Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Sanctuary

In an effort to relax during my first weekend in Kenya, I went to see some local sites around Nairobi on Saturday. My first stop was an elephant orphanage. The orphanage has elephants that have been rescued from wells and other places where they were left to fend for themselves because their parents were killed by poachers or predators. Somehow we were lucky enough to get to the orphanage at the exact right time because we ended up having to wait only five minutes to see the baby elephants come out to play. All I have ever seen are adult elephants in zoos or carrying heavy loads on their backs so it was great to see what they do "in the wild". Mostly the babies just used their trunks to throw mud on themselves to keep cool. The caretakers also bottle fed them milk. I learned that human baby formula is the best milk for them because it is vegetable based. It was quite possibly the cutest thing you could watch. You can also “adopt” a baby elephant for $50 and then come whenever you want to tuck the elephant in for bed.

Next, I went to the Giraffe Center. According to my Lonely Planet guide, this is a “vitally important breeding center” started by the Kenyan grandson of a Scottish earl. He and his wife started the center after having raised a baby giraffe in their home. The center has released several giraffes into Keyan national parks since then. I also learned a few interesting facts about giraffes while I was here:

1. A giraffe’s heart can be as large as 1ft by 2ft
2. A giraffe never lies down. It sleeps with its head resting on a tree branch or while sitting with its neck straight. They also only sleep for anywhere between 12 minutes and two hours a day. I couldn't be a giraffe.