There is nothing cuter than watching baby elephants stampede towards you only to stop before crushing you, pick up an enlarged baby bottle of milk and start drinking it. Alongside these views and watching them eagerly play in the mud together, you might even get lucky enough to touch one. That’s the kind of experience you can encounter at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

Having lived in Kenya for a period of several years, I cannot count the number of times I have been to this particular location but it is a must do when you have friends and family come visit you; and since my boyfriend, Jordan, is travelling with me it was a must do visit.

Also known as the elephant orphanage, the Wildlife Trust is a place where you can visit baby elephants and occasionally baby rhinos, however on this particular outing there were no rhinos.

Unlike your typical zoo or animal orphanage in which the animals are ultimately confined in cages for the rest of their life, the Sheldrick trust rehabilitates orphaned elephants and reintegrates them back into the wild.

So rather than locking up the orphaned animals and accustoming them to human interaction, the trust, whilst caring for the creatures, prides itself on taking care of these endangered animals before releasing them back into the wild where they belong.

NOTE: The trust only allows 1 hour of visits with the elephants per day. This is a great way to reduce the amount of human interaction they have ensuring they do not become accustomed to us when they are released back in the wild.

Visiting times are only between 11am and noon so get there early to secure the best viewing spots!

Typically those who visit the elephant orphanage make their way to the Giraffe Centre after the hour visit with the elephants is done.

Don’t be surprised if you have to fight your way through a crowd of tourists before you can get to the giraffes though, it is after all a top tourist destination in Kenya.

You have the opportunity to interact with the giraffes on a much greater level than with the elephants. This is due to the fact that you can feed them, be it by hand or by mouth for the brave hearted 😉

The latter is not for everyone but my theory is, “when will you ever have the chance to feed a giraffe from your mouth again.” It is a once in a life time opportunity so why not suffer through the slightly extensive amount of saliva for an experience not many others can say they have done.

All of this animal interaction and feeding can make you peckish. So why not head to   J’s Fresh Bar & Kitchen for lunch. With a relaxed vibe and a mouth-watering menu you can’t go wrong with J’s.