THE GIRAFFES THAT CAME FOR TEA

Everyone loves a tea party. But a tea party with giraffes! Now that really is something to get excited about.  That’s why, every year when Giraffe Manor closes for maintenance, we take this opportunity to open our grounds for two fabulous teatime events. The first, a chance for us to invite local school children to meet our tower of twigas and experience a teatime like no other. The second, a series of fundraising afternoon teas for non-overnight guests.

Every year, we delight in inviting children from some of our nearby primary schools for a very special and memorable teatime giraffe experience.

A memorable teatime trip

This year saw visits from a gaggle of enthusiastic girls and boys from the Gifted Hands School and ANWA Academy. Both schools are in the nearby informal settlement of Kibera (Africa’s largest slum with around 2.5 m inhabitants) and receive support from our Footprint foundation. With the generous donations of previous guests, we built a Resource Centre for Gifted Hands School and helped with infrastructure development and supplies at ANWA. It was great for the children to see where the support they get comes from.

Dressed smartly in their school uniforms, the children’s wide grins said it all. They could not get enough of our giant garden swing as they swung back and forth popping giraffe treats onto the tongues of long-legged onlookers. Our team helped them identify each of our giraffe personalities by name and they learnt about the different giraffe species and the importance of conservation. They were also gifted books and dolls from a special guest, seven year old entrepreneur and author Egypt Bush, who has already written a series of books on everyday superheroes. As a passionate reader, Egypt believes in giving the gift of reading to children less fortunate than herself and we welcomed her to the Manor.

Fundraising teas

The second of our special teatime events was a series of fundraising teas for the giraffe-loving residents of Nairobi. We relish the opportunity to invite friends, colleagues and families to join us for an evening of slobbery giraffe kisses and educational fun, because when we’re open, we sadly don’t have space to accommodate this. It’s also the perfect opportunity to raise vital funds for two extremely important causes: the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) and The Safari Collection Footprint foundation.

After a hiatus necessitated by the pandemic, it was great to have our fundraising teas back in full force again this year which saw our lawns bustling with giraffe lovers across four days.

Once the giraffes had had their fill of pellets and retreated to the sanctuary, teatime guests enjoyed an interactive presentation with Arthur Muneza from the GCF. Through engaging stories and trivia questions he highlighted declining giraffe population trends across Africa and the threats facing this species. One story told of a community in West Africa who played a vital role in the reintroduction of giraffes in an area where they were almost extinct, reinforcing the part communities play in conservation.

This year’s fundraising teas raised a total of US$ 7,700.

This year’s fundraising teas raised a total of US$ 7,700 for GCF’S amazing work conserving giraffes across Africa as well as our Footprint foundation projects. Everyone who came left with an appreciation that behind this memorable and interactive giraffe experience lies the bigger picture of saving a threatened species and helping communities. The story behind the selfie matters. Thank you to everyone who attended our teas for standing tall and sticking their necks out for giraffes across Africa.