While planning our trip to Africa, we read a book “Raising Daisy Rothschild” by Betty Leslie-Mellville, a fascinating account of how she and her husband were rescuing and supporting a rare and endangered species; the Rothschild’s Giraffe. (It’s a great read and still available in print.) This is the rarest species of Giraffe; recent estimates (2016) list the population at 1600 animals.
After our arrival in Kenya, we were able to locate her estate quite easily. Although we had not made any prior arrangements, we were warmly welcomed by Betty and her husband, Jock. They insisted we stay with them ; we were thrilled to get up-close and personal with her entire menagerie, which included Walter the Warthog, who freely roamed the yard. Since our guest room was on the second floor we could look out of our window and be face-to-face with a real live Giraffe! We didn’t stay long, because we were eager to get on with the rest of our great African adventure; but the time we spent with Betty and Daisy was, and remains very special.
Betty founded the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife USA , and was one of the first people who became active in educating the children of Kenya, ( most of whom had never seen wildlife) about their national treasure of wildlife.
Sadly, she passed away in 2005. Fortunately, her son continues to manage her wildlife sanctuary at Giraffe Manor in Kenya.
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