NAIROBI

Home to experimental chefs, edgy art galleries and eco-minded boutiques, Kenya's capital has blossomed in recent years with a lively bar scene and innovative places to eat, shop and stay.

- Sarah Marshall

Clumsy, soggy and uncomfortably abrasive — there's nothing remotely romantic about being kissed by a giraffe. Batting its femme fatale eyelashes, my suitor sticks out its purple tongue, eagerly probing for food. I hang back, as other guests pop edible pellets between their lips, inviting the hungry animals to retrieve them with a slobbery, wet snog.

Feeding a community of endangered Rothchild's giraffes is a highlight attraction for visitors to Nairobi. Founded in 1979 in a bid to boost numbers of the ailing subspecies, the Giraffe Centre in the city's upmarket Karen district is now an educational resource and one of the few places in Africa where it's possible to get so well-aquainted with the world's tallest animal.

Even more intimate shows are reserved for guests staying at the neighbouring Giraffe Manor hotel, where the gangly ungulates troop daily across manicured lawns to stick their heads through ivy-wrapped windows, or trot around the property's new spa and swimming pool.

As the capital of Kenya and a gateway to adventures in the Maasai Mara and beyond, it's no surprise wildlife takes centre stage in Nairobi: a national park lies at the heart of the city and pockets of protected forest fringe its outskirts. But in the past few years, East Africa's electrifyingly creative hub has wrestled free of its safari roots.

Across the city, experimental chefs have opened restaurants on organic farms, in wooden cabins or in partnership with boutique hotels. Proving there's more to African cuisine than traditional meat and maize staples, menus are varied, combining local flavours with international techniques.