We've criss-crossed Nairobi multiple times and I think that I can honestly say that the worst road in Seattle is 100x better than the best in Nairobi. There are no sidewalks, just washed out dirt and rocks but people also share the generous 13'.

We survived the short drive. We were in for a surprise and what a surprise it was: The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an elephant and rhino orphanage where orphaned baby elephants and rhinos are cared for until they are able to be returned to the wild. The kids (and parents) were able to touch the elephants, have their arms wrapped by their trunks, etc. Just a super cool, intimate opportunity. The most interesting thing was that each "orphan" is assigned a caregiver that would be a model for human parenting in any country. These caregivers sleep in the stalls with them (in bunks above), feed, care, and watch over them for 1-3 years. The elephants literally think that these men are their mother.

 

The kids were able to witness this for a couple of hours, then we bounced and somehow survived a 10 minute drive back to Giraffe Manor, where we were greeted by the sight of about 50 warthogs and 4 elephants roaming the grounds. We had a fantastic evening at Giraffe Manor, wishing only we could have stayed a second night. Surreal, fantastic, amazing and tomorrow we head out of the city to the Massai Mara, the heart of African big game safari action.

 

Little food pellet, little girl, big tongue

The view from our bedroom

I'm not sure if Hayden is enjoying this moment

Sydney...just gross from this angle unless you like giraffe spit

Gentle meets gentle

Incredible!

Biggest smile since leaving home!

Reminds me of being fed grapes at home

I don't think I could ever not flinch

One of dozens of local warthogs

One of the incredible caregivers