This is really a zoo. Animals end up here because they have a problem in the wild and it is great they have this refuge. For tourists it was very expensive for what it was...$20 each or something. It is inexpensive for Kenyans which is a good thing as it allows many school children to see animals they would not otherwise see. If you don't have time give it a miss.

If you are ready to go to the Masai Mara safari, you won't want to come here, they changed the rules, you can't touch the little lion and the cheetah, every person for a real touch animal who is disappointed .

We took our 4 year old niece to this attraction today and had the most negative experience of my time in Kenya.

Firstly, one website mentioned the feeding time as 1pm, so we rushed through traffic to get there. After we had paid, we were told it was at 2.30pm, so we wanted to take our 4 year old to the cafe to get a sandwich and come back for the feeding. As we had just paid (over $50USD for 3 adults and a child, I might add) they refused to let us leave and come back - even though we had not began our journey into the park. After some discussion on the (lack of) logic of this, we asked to speak to a manager. We then waited 10 minutes to be told the manager refused to come and speak to us. Having paid the money, we decided to at least walk around before leaving to feed our child. This unreasonable policy made it an incredible waste of time and money for us and reduced the enjoyment factor of our whole day out.

After deciding to wait until 2.30 for the feeding, we were disappointed to then be told (by the same staff who had told us the feeding would be at 2.30pm that the feeding would happen by 3pm or later). We then left, hot, hungry, and disappointed with the experience.

The attraction itself is also a bit depressing. Most of the animals are in dilapidated cages with little room to move around, even the big cats. One cheetah was pacing 4 meters and turning and pacing over and over and we all found it quite distressing. Although this animal was orphaned, there was nothing physically wrong with it, and there seems no reason that most of the animals should not be rehabilitated into the wild. The toilet facility was also disgusting, essentially it was a whole in the ground, laced with faeces around the rim, no toilet paper, and no soap for hand washing.

Finally, I make the point that the staff - particularly the uniformed KWS staff were incredibly rude to us as a family. The door staff lacked any form of customer service and it was very difficult to get clear information from anyone. We do not recommend anyone waste their time, energy, or money visiting this attraction.

The elephant orphanage (just down the road) is a far superior place and there at least they help the animals back into the wild.

The animals are all in small cages and there is little if no information about why they were there and what was happening to them. The only upside was that we did see a Zedonk (Zebra crossed with a Donkey). If you see the giraffe center and the Sheldrake Elephant orphange this will be a big disappointment.