Africa 21: We Feed Giraffes and See Jewelry Being Made

After watching the bungee jumpers, we flew to Nairobi, Kenya via Johannesburg.  One of our first stops on the road in Kenya was the Giraffe Center.

Opened in 1974 as a way of saving nearly extinct Rothschild giraffes, the center has created an safe environment where the Rothschilds have thrived and multiplied.

Visitors are allowed to stand at the second story balcony railing and feed them tasty pellets of nutritious giraffe food.

It is a popular place, hosting numerous tourists as well as classes of school children.

It's a win win. The giraffes seem to love the attention. People love to feed them, which you do by placing a pellet of food on the giraffe's tongue.

Creating jobs for anyone in Africa is a challenge.  But this is especially true for single women.

This bead factory is an attempt to do just that.  Here, and above, women roll wet clay into differing sized balls that will eventually become beads.

It seemed like mind-numbing work to us, but the women say their tasks are regularly rotated.

Once fired in the kilns behind them, individual beads are painted with glaze.

They also make cups, dinner plates, and other items, here.  But beads are the main product. 

Here cups and other pottery pieces finish cooling after a final firing.

The results of their efforts are bead products that are shipped to high end stores all over the world.

I don't think anyone in our group left empty handed. 


Continue on to Post 22: On the Road in Kenya, by clicking here.