Two Rothschild giraffes join Tim for breakfast.

SHARING one’s muesli with a giraffe must be one of the strangest African experiences going. But that is exactly what happens at Giraffe Manor just outside Nairobi.

The huge beasts are encouraged to join guests at breakfast in the sunroom. Special treats are handed out to the giraffes, which stick their necks through windows to be fed.

Giraffe Manor is reminiscent of a fine old Scottish hunting lodge.

Built on the outskirts of Nairobi by Sir David Duncan in the late 1930s, it has a fascinating history besides being a boutique hotel. He was a member of the Mackintosh toffee family, but his successors in title, Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville, were responsible for the giraffes and turned the building into a luxury hotel. It had six guest rooms when I visited earlier this year, but another four were being added at the time.

The service is superb, as is the standard of food on offer.

The resident endangered Rothschild giraffes visit every morning, strolling elegantly across the terrace up to huge windows that are flung open, allowing access to guests and special ‘feed-nuts’ which are provided as treats.

It is the norm to be chatting across the breakfast table, only to be interrupted by a long neck and black tongue, which scoop up feed-nuts left out for them.

Some of the braver guests offer the visitors the nuts, either by throwing them into open mouths or from the palm of a hand, as one might feed tidbits to a horse.

The privileged get to offer roses to one of the giraffes, which has a taste for thorns and petals.

Giraffe Manor sits in 167 acres of forest shared by the Giraffe Centre, which backs onto Nairobi National Park. About eight Rothschild giraffes of varying ages live in the area, feeding at night on the natural vegetation available to them.

A waterhole has been created close to the manor for use by the giraffes and the resident warthogs that also visit the sunroom in the hope of a free feed. The warthogs do not come into the building, however.

The giraffes breed readily, but the young are eventually released into Mwea National Game Reserve when they get too large.

The neighbouring Giraffe Centre was set up by the Leslie-Melvilles to take some of the last herd of 120 Rothschild giraffes from an 18,000-acre ranch in western Kenya.

They founded the African Fund for Endangered Animals Kenya and translocated the rare sub-species to five reserves and the educational centre. There are now more than 500 of these most beautiful animals.

The centre boasts a 1.5km nature trail meandering through the neighbouring indigenous Ololua and Ngong forests, covering more than 100 acres of dry upland.

The original habitat has been preserved for the giraffes and a variety of birds and animals are also found, including warthogs, hyenas and, sometimes, it is claimed, a leopard, although I doubt that.

Orphaned elephants are rescued and eventually returned to the wild from the David Sheldrick centres in Nairobi and at Tsavo National Park.

There are other activities to be enjoyed in the area.The David Sheldrick elephant orphanage was set up in 1977 to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned elephants (of which there are huge numbers due to poaching).

Visitors watch feeding and bath times each morning – the centre is open daily but only between 11am and noon – and enjoy seeing the calves playing with footballs and chasing each other.

The calves are gradually introduced to Tsavo National Park at the David Sheldrick elephant sanctuary. Here, they are released from ‘sheltered accommodation’ into the park, where they get to know the other elephant herds, finally becoming integrated into one.

The males find this easier, as young bull elephants are solitary animals, joining a herd only to breed when they are fully mature.

The sooner orphans can be exposed to older elephants in the sanctuary, the easier it is to return them to the wild. Most calves can be introduced to the sanctuary between the ages of six and 11 years old.

I thought this was something of a gimmick and that the huge amounts of money raised from visitors to the sanctuary could be better spent on stamping out elephant poaching. My friends at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy said that was not the case and that the elephant orphanage and sanctuary was a tremendous and most effective organisation.

Giraffe Manor is in an area of Nairobi called Karen, named after Danish author Karen Blixen, who wrote Out of Africa. She was a regular at the manor and has a suite – which is suitable for families – named after her.

The nearby Karen Blixen Museum was her home between 1917 and 1931 and lies in a beautiful, landscaped garden with wonderful views that encompass the Ngong Hills. The museum holds a number of books and African portrait paintings in its library. I thought the entrance price was expensive for what it was, but there are several interesting artefacts and pictures.

Shopping is another pastime in the Karen district. This can be linked with a visit to Kazuri bead cooperative, where the most charming necklaces and bracelets are made, largely by single mothers. I even bought a necklace for my granddaughter, Amelie, styled on the Rothschild giraffe and its most beautiful markings.

www.giraffemanor.com