 wildlife encounters , most of which cost a small fortune. But there are ways to enjoy these experiences on a (relative) budget. Here's how. Eating breakfast with giraffes The blow-out: Every influencer worth their salt has posted photos of themselves sharing breakfast with Giraffe Manor 's resident herd of Rothschild's giraffes – which poke their heads through open windows looking for specially-formulated pellets to eat. A visit to this impressive colonial mansion-turned-breeding centre, a wood-panelled fantasy of roll-top baths and glistening gramophones on the edge of Kenya's Nairobi National Park, has exploded in price since it became Insta-famous, with a night's stay starting from £850pp. The money-saver: The Giraffe Centre , next door to the manor, charges non-guests £8 to feed the animals from a raised platform, but if you want to enjoy breakfast on a terrace as the giant animals nibble from your table, there's Guesthouse Voigtland in Namibia. It offers a Giraffe Manor-type experience – for less than £150pp a night. This old ranch house, just outside the Namibian capital Windhoek, is also sprinkled with period features – chandeliers, rotary phone, chaise lounge – and when you're not cooing over giraffes you can hike through the bush and go quad biking. Four hours' north, meanwhile, is Etosha National Park, home to lions, elephants, leopards and rhinos. Tracking the wildebeest migration The blow-out: Every year more than two million wildebeests, zebras and gazelles trek 1,800 miles from Tanzania's northern grasslands to Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve. The greatest spectacles of all are the river crossings, when the wanderers are forced to dodge hungry crocs in their never-ending quest for new pastures. To witness it comes at a hefty price, with an all-inclusive six nights in the Masai Mara during the peak of the river crossings (J){kind=link}
Elephant encounters for £11 a night? Spotting leopards for £40? A Giraffe Manor alternative for £150? We explain how
From dining with giraffes to sharing your pool with a thirsty elephant, Africa is full of unique (and utterly Instagrammable) wildlife encounters, most of which cost a small fortune. But there are ways to enjoy these experiences on a (relative) budget. Here’s how.
The blow-out: Every influencer worth their salt has posted photos of themselves sharing breakfast with Giraffe Manor’s resident herd of Rothschild’s giraffes – which poke their heads through open windows looking for specially-formulated pellets to eat.
A visit to this impressive colonial mansion-turned-breeding centre, a wood-panelled fantasy of roll-top baths and glistening gramophones on the edge of Kenya’s Nairobi National Park, has exploded in price since it became Insta-famous, with a night’s stay starting from £850pp.
The money-saver: The Giraffe Centre, next door to the manor, charges non-guests £8 to feed the animals from a raised platform, but if you want to enjoy breakfast on a terrace as the giant animals nibble from your table, there’s Guesthouse Voigtland in Namibia. It offers a Giraffe Manor-type experience – for less than £150pp a night.