Giraffe House — Attraction in Stellenbosch Local Municipality

Our experience today as a black family was very disappointing. We got to the place and the attitude at the front reception we received was very unwelcoming.

The staff was very rude. We petted some of the goats and we were told not to and we stopped. We were then constantly being followed around by the staff while other families weren’t being followed at all, and we were accused of throwing stones at the animals when we did no such thing. We were being treated like criminals and they made the experience very unpleasant.

At 16:59 we went to use the bathroom at the entrance before leaving and one of the staff members (a white young male) rudely walked into the toilet and told my partner and his father to stop using the toilet while they were busy. He said they close at 5 pm and then they said they are nearly done, and he said “you can’t be done if your pants is still down” while they were urinating. He disregarded their privacy and human dignity. It was highly disrespectful. We had just come to spend some time with our family but we were met with these kinds of experiences instead. I’m very disappointed by this and I hope that management will do something to educate their staff on how to...

Years ago, coins and cash were a much bigger part of daily life than they are today. Personally, I prefer using my card and avoiding cash altogether, but there’s a nostalgic charm to those coins—each bearing an animal emblem that many of us grew up recognizing. Visiting Giraffe House brought those coins to life for me, offering the chance to see the animals depicted on our currency up close. Conveniently located not far from where I live, it has become one of my go-to spots. While many of the animals are kept in enclosures, making photography a bit tricky, it’s gratifying to support a local initiative dedicated to conservation and education. Sadly, some facilities like this struggle to stay open, and closures often result in animals being relocated elsewhere. When I visit, I make it a point to grab a bite from their snack bar. It’s a small but enjoyable part of the experience, especially after wandering around the grounds. Giraffes are always a highlight, with their long, prehensile tongues that seem to have a personality of their own—it’s both amusing and fascinating to watch...

The Giraffe House is a zoo located just outside of Cape Town, in Paarl. As much as it’s a child friendly establishment and educational facility (teaching one about the various animals/species), the experience was a little disheartening. The animals aren’t endangered and are kept in cages, not giving them much ground to live in their natural habitat. The enclosure of the spaces don’t allow the animals to freely roam, and somehow, it felt a little cruel taking them out of their habitat and putting them in such enclosed spaces/cages.

The animals are dependent on their feeding times, and there aren’t enough trees to feed them throughout the day. There’s also minimal shade for the animals to even find a place to comfortably rest. I’ve visited sanctuaries in Kenya, where Giraffes and Elephants have sufficient hectares to live on, but this experience was a little different.

Sadly, these animals will never be able to be released into the wild. The experience felt more like a depressing one than an uplifting one knowing this is their reality, and seeing these animals live in...