Visiting The Giraffe Center

mil

Hello.
I'll be going on this tour (K&T classic) next August 25th 2018. and I'm also planning a visit to the giraffe center in the free afternoon. I was told the group should arrived in Nairobi around 1:00 pm and The center hours are 9:00 am- 5:00 pm. the drive to the center is about 35 min. from the hotel each way & to truly enjoy the visit and be able to feed the giraffes the center recommends about 1-2 hours.... Is anyone interested?
Thanks

Sealord

The Giraff Center must be really close to the hotel. Traffic in Nairobi is awful. If you could drive there in 35 minutes, you could probably walk there in 35 minutes ... with a guard escort of course. (;-)

We had friends (met them on the trip) who stayed at Giraff Manor for a night instead of going to the Tauck hotel. They said it was ‘great’!

mil

https://www.triphobo.com/places/nairobi-kenya/giraffe-center

roughly 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) according to the above information.

British

It's a long time since I took this tour, but I will never forget how horrendous the traffic is in Nairobi and if it were me, I would not want to risk leaving the hotel in case of being stuck in a traffic jam on the way back as it will be rush hour too. You will probably find that you will want some down time before your long flight home after this very busy tour that has so many 5am starts to the day, repack your bags etc. You will see so many giraffes in their natural setting before you get to Nairobi too. We can actually go to feed the giraffes at our local zoo, the grandchildren love it.

AlanS

Mileg wrote:

https://www.triphobo.com/places/nairobi-kenya/giraffe-center

roughly 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) according to the above information.

According to Google Maps, the Giraffe Center at Langata is 16.9 km/26 min. (on a good day/time) from the Nairobi, Serena Hotel where your day room is located. It is farther from the Serena than the International Airport- when we were there in 2015 it could easily take anywhere from an hour to over two hours to get to the airport. Our flight left early so we were driven to the airport before rush hour- it still took us 30 min. to go about 1 mi.! Luckily the traffic eased a bit as we got farther from the city center. As British said, Nairobi traffic is terrible. I'll go even one better- it is the worst I have ever seen- worse than Paris, worse than Naples and Rome, worse than Manila, worse than Panama City, worse than Lima.

There are often 6 lanes of cars trying to squeeze into 4 lanes of road. At traffic circles (they only work in orderly countries, like the UK : ) ) there are multiple lanes merging from 4 or more different directions into just a few circular traffic lanes. Traffic signs are disregarded or at best "just a suggestion." Because drivers were ignoring (stop, merge, yield, etc.) signs, the government also installed traffic lights at the roundabouts- everyone ignores those too! You may also find your vehicle sharing the road with a small herd of cows- seriously! in a major city! You get the idea.

If your flight from the Mara is delayed or there is especially heavy traffic along the way from the small Wilson airport where you land to the Serena hotel you might arrive much later than 1:00.
I would not attempt to visit the giraffe center unless your flight home doesn't leave until very late or the next day. I also wouldn't go on your own- hire a guide and driver.

Finally, you might consider hiring a guide through the hotel in Arusha to take a tour of Arusha National Park- plenty of giraffes there, and you can get pretty darn close!

These guys were really close and part of a small herd of about 15 giraffe in Arusha Park.

mil

Good morning all.
well, after reading both replies... and the facts.. I'm re-thinking my plan....
Thanks god, I always have a plan B , so I think it would be wise ( Sadly ) to stay in the hotel the rest of the afternoon... and book my Spa treatment instead.
Thank you all.

British

Mileg, sounds like an excellent alternative????. After all those bumpy roads and little exercise for two weeks it will be good to have a great massage.