Nairobi Giraffes

Kigali, Rwanda --> Nairobi, Kenya

 

Leaving Rwanda at Kigali airport I was finally able to retrieve my luggage! It was a bit of a hassle since some convention was going on and I had to get a bunch of security passes to get in the arrival area, but it was a success. It felt weird to all of a sudden have so much stuff. The plane ride from Kigali to Nairobi, Kenya was an hour late. On the plane I met a fabulous lady who was from Nairobi but teaching foreign exchange students in Kigali. It was a very pleasant experience getting to chat with her about education around the world.

When my plane landed I was thrilled to see my bag had successfully made it and a man was holding a sign with my name on it in the arrivals. Kaylee`s boyfriend Tom had arranged for someone to pick me up and drop me at the hotel. Arriving at the hotel exhausted I barely had time to look around before crashing straight to sleep comfortably in an 8 person tent dorm.

I awoke very excited for the day in Nairobi. I had two main plans for the day which was to kiss a giraffe and visit a slum. The first stop was the giraffe center where a raised platform stood bordering a field with giraffes. Multiple giraffe were busy sticking their heads in and our of the platform receiving food from excited guests. Before feeding the giraffe myself I read some information about giraffes and learned that there are different types of patterns of giraffes and that they have blue tongues.

 

On the platform I nervously stuck out the food as the giraffe licked it up. Next I took the food and put it at my side so that I could give him a cuddly hug!

 

Finally I got up the courage to put the food in my mouth and let the giraffe kiss me. Their spit contains an antiseptic chemical that does not transmit bacteria to humans. With that info I let them kiss away. I got a little carried away and maybe got 7-10 kisses. How many times in your life can you say a giraffe kissed you??!

 

For some more interesting facts here is one of the posters so you can read up on the tallest living land mammal!