The David Sheldricks Wildlife Trust, Karen Blixen Museum & Giraffe Center
Highlights:The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is a small, flexible charity, established in 1977 to honour to memory of a famous Naturalist, David Leslie William Sheldrick MBE, the founder Warden of Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, where he served from its inception in 1948 until his transfer to Nairobi in 1976 to head the Planning Unit of the newly created Wildlife Conservation & Management Department.
David died 6 months later but his legacy of excellence and the systems he installed for the management of Tsavo and wildlife generally in Kenya, particularly in the sphere of wildlife husbandry and ethics, lives on.
These babies have lost their mothers to poaching, death, injuries, on getting lost in the wild or other tragedies. Daphne and her dedicated staff raise them to be released back into the wild when they are ready. It’s worth visiting and witness the humanitarian care to the wildlife and the heart it takes to care. They charge a small entrance fee, instead you can buy a souvenir or donate for the conservation.
The Giraffe Center
The Giraffe Center was started by Jock Leslie-Melville, the Kenyan grandson of a Scottish Earl, when he and his wife Betty captured a baby giraffe to start a programme of breeding giraffe in captivity at their home in Langata – home of the present centre. Since then the programme has had huge success, resulting in the introduction of several breeding pairs of Rothschild Giraffe into Kenyan national parks. The Giraffe Centre is located Langata, approximately 5 km from the centre of Nairobi, Kenya.
It was established in order to protect the endangered Rothschild giraffe, giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi, that is found only in the grasslands of Africa. In 1979, Leslie-Melville added an education centre to his (then still private) giraffe sanctuary.
By 1983 he had raised enough money to establish the Giraffe Visitor’s Centre as a tourist destination in Nairobi. The center is also home to several warthogs which freely roam the area along with the giraffes. The main attraction for visitors is feeding giraffes from a raised observation platform.
Details:
Drive towards the Nairobi National Park to Sheldrick Baby Elephant Orphanage which is open 1 hr daily. You can visit between 11am and 12 noon every day, and see the elephants being fed and playing. In addition, there is a keeper who will give a talk about the elephants, where they came from, how they are getting on, and how some of the previous orphans are progressing. You can get really close to the elephants. The orphanage also takes in rhinos and so if you are lucky you will get the chance to see a young rhino.
Karen Blixen Museum
Located 30 kilometres from Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the Karen Blixen Museum is situated on a farm at the base of the Ngong Hills. The museum takes its name from its Danish owner Karen Blixen and stands as a marvellous reflection of what Kenya was like many years ago.
Karen Blixen, who married Baron Bror van Blixen Fincke, first gained international attention in 1985 when the Oscar winning movie ‘Out of Africa’, starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep was released. The film, ‘Out of Africa’ is based on Karen’s autobiography with the same title and tells the story of a Danish baroness who owns a plantation in 20th century colonial Kenya and centres around her passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter, Denys Finch Hatton.
Cost Includes:
- Service of an English speaking driver guide
- Transport based on a safari Minivan vehicle with pop up roof for game viewing
- Driver allowances and park fees for vehicle and driver where applicable
- Any applicable taxes
Cost Excludes:
- Entrance fees where applicable
- Extras –tips, drinks or any other personal expenses
- Entrance fees where applicable
- Extras – tips, drinks or any other personal expenses
