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David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust: Elephant Orphanage Visit
4.3
74 Ratings
Nairobi
Escape Nairobi’s hustle. Visit David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, meet majestic elephants, and learn their survival stories. Perfect for wildlife enthusiasts.
Escape Nairobi’s hustle. Visit David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, meet majestic elephants, and learn their survival stories. Perfect for wildlife enthusiasts.
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Sheldrick Wildlife Trust - The tour starts by picking you from your Hotel/Home within Nairobi 9:30AM. We will drive you to David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust have a walk through the little center from 11am - 12pm in an open space, with a rope fence around it. The youngest elephants come trotting out of the bush to greet their keepers who stand at the…
- Sheldrick Wildlife Trust - The tour starts by picking you from your Hotel/Home within Nairobi 9:30AM. We will drive you to David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust have a walk through the little center from 11am - 12pm in an open space, with a rope fence around it. The youngest elephants come trotting out of the bush to greet their keepers who stand at the ready with giant bottles of milk. For the next 10-15 minutes you can watch each little one slurp and gargle their milk. When they’re done, there’s water to play with and keepers to nudge and get hugs from. While you get to watch them play and take photos. You find out how old they were when they arrived at the orphanage, where they were rescued from, and what got them into trouble. The most common reasons for getting orphaned being: mother’s poached, falling into wells, and human/wildlife conflict. Once the youngest are all fed, they are led back into the bush, and it’s the turn of the 2-3 year olds. Some of them can feed themselves, and some are still fed by their keepers. It’s very cute to watch them hold their giant milk bottles in their trunks and close their eyes with joy as they make quick work of several gallons of milk.
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Professional guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Professional guide
What's Not Included
- Pay extra for Nairobi National park which is mandatory to access elephant orphanage
- Drinks
- Food and drinks
- Lunch
- Gratuities
- Souvenir photos (available to purchase)
- Pay extra for Nairobi National park which is mandatory to access elephant orphanage
- Drinks
- Food and drinks
- Lunch
- Gratuities
- Souvenir photos (available to purchase)
Additional Information
Escape the busy streets of Nairobi for a day and visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Experience the unique opportunity to see the city’s only Elephant Orphanage, where you can meet some of the largest mammals on the planet and discover their life stories and survival strategies in the wild. The visit is scheduled during feeding time, with viewing…
Escape the busy streets of Nairobi for a day and visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Experience the unique opportunity to see the city’s only Elephant Orphanage, where you can meet some of the largest mammals on the planet and discover their life stories and survival strategies in the wild. The visit is scheduled during feeding time, with viewing strictly from 11:00 to 12:00.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Pay Extra $85 per person for Nairobi national park since it’s under KWS and it’s located inside the park. Its conservancy fee
Location
Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Mbagathi Road, Kws Workshop Entrance - Nairobi National Park
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.3
(74 Ratings)
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Road66572569621
Nov 1, 2025
Amazing orphanage for elephant - This was an absolute amazing place to visit and see small elephantsas well in a closer view. I had an amazing guide Sam.I would not forget him.He was able to answer our questions and this was such an amazing experience with my friends.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Adcdiving
Oct 21, 2025
Cute how they come off run to their porridge - Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage is a sanctuary for orphaned elephants located within Nairobi National Park. Actually a bit strange choice to put the sanctuary here as there are no elephants present in Nairobi National Park.
