An Unforgettable Day in Nairobi

This post is originally from March 20, 2026

If you ever have the chance to come to Kenya, there is a good chance you will fly in and out of Nairobi. Now Nairobi is no joke – it is a massive city located in the south-central part of the country. It’s population is almost 6 million (and that is those of who are accounted for)!! But let me tell you, this is not a place where I would stay in your hotel and sleep off the jetlag – there is just too much to do!!! I have been here once before, and I knew I wanted to re-do everything that I had done the last time and you will see why!

We hired a guide through our hotel and were picked up at the crack of dawn. Question, what do you call the time before dawn even breaks? Dawn’s crack?? Anyway, we jumped into our jeep and headed into Nairobi National Park. This National Park is only 7 km south of Nairobi’s central business district. The park is home to the world’s densest concentration of black rhinos, (which are the rarest of the two) and is fenced on three sides, which allows free movement of the wildlife into the migration plains – making it critical for the ecosystem’s survival. Even though it is a relatively small national park, there truly is so much to see. The only big animal missing is the elephant, as they wouldn’t be able to thrive in this space. What made this drive so unique was the amount of white rhino we saw. There were so many in abundance which was encouraging seeing that their species is so sought after by poachers.

Our next stop of the day was the Sheldrick Wildlife Orphanage. Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is a nonprofit that helps raise orphaned elephants and rhinos (as well many other random animals) and reintroduces them back into the wild. From 11-12 pm every day the orphanage is open for public viewing. During this time the baby orphans arrive for their midday mud bath and feeding. We had to book months in advance in order to secure a spot and it has been one of the highlights of this trip that we have been so looking forward to.

Sheldrick is located on the edge of the national park, so the plan was to make our way there while spotting as much wildlife as we could. We aimed to be there at 10:15 am, but what we didn’t expect was traffic. The traffic jam wasn’t caused by humans – the culprits were rhinos! As time ticked on and we were at a stand still, we realized that a mama rhino and her baby were standing in the middle of the road. The dad was also nearby and looked like he was ready to protect his family if any vehicle came close. There was nothing we could do but wait and this stubborn rhino family really wanted to test our patience. As we finally got to pass, we got to see how tiny the baby actually was. Our guide predicted that he was maybe only a month old! (Absolutely adorable!) Finally on our way, our driver sped as fast as he could so we could make it for the elephant feeding. Only minutes later we came across another traffic jam! Our driver was in disbelief – he told us that this is not typical rhino behavior. This time there were 3 more adult rhinos blocking our way again! We watched the clock creep closer to 11 and felt so helpless and deflated knowing we would miss the feeding time. Thankfully those big boys moved just in time and we got to the orphanage with a minute to spare.

What is it like to watch the feeding you ask? We, along with the other visitors stood around a roped off area. Once the animals come to the area they are free to go wherever they choose. You are literally sooooo close to the babies that you could reach out and touch some of them. Depending on what animals are in their care at the time, you get to meet them all. At first a baby zebra named Knotty and a baby rhino named Titan walked in with their keepers. Knotty and Titan were rescued only a week apart and both had similar stories where they were found lying by their deceased mothers. Since they were taken in, the pair have become inseparable. They both had their bottles and we were able to watch them drink their milk and playfully nudge one another before heading back into the bush.

Next came the baby elephants – right now Sheldrick has 12 babies in their care. It was absolutely freaking adorable to see them all run towards us awkwardly to find their keeper holding their bottles. While they all drank, played and ate some leaves the head keeper introduced us to all the elephants and explained to us how they came into their care. While we stood near the rope we had several babies hang out right next to us. One of the smallest elephants was named Daba and he stood so close to me that he kept whipping me with his tail. I can’t put into words how cute they all were. Each one had little quirks and I could have stayed there for hours just watching them going about their ways.

Eventually it was time to take them back out into the bush and before we left we made sure to adopt Daba. Daba was born in January of last year. He was found alone on a regular patrol in Tsavo and because he was so little he would have been an easy target for lions. His only way of survival would be intervention. All the orphans sleep in their own stockade with a keeper. They switch the keeper each night so that the elephant won’t become attached. Apparently when Daba hears the milk being prepared at night he pulls the blanket off the keeper. If that doesn’t wake the keeper he props his two from legs on the edge of the bed. How cute is he?!

Adoption is $50USD and with that you will get monthly updates about your elephant for a year. Obviously the fee is to help the Sheldrick do the amazing work that they do.

To date Sheldrick has successfully hand raised over 300 infant elephants and has accomplished its long-term conservation priority by effectively reintegrating the orphans back in the wild herds of Tsavo East National Park. What stands out to me in many of the incredible stories coming out of Sheldrick is when the female adult elephants who were successfully integrated into the wild give birth and bring the babies back to the keepers to introduce them! It truly is a magical place and so inspiring to see the work of the many men and women who work in conservation. I highly recommend following their Instagram as they give you daily updates on so many of their current babies and those who have successfully moved on. Since returning home I have read the autobiography of Dame Daphne Sheldrick, who was the amazing woman who started this project. Her book is called Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story, for those who are interested in reading her fascinating story.

Ok, with this much excitement, you would think that the day ended there – it didn’t! We had one more amazing stop. The Giraffe Centre. The Giraffe Centre is located next to the famous hotel, Giraffe Manor Hotel and is both an educational centre as well as a 60 acre sanctuary. Here we were able to go to a feeding platform and feed the giraffes. The giraffe tongue is incredibly long and feels a little like a cat’s tongue. They really are so gentle and have eyelashes that any drag queen would die for! It was funny because as the three of us turned around to take a photo with one of the giraffes, it became incredibly opportunistic and in one gulp stole all of Kris’ pellets!