You can easily see giraffes on a safari, but we bet you’d also enjoy watching these long-legged animals from the comfort of a luxurious hotel. If you want to get as close as possible to giraffes but don’t want to rough it, Giraffe Manor — where the animals literally crane their necks over your breakfast — is the perfect wildlife experience without actually venturing into the wild.

A small hotel in Kenya’s Lang’ata suburb, just outside Nairobi, Giraffe Manor is home to several endangered Rothschild giraffes. The hotel operates a breeding program to reintroduce breeding pairs back into the wild to ensure the species’ survival. The hotel is set on 12 acres of private land within 140 acres of indigenous forests and dates back to the 1930s.

Photo: Giraffe Manor/Facebook

Photo: Giraffe Manor/Facebook

According to the hotel, “With [our] stately façade, elegant interior, verdant green gardens, sunny terraces and delightful courtyards, guests often remark that it’s like walking into the film Out of Africa.”

Photo:Giraffe Manor/Facebook

Photo: Giraffe Manor/Facebook

However, the main draw is the giraffes themselves, which often poke their necks through the windows every morning and evening, hoping to

It takes approximately two days after the start of spring before our short attention spans kick in and we start longing for summer. June is the official start of summer, the month when we can lock our scarves, sweatpants, and inhibitions away in a closet for three months knowing we won’t need them anytime soon. It’s also when we start dreaming about a vacation. For many of us, this summer might be the first time we feel comfortable traveling in over a year — so you might as well make it count. Rather than revisit the old standbys, make your first post-lockdown summer vacation in the US special. Whether it’s the islands of the Great Lakes or the beaches of the deep South, there are nine of the best unexpected June destinations in the US.

1. Wolfeboro