Can You Feed the Giraffes at Giraffe House?

Not for a walk-up fee. Giraffe House's own site, near Stellenbosch, lists general animal food for treating whichever animals are out, not a giraffe feeding you can just pay for at the gate, and giraffe-specific contact only comes through its pre-booked One on One Giraffe Experience, whose price and content the site doesn't publish. If you'd rather not book ahead, farmyard feeding sessions run on weekends and during school holidays -- just not with the giraffes.

What not to miss

Featured location Giraffe House Stellenbosch, South Africa Giraffe House is a zoo in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Giraffe House opened in April 2007 as an educational centre, built around four giraffes -- including Gerry, hand-reared on site -- that act as ambassadors for their wild counterparts. The website makes the conservation case plainly:

The wild African giraffe population is declining – in the 1980s, the total number of all giraffe in Africa was estimated at more than 155,000 individuals. Today, the current Africa-wide giraffe population is estimated at approximately less than 111,000 individuals.

Beyond the giraffes, the site lists the eland (its biggest antelope), the blue duiker (its smallest), an ostrich, South Africa's national animal the springbok and national bird the blue crane, plus meerkat, caracal, crocodile, porcupine, zebra and owl. Some animal food is sold on site to treat whichever of these animals are out, and the venue says it doesn't encourage forced interaction -- so treat sessions are opportunistic rather than a scheduled show.

A short drive away, Exotic Animal World is a different kind of stop: a rescue sanctuary for more than 700 exotic animals -- including spiders, snakes, monkeys, meerkats, scorpions and many species of bird -- all either donated by previous owners or confiscated by local authorities. It opened in November 1996 as Butterfly World, founded by zoologist Esther van der Westhuizen and her mother Matty Pretorius, and rebranded when the Covid-19 pandemic made importing butterfly pupae impossible -- the sanctuary side of the business is what survived. Its message, "Appreciate, Don't Keep," runs through daily animal demonstrations at 11am and 3pm and an enclosed tropical garden where you can walk among free-roaming lemurs and birds without getting wet, rain or shine.

Tickets and saving money

Giraffe House charges R90 for adults, R65 for pensioners and R60 for children aged 2-15, as of September 2026. Exotic Animal World charges R88 for adults, R49 for children, R79 for students and pensioners, and R225 for a family of two adults and two children; under-3s go free, and the venue says it hasn't raised its fees since 2018.

Getting there

Giraffe House is at the corner of the R304 and R101 in Muldersvlei, Cape Town, 7600. Exotic Animal World is on Route 44 in Klapmuts, 7625.

With kids and accessibility

Giraffe House has no restaurant: bring your own picnic basket (no alcohol permitted), or buy drinks and snacks from the on-site Giraffic Eats Kiosk. Its play area has two public jungle gyms and a lawn. Tap water isn't suitable for drinking, so buy bottled water at the kiosk or bring your own. The site advises a hat, sunscreen and water in summer, and gumboots or old shoes with warm clothing in winter -- it's an open-air venue.

Exotic Animal World's Café Lemur is a proper sit-down option, with inside seating overlooking its rescue parrots and ring-tailed lemurs and outside seating by an aviary of canaries, parakeets, chinchillas and doves. Its enclosed tropical garden also makes it the better fallback if the weather turns.