At the moment they take in 13 elephants that are between 5 months and 4 years old. They cheerfully walk up to their caregivers who are waiting for them with various bottles of milk. They grab the bottles with their trunks and start drinking greedily. Really cute to see.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
178marcic
Oct 4, 2025
Elephant Paradise - I am so happy I was able to visit this wonderful place while here in Nairobi. My tour guide Sam was so warm and welcoming from the moment he picked me up from the hotel. During our trip to the Sheldrick centre Sam and I talked nonstop about how he got to where he is now and about his upcoming nuptials. He is a lovely man to spend time with and learn about Kenya in all its splendour. Definitely a tour not to be missed here in Nairobi.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Anil_r
Sep 9, 2025
Great 1/2 day tour to see the orphan elephants - This was a great opportunity to visit Sheldrick before we flew out. Our guide Joe picked us up on time and got us to the elephant orphanage before the gates opened (third vehicle in line) despite morning Nairobi traffic. We were at the front at the pedestrian gate and front row at the feeding area. The elephants are fantastic to see up close and the adventurous ones came close enough to get petted. We had a flight out of NBO later that afternoon and Joe arranged for the tour company to send another driver to take us back to the hotel while the other couple in our group continued on to the Bead Factory and Giraffe sanctuary. We had prepaid our park entrance fee and booked slots with Sheldrick, but Joe was able to complete payment for the other couple at the gate.
Review provided by Viator
Guestrelations
Sep 3, 2025
Orphaned elephants amazing to see and you must donate to help them survive - She trick orphan excellent must see where you get up close to the baby or elephants that will be hopefully released into the wild when old enough to do so the only probably have it was that the payment for the Nairobi national park was difficult to do online as the website was not Cooperating. They need to have a pre-payment at the time of booking or some other way to facilitate we went out of our way for an hour, and eventually our guy had to pay for us and we paid him back not very professional.
Review provided by Viator
K7336yvlesleyh
Aug 22, 2025
Not to be missed. - The experience and our guide Stephen Mutuku was excellent. Stephen picked us up with plenty of time to get to through the entry process and ensured we had a perfect position to view the baby elephants as they were fed. He was very informative and later gave us excellent advice about where to shop for quality souvenirs and an excellent lunch. A great last day before we head home. Would thoroughly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Robert_s
Oct 13, 2025
Sheldrick was awesome, Viator a little deceptive. - The Sheldrick Trust was awesome, and 5 stars.
Viator gets 3 stars because it needs to be more transparent in that there is an ADDITIONAL park fee of $85.00 per person, and not bury it in the “read more “ section!!
Review provided by Viator
Xanadu444
Oct 1, 2025
Buyer Beware - While the attraction itself, the David Sheldrick Orphanage, was exceptional, the Viator tour there was not. I paid the high price as a solo traveler and expected to be on the tour myself and with the “professional guide” that was advertised. Instead, I was picked up by a driver who picked up another tourist at my hotel who was going on another tour. We waited ½ hour for 2 others and he discovered there had been a mix-up. We subsequently dropped the other girl off at her destination and continued to mine. I was then transferred to another driver – no professional guide in view – to join a group of 5 others who had paid much less than I did. We watched the elephants for an hour and then 4 of the group met friends and we dropped the 5th person at his hotel. The driver drove me to a bead factory that he encouraged me to see and he passed me off to a girl who gave me the tour. After that, he drove me back to my hotel. There was no guiding involved and nothing I could not have done using Uber. It was a ripoff on the part of Viator and I will not use them again. I encourage anyone who does, to make sure you are getting what you paid for.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Adventure287079
Sep 6, 2025
Orphanage is not to be missed, but tour company not so good. - The elephant orphanage was a special and moving experience I will never forget. I couldn't recommend it more highly in itself. The driver was on time and was nice and helpful. However, the van was sub-par. Seatbelts didn't work and no A/C. We also didn't appreciate being taken to a commercial enterprise after the orphanage, which was not advertised as part of the tour, and we were not interested in. Fortunately, the driver was accommodating and we did not stay. We also appreciated that he pulled off the road so we could watch some baboons. Finally, I don't think the tour should advertise that it provides a guide. The driver did not provide any information about the orphanage or Nairobi, etc. even when we asked. (There is of course a guide at the orphanage itself.). I would not utilize this company again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Frances_b
Oct 26, 2025
Rip off - Total rip off. You have to pay another 80usd on top of the “tour” amount for park entry and it’s only 1 hour at the elephant orphanage (which is lovely). The rest of the time you are taken to souvenir shops and expected to buy crap. It is just an outrageously expensive ride to the elephant place
Review provided by Viator
