Our first full day in Nairobi was a memorable one.  We woke up early, grabbed breakfast at the hotel, and then Uber’ed it to another hotel, the Kenya Comfort Suites, in downtown Nairobi.  It was the meeting point for our tour. On tap this day was a tour of the Giraffe Center, followed by the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. About seven other people joined the tour: a family of six from Australia, and a woman traveling solo from Latvia.

The tour leader, Julius, had an assistant with him, and we broke up into two groups.  The Australian family went in one van, and me, Mark, and the Latvian woman went in the other vehicle.  Unfortunately, it began to rain, and I didn’t know how this would affect everything, since both of these tours occur outdoors.  Well, as we began to drive, the rain lessened, and soon enough, it stopped, leaving behind a pretty cool rainbow. We were driving kinda fast, and I didn’t get much of a chance to photograph the rainbow, but here’s what I got. 

I’ve only seen a real rainbow maybe four or five times in my life.

Always a thrill. 

Our first stop was the Giraffe Center.  

Before going there, however, we stopped at a roadside souvenir shop where you could use the restroom and get some coffee.  I suspect that the souvenir shop has some kind of arrangement with some of the tour drivers, because we would end up at the same souvenir shop about 10 days later, as part of our safari tour on the second leg of the Kenya trip.  The souvenir shop was crammed full of stuff: statues, masks, jewelry, bowls, etc.  

Mark ended up buying a wooden bowl for $15 after some hard bargaining, despite my warning him not to.  Days later, we would discover a souvenir shop in downtown Nairobi where that same bowl was being sold for $3.  Oh well. There was a kitten on the premises, and I snapped some nice photos of Mark with it, and he snapped some of me.  

At the Giraffe Center, we were given an introductory talk about the giraffes, and then given a bowl of treats to feed them. 

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We were then let loose to approach these majestic animals.  You really don’t realize how amazing they look and how incredible they are until you get this close to them.  It’s so cool to get this close to their faces. 

Of course, the big thrill (and cheesy gimmick) is to have the giraffe take the snack right from your lips, so that it looks like the giraffe is kissing you. 

Yes, it’s contrived, but it’s pretty amazing.  It also offers a once in a lifetime photo and video opportunity, of which I took advantage.  

After being on the ground with the giraffes, you can go up the steps of the building next door and be at eye level with their faces, and continue to feed them.  It’s not as good for photos up there, because it’s a bit dark on that balcony, but it really doesn’t matter. Mark has watched so many YouTube videos of wild animals.  I don’t think he ever imagined he’d one day be hand feeding a giraffe. 

After interacting with them on that terrace, you go into a small room with a bunch of other visitors, and a member of the staff delivers a talk about the center and about giraffes in general, letting you hold skulls, vertebrae, a femur, etc.  

After the talk, we went back out to see the giraffes one last time.  I was chatting with the guy who gave the talk, and I suggested that during his talk, he should ask the visitors: “Cats, dogs, and people have seven vertebrae in their necks.  How many vertebrae do you think giraffes have?” People (especially kids) often guess a higher number, but it’s also seven. They’re just longer than those of other animals. He loved the idea and said he’d use that in his talks from now on. 

Our next stop was the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Elephant Orphanage. 

The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was founded in 1977 by Dr. Dame Daphne Sheldrick, to honor the memory of her husband David, who was a well-known naturalist.  She and her husband worked together to raise and rehabilitate many wild animals, especially elephants and rhinos. The organization re-branded their name and logo on February 1, 2019, changing their name from the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in order to honor both David and Daphne Sheldrick.

The drive there was memorable.  On the way, we stopped and watched a troop of baboons pass alongside of us and cross the road.  That was certainly a new sight for me. 

A few minutes later we arrived at the orphanage.  There was a line of people to get in. While we waited off to the side, a warthog and her four babies came out of nowhere and passed through the line of all the people.  It was crazy!  

Our guide Julius was pretty experienced, and he steered us through the line and got our group through the gates first, so that we were right up front to see the elephants. 

It’s good to have slick guides like this.  At the orphanage, the elephants all come through a field and into the main pen, where staff members bottle feed them, while another staff member tells us each elephant’s individual name and story. 

The elephants stroll around the enclosure, and sometimes they come close enough for the visitors to touch them.  It was pretty nice watching them eat, and I did manage to touch one a few times. 

After the orphanage, they took us to lunch (at our own cost), and then were supposed to drop us off back at the hotel where we met that morning, however, we asked if they could drop us off at the Karen Blixen Museum.  On the ticket for the Giraffe Center and Elephant Orphanage, it said that the ticket included free admission to the Karen Blixen Museum. The guy running the tour said that this wasn’t true; that was a mistake on the ticket.  He dropped us off at the museum, and just for the hell of it, I showed them the ticket and told the woman that our tour included free admission. She looked at it for a while and then said, “okay”, and let us both in. Hey, might as well try, right?  

Karen Blixen was an author.  She wrote Out of Africa under the pen name Isak Dinesen.  Meryl Streep played her in the movie, which one the Oscar for best picture in 1985.  Mark and I had watched the movie about two weeks before our trip, so we were familiar with her story, and it was pretty cool seeing the actual house that was depicted in the movie.  

The grounds were beautiful.  

You can’t just go in alone; you have to have a guide, which is provided for you when you buy your ticket.  Our guide had clearly done this a million times, and he went through the rooms and artifacts like a robot, but it was still pretty interesting.  Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside. After the tour, we hung out on the beautiful grounds for a while and just absorbed it all.  

We took an Uber to the hotel and rested a bit, and then called Uber again for what was probably the most memorable dining experience of the trip: a visit to the famous restaurant “Carnivore”.  

This is an all-you-can-eat restaurant.  When you walk in, you see a huge fire pit where several types of meats are roasting over the flames. 

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A reservation was definitely necessary.  The place is always crowded, apparently.  

You take your seat at a table.  They bring over a big lazy Susan with a variety of sauces.  

You start off with a bowl of soup, and then a variety of waiters come by your table with different meats, some on skewers, some already sliced, and they ask you if you want some.  You can eat as much as you want, and they’ll keep coming until you take the little numbered flag that’s on your table and lay it on its side. This means, “I surrender”. The meats are not your typical beef or pork, to say the least.  I had rabbit for the first time, crocodile (also for the first time; very greasy), as well as ostrich meatballs. They also had turkey, beef ribs, and lamb. At one point, they brought over a tray with some weird looking sliced meatballs.  I asked what they were. “Ox. Bull”, the guy said. I said okay, I’ll try some of that. He put a few pieces on my plate. Later, I tried a piece, and it had a very weird taste and gross texture. I stopped after one piece. The guy came around a few minutes later and again I asked him what that was.  “Ox ball”, he said. In the noisy restaurant, what I thought was “bull” was actually “ball”. I ate a bovine testicle. Just typing that is making me queasy. It was the first time for me, and absolutely, definitely the last time. 

On the way out, I noticed the giant menu, which I did not notice on the way in.  There it was, clear as day: Ox Ball.  

Overall, I wasn’t too crazy about my meal.  It was just too much meat. But it was a unique experience that I’m glad I had.  

PART 4