Seeing Nairobi’s Baby Elephants and Giraffes in One Unhurried Morning

The elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre make the best half-day outing in Nairobi: an hour watching orphaned baby elephants at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust nursery, then hand-feeding endangered Rothschild’s giraffes in Lang’ata. Both sit on the city’s south-western edge, so one well-timed morning covers them, for about US$115 per non-resident adult in entry fees.

The catch is the logistics. The nursery opens to the public for one hour a day, only by email booking, and every visitor also needs a Kenya Wildlife Service ticket for Nairobi National Park. This guide to the elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre gives you the booking steps, the real costs, a timetable that works and the small things that trip people up on the day.

What Happens at the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage?

The Sheldrick elephant orphanage is the Nairobi Nursery of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, where orphaned baby elephants are hand-raised by Keepers. The public visit runs strictly from 11:00am to 12 noon each day, and you watch the orphans come out for their milk feeds and play in the mud from behind a rope.

The elephants arrive in small groups and gulp milk from oversized bottles before turning to the mud wallow and the water trough. A Keeper talks the crowd through the orphans present, how each was found and how it is doing. The stories are the reason many visitors leave more moved than they expected.

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The Trust looks after more than 100 milk-dependent orphans across its five orphan units, and the Nairobi Nursery is where the youngest begin. When they are older they move on to the Trust’s reintegration units, so the faces you see change over time.

Rules at the nursery

Only the Keepers feed or handle the orphans, so do not reach over the rope. Phones go on silent and calls are not allowed during the hour, smoking and vaping are banned, and photos and video are for personal use only. There is no food, drink or public Wi-Fi on site, so bring water. The visit is never delayed or extended for late arrivals.

Fostering an orphan

Many people leave an elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre morning wanting to help. The Trust’s fostering programme starts at a minimum of US$50 per year for one year, and you follow your orphan’s progress online. It makes a thoughtful gift for a child who loved the visit.

How Do You Book the Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Centre?

You book the elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre in different ways. The Sheldrick nursery needs an email booking with the Trust’s Nairobi office before you travel. The Giraffe Centre needs no booking for individual visitors: you pay at the entrance, and only school groups are asked to book ahead.

For the nursery, your email must give the date, the number of adult and child tickets, the name of each adult and the name and age of each child. The Trust takes bookings up to three months ahead, never for the same day, and asks you to allow at least two business days for a reply. You pay for every ticket in a confirmed booking, even if fewer people turn up.

The Trust does not accept tickets bought through third-party resale websites, so book directly or let your safari operator arrange it as part of your transfer. The full, current rules are on the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust nursery visiting page.

The KWS park ticket and the Mbagathi Gate

The nursery sits inside Nairobi National Park, reached through the KWS Mbagathi Gate (also called the Workshop Gate) on Magadi Road. Everyone entering, even just for the nursery, pays the KWS park fee, which rose on 1 October 2025. The Trust recommends paying it on eCitizen before the day, and KWS also charges your driver and vehicle at the gate, so check your transfer price includes that.

How Much Does the Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Centre Cost?

A morning at the elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre costs about US$115 per non-resident adult in entry fees and about US$51 per child under 12 (checked November 2026). Most of that is the US$80 KWS Nairobi National Park fee, not the attractions themselves.

Kenya residents pay KES 2,000 at the nursery (KES 500 for a child) with proof of residency, and KES 400 at the Giraffe Centre (KES 200 for a child). The KWS resident and citizen rates differ again; see Kenya park fees explained for every park and visitor type. Fees change, so confirm current rates with each organisation before you go.

Notice the three payment methods. The Sheldrick donation is cash on the day, the KWS fee is cashless on eCitizen, and the Giraffe Centre takes M-Pesa or a card. Carry some US dollars or Kenya shillings in small notes for the nursery and a card for everything else. Transport to the elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre is extra, and a private car and driver is the simplest option.

Feeding Rothschild’s Giraffes at the Giraffe Centre

The Giraffe Centre is run by the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW) Kenya on a 60-acre sanctuary in Lang’ata. Visitors climb a raised wooden platform to meet Rothschild’s giraffes at head height and hand-feed them pellets that staff provide, followed by a short talk on giraffe biology and conservation.

The pellets are what the giraffes are used to, so feed only what you are given. Hold a pellet between your fingers and the giraffe’s long, dark tongue curls round it; brave visitors hold one between their lips. Expect a sticky hand, so carry wet wipes before you head to the Tea House.

The centre suggests 1.5 to 2 hours, which leaves time for the platform, the talk, a walk in the nature sanctuary and a snack. It is busiest from 11:00am to 1:00pm on weekdays and all day at weekends and on public holidays, which is why an elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre plan should start here at opening time. The guides are Environmental Studies students who volunteer as educators, and tips are welcome. Opening times and payment details are on the Giraffe Centre visitor FAQs.

