Friday, June 20, 2008

The Giraffe Center

We had a few extra hours in Nairobi and decided to check out the Giraffe Center. It was quite an experience. http://www.giraffecenter.org/

The Giraffe (Twiga in Swahili) Center is located a little bit out of Nairobi. There are about a dozen Rothschild Giraffes in the center. Rothschild Giraffes are endangered (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_Giraffe). We could also see about 6 warthogs but the guides told us that there are not supposed to be any warthogs at the center. The warthogs escaped from the Nairobi National Park and hang out with the Giraffes to eat the food pellets the Giraffes don't eat.

Beth and Amanda feeding one of the older female giraffes.

Yep....I was peer pressured into letting the giraffe kiss me too! Turns out, the giraffe saliva has wonderful anti-bacterial properties to it. The guide was telling us that the giraffe can easily eat from the thorny Acacia tree because the saliva protects the tongue from infection caused by any cuts or abrasions.



In this picture you can see a warthog hanging out under the giraffe to quickly collect any food pellets the giraffe misses.




This is the old estate of the Giraffe Center founders. It is currently a hotel...with rooms costing over $500 per night.

1 comment:

Shauna Bachmeier said...

These pictures are awesome! I can't believe how close you guys can get to so many animals there. What an experience. Looks like you guys are taking it all in. Love it.