Nairobi Series - The tourist traps

In order to see all the tourist attractions in one day, I visited the elephant orphanage and the giraffe centre on the same day as the Nariobi National Park.

A colleague advised: go see the baby elephants in the evening, make an appointment to adopt an elephant. However, the hotel advised otherwise. Go between 11:00 am and 12 noon to see the feeding of the elephants. On arrival at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, I was accompanied by a gun-toting female guard from the van to the animal centre. After paying a fee of 1000 Ksh, I entered the compound where the elephants were being fed and were playing around. There was a man talking on a microphone about the background of the elephant orphanage and introducing the elephants one by one. Most of them had fallen into a well after losing their mother. Such sad tales.

A baby elephant drinking from a container

Two baby elephants rolling in the mud

Baby elephants being fed with human breast milk formula

Next to the Giraffe Centre. At the centre, visitors were allowed to feed the giraffes pellets. During an information session, the staff informed visitors that feeding takes up most of the giraffe's day - up to 75% at certain times of the year. 

One of the giraffes in the Giraffe Centre

Up close and personal

I think I had a fair share of the animals and having rubbed shoulders with hoards of tourists at the elephant orphanage and the giraffe centre, I reflected on what I had learned coming into close contact with the elephants and the giraffes. Sadly, nothing much except that I covered all the tourists traps in one day.