Nairobi Elephant Orphanage & Giraffe Centre Tour: Hand-feed giraffes
Watch orphaned elephants drink milk, then feed giraffes by hand
A six-hour tour from Nairobi with hotel pickup takes you to David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage to watch baby and young orphaned elephants during the 11am–12pm viewing window, then to Giraffe Centre for a supervised hand-feeding session with endangered Rothschild giraffes. Entrance fees and a professional guide are included. Food and drinks are not. The Elephant Orphanage sits inside Nairobi National Park, which requires a separate conservancy fee of $85 per person if you want to visit it.
Step-by-step itinerary
Visit Giraffe Centre and Elephant Orphanage
- Pick up from Nairobi hotel
- Feed Rothschild giraffes at Giraffe Centre
- Walk through David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage 11am-12pm
- Watch baby elephants feed and play
- Visit Kazuri Bead Factory and gift shop
- Giraffe Centre Entry included 1h
- Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Entry included 1h
- Maasai Market 1h
What’s included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off within Nairobi.
- entrance fees to David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Centre.
- professional English-speaking guide.
- small group tour format.
Times
- Every day 08:00
Before you book
Operated by Gracepatt Ecotours Kenya
Prices and times updated today
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The experience
The tour picks you up from your Nairobi hotel and heads first to Giraffe Centre, where you hand-feed Rothschild giraffes under the supervision of keepers. The centre has rescued and hand-reared around 500 orphaned giraffes since 1979, and the feeding session gives you a close look at how these animals behave and what they eat. You learn about their physiology and habitat while the giraffes come to you for food.
From there you're driven to David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, where viewing happens between 11am and 12pm in an open space with a rope fence. The youngest elephants trot out of the bush to greet their keepers, who stand ready with giant bottles of milk. You watch each calf drink for 10–15 minutes, then see them play and interact with their keepers. The keepers explain how old each elephant is, where it was rescued from, and why it became orphaned. The most common reasons being poaching of the mother, falling into wells, or human-wildlife conflict. Once the youngest are fed and led back into the bush, the 2–3 year olds come out. Some feed themselves while others are still bottle-fed by staff.
The final stop is Kazuri Bead Factory, a pottery and ceramic workshop that employs single mothers from poor Nairobi neighbourhoods. You're shown the stages from raw material to finished bead, and there's a gift shop stocked with their wares. The workshop closes Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday, though the shop stays open seven days a week. The whole tour runs six hours from pickup to drop-off.
Is this one for you?Choose this if you want to see both elephants and giraffes in one day with a guide who times everything around the fixed 11am elephant viewing window. You won't need to coordinate two separate trips or figure out the schedule yourself.
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Top questions
Can children come?
Yes. Ticket types: Child (3 to 9 years); Infant (under 3): free.
What time do I get to see the baby elephants at David Sheldrick?
Elephant viewing at David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage is strictly between 11am and 12pm. The youngest calves come out first to drink milk from bottles, followed by the 2–3 year olds who may feed themselves or be fed by keepers.
Can I hand-feed the giraffes at Giraffe Centre?
Yes, you hand-feed the Rothschild giraffes under keeper supervision at Giraffe Centre. The keepers are present throughout the feeding session and provide guidance on how to interact safely with the animals.
Is entry to Nairobi National Park included in this tour?
No. David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage is located inside Nairobi National Park, which requires a separate conservancy fee of $85 per person. This is not included in the tour price and must be paid separately if you want to visit the orphanage.
What's included in the tour price?
Hotel pickup and drop-off, entrance fees to both David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Centre, and a professional English-speaking guide are included. Food and drinks are not.
What happens if I visit on Christmas Day?
David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage is closed on Christmas Day (25 December). The operator offers an alternative itinerary on that date instead of the standard tour.
Nairobi Elephant Orphanage & Giraffe Centre Tour: Hand-feed giraffes
6h · EN · at your hotel
from US$ 95 per person
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