Giraffe Manor

A historic manor house in the leafy suburbs of Nairobi, Giraffe Manor is touted as an unforgettable bucket-list experience—provided that your list includes breakfast with a giraffe.

Set within a sanctuary for endangered Rothschild’s giraffes, the house is one of the Kenyan capital’s most iconic buildings. It was built in 1932 with six rooms: Betty, Daisy, Jock, Lynn, Marlon, and the Karen Blixen Suite. Since acquiring Giraffe Manor in 2009, owners Tanya and Mikey Carr Hartley have maintained its 1930s character. Both are fourth-generation Kenyans with two lifetimes of knowledge of the African bush and a deep love of Kenyan wildlife.

Of course, its most distinguishing feature is its resident giraffes, who visit most mornings and evenings, poking their long, graceful necks through the windows of the manor, hoping for a treat or a bit of gossip, before retreating to their sanctuary. They have not been trained or domesticated, so there’s no guarantee of engagement, but most guests get the opportunity to feed these towering creatures.

In the 1970s, their species was in severe danger, with fewer than one hundred left in Kenya. The manor was private, owned by a couple named Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville, who started a breeding program on the grounds and created the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW). Their efforts have helped the population grow to one thousand in half a century. The giraffes’ amicable visits to the manor were a bonus. These long-necked headliners seem to love nothing more than making a fashionable entrance and nuzzling at the window. Guests are able to identify favorites, as no two giraffes in the world have the same patch pattern.

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