WATCH: The Best Way to Start the Day: Breakfast with a Giraffe

It’s a rare feeling in life when something not only lives up to your expectations but also wildly exceeds them.

Walking on the grounds of Giraffe Manor on the outskirts of Nairobi, in Kenya, you are immediately transported to a more genteel time — a time of lords and ladies and of tea and crumpets. You’re right alongside Karen Blixen, or rather Meryl Streep, in the film Out of Africa. It’s hard to believe that only five minutes away cars horns are blaring in the rush-hour traffic jam that takes over the city by 4 p.m.

As you round the corner of the ivy-covered grand estate things take a turn for the even more magical when you’re greeted by four elegant giraffes, all of them with stately human names: Helen, Daisy, Jacques, and Betty. There they are, just meandering along the well-manicured lawn.

It feels as though your brain is playing pranks on you when you see the giraffes wander up onto the red brick patio. (Jo Piazza/Yahoo Travel)

The Giraffe Manor boutique hotel is set on 12 acres of private land surrounded by 140 acres of indigenous forest in the Lagata suburbs of Nairobi. I would later learn that the building was originally modeled on a Scottish hunting lodge constructed in 1932 by Sir David Duncan. Throughout the ’60s and early ’70s, the structure changed hands numerous times and fell into a state of disrepair before it was purchased by conservationist Betty Leslie-Melville and her husband, Jock, in 1974.

This is what a Scottish manor would look like if it was located close to the equator. (Jo Piazza/Yahoo Travel)

Leslie-Melville was a passionate advocate for of all species of African wildlife, and the Rothschild giraffe in particular. Nicknamed “The Giraffe Lady,” Leslie-Melville began a breeding program for the Rothschild giraffe at the manor and watched the giraffe population in the region grow from about 120 to more than four hundred.

One of the most endangered subspecies of giraffe, the Rothschild is easily recognizable by its legs, which have no markings from the foot to the knee joint, making it appear as though they are wearing pale white knee socks.

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In 1983 Leslie-Melville raised enough funds to build a Giraffe Center, which is today open to the public, right next door to the manor.

Ah, giraffes. I’ve loved them ever since I was a little girl

I counted myself lucky to find myself in the “Betty” room, named for the founder herself. A stately oil portrait of Betty hung on the wall near to the fireplace. Across from it was the canopy bed of my dreams right in front of a sunny terrace overlooking the lush gardens.

Each of the hotel’s 10 rooms boast art-deco features (a lion’s mouth bath tub faucet) and four-poster beds. All meals and most drinks are included in the room price.

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While Giraffe Manor serves guests an elegant dinner, it is breakfast that absolutely cannot be missed.

“What time should I come down?”

7 a.m., the hotel manager told me. “Sharp.”

“Sharp?”

“The giraffes are early risers.”

Just before 7 a.m. I peeked through the shutters and on the front lawn. I saw no giraffes.

It was one of those breezy Nairobi mornings, neither too hot nor too cold, the air still faintly smelling of fires lit for barbecues the night before

Perhaps the giraffes had also decided they needed to sleep in. Still, rather than returning to my plush bed, I decided to pad down the winding staircase to the breakfast nook.

There are really no words to describe what I saw next, but I will try to do my best. As someone on my Instagram feed commented, the scene is like “something out of Alice in Wonderland.”

The giraffes were indeed awake, and they were hungry. As I walked into the room, Helen stretched her long, elegant neck inside the window to greet me, gently nuzzling my hand in search of food. Giraffe pellets are provided on each of the tables in little glass jars right next to the jam and the tea.

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I settled at a corner table and was immediately greeted by Jacques, who put his nose into my coffee before I’d even had a sip. I eagerly reach out to pat him on the nose, and he responded with a low snuffle. How did anyone get anything done around here? How could people eat?

They come when called by name. (Jo Piazza/Yahoo Travel)

I hardly remember what I ate, although I know it was some combination of eggs and sausage. For the next hour I was entranced by the animals as they swooped in and out of various windows to say hello and have a bite to eat.

This couple kept a straight face all through breakfast. (Jo Piazza/YahooTravel)

By 8 a.m., as promised, they tired of us and wandered back into the forest and then over to spend the rest of the day greeting visitors on the platforms of the nearby Giraffe Center, not to return until the early evening, when guests gather for a sundowner cocktail on the front lawn.

I believe they call this a menage-a-giraffe, but I don’t speak French very well. (Jo Piazza/Yahoo Travel)

It was then I discovered that giraffes are obsequiously friendly only when you’re feeding them. They will go so far as to take a pellet out of your mouth using their teeth. Their long scratchy tongues seem to simulatie what looks like a kiss, but it’s really a snack.

A glass of champagne and a giraffe cuddle might be my idea of heaven. (Jo Piazza/Yahoo Travel)

I tried not to wince as Jacques’ large lips moved closer and closer to mine. A strange prudishness was taking over me. But before I knew it he had gingerly pulled the pellet from between my teeth and was staring at me, batting his long eyelashes as if to say, “more?”

Giraffe kisses are less wet and much more scratchy than you would expect. (Jo Piazza/Yahoo Travel)

But approach them without food and they will turn on you.

“They will head-butt you,” Charles Kariuki, one of the giraffe caretakers said nonchalantly. “Make sure you always have food with you.”

Without fail, Lynn gave me a little nudge on my rump when I was slow in reaching for more pellets.

Nothing to see here, folks. (Jo Piazza/Yahoo Travel)

Seeing giraffes outside of either the zoo or the safari environment is a completely different experience. Over my 10-day stay in Africa spotting giraffes munching on leaves on the side of the road became almost as commonplace as glimpsing deer in Pennsylvania. Of course, the manor giraffes are no longer wild. They’re as tame as my own 105-pound dog (which is to say, tame when they want a treat). But being at the manor allows you a unique opportunity to interact with these gorgeous creatures in a way that you can’t anywhere else in the world.

As a travel editor I am constantly asked questions about my favorite places to travel. Giraffe Manor is now topping that list.

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