Is the Giraffe Centre Worth It Beyond the Feeding Platform?

The Giraffe Centre is worth more than the five-minute selfie many visitors stop at. The sanctuary behind the platform has a nature walk where warthogs root about in the open, and the gift shop and Tea House both fund the centre’s work.

The centre says 90 percent of the money from entrance fees, the gift shop and the Tea House goes to its conservation and education work, which includes teaching thousands of Kenyan schoolchildren every year.

Why the Rothschild’s giraffe matters

AFEW Kenya was founded in 1979 by Jock Leslie-Melville and his wife Betty to protect the Rothschild’s giraffe, a subspecies found only in the grasslands of East Africa. The centre bred giraffes and moved young herds into protected areas, and it reports more than 300 Rothschild’s giraffes now safe and breeding in Kenyan national parks.

You can see the same subspecies in the wild at Lake Nakuru National Park, one of the most reliable places in Kenya to find them.

How to Plan Your Elephant Orphanage and Giraffe Centre Morning

The best plan for the elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre is to visit the Giraffe Centre first, at its 9:00am opening, then drive to the Mbagathi Gate for the nursery’s 11:00am hour. That order uses the quiet early slot at the giraffes and gets you to the gate by the 10:30am arrival the Trust recommends.

Doing it the other way round works too, but you would reach the Giraffe Centre around 12:45pm, in its busiest window. Nairobi traffic is the real variable: from a city-centre hotel, leave at least an hour for the first leg, and allow 30-45 minutes between the two stops. From Karen or Lang’ata hotels, everything is much closer.

If you only have one free morning before or after your safari, the elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre is the half day we suggest most often, because it is gentle, suits all ages and has a fixed finish time. See our guide to day trips from Nairobi for longer options such as Hell’s Gate and Lake Naivasha.

What Else Can You Add to the Day?

The most useful add-on to the elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre is a game drive in Nairobi National Park, because your KWS ticket for the nursery has already paid for park entry. Lions, black rhinos, giraffes and buffalo live within sight of the city skyline, and the park is compact enough to enjoy in an afternoon.

Our Nairobi National Park half day safari runs with a 2:00pm start, which fits neatly after lunch, though visits to the Giraffe Centre and the elephant orphanage are not part of that package and are added separately. For the park’s history, gates and wildlife, read our Nairobi National Park guide.

Other easy pairings in Karen and Lang’ata include the Karen Blixen Museum, the former farmhouse of the author of Out of Africa, and a long lunch at one of Karen’s garden restaurants. For layover travellers, the nursery’s fixed hour is the anchor of an elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre day: build the rest of the day around 11:00am, and leave plenty of time for the airport.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you visit the elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre on the same day?

Yes. The elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre are both on the south-western side of Nairobi, so one morning covers both. Visit the giraffes at the 9:00am opening, leave by about 9:50am and reach the KWS Mbagathi Gate by 10:30am for the nursery hour from 11:00am to 12 noon.

Do you need to book the Sheldrick elephant orphanage in advance?

Yes. The Sheldrick elephant nursery is open by advance booking only, made by email with the Trust’s Nairobi office. Bookings open up to three months ahead, same-day visits are not possible and replies can take two business days. Bring your emailed confirmation on the day, printed or on your phone, and pay the entry donation in cash at the nursery.

How much does the elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre cost?

A non-resident adult pays about US$115 for the elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre together (checked November 2026): a US$20 Sheldrick donation, the US$80 Kenya Wildlife Service fee for Nairobi National Park and KES 1,500 at the Giraffe Centre. Transport is extra. Children under 12 pay US$5 at the nursery and KES 750 at the Giraffe Centre.

Can you touch the baby elephants at the Sheldrick nursery?

No. At the Sheldrick nursery only the Keepers feed or handle the orphans, and visitors watch from behind a rope during the one-hour visit. The young elephants often wander close to the rope, so you still get a good view. The rule protects orphans that are recovering from trauma, illness or the loss of their mothers.

Is the Giraffe Centre worth visiting if I am going on safari anyway?

Yes, for most travellers. The Giraffe Centre gives you something a game drive cannot: eye-level contact with endangered Rothschild’s giraffes from a raised platform, plus a short talk on why the subspecies needed rescuing. It takes 1.5 to 2 hours, costs KES 1,500 for a non-resident adult and suits families, first-time visitors and anyone with a spare Nairobi morning.

Final Thoughts

Few cities let you watch rescued baby elephants and feed endangered giraffes before lunch, and the elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre pair is the easiest way to do both. Book the nursery early, pay the KWS fee online, reach the giraffes at 9:00am and the rest of the morning looks after itself.

If you would rather not juggle emails, gates and traffic, tell us your Nairobi dates and we will build your elephant orphanage and Giraffe Centre morning, and the safari that follows, around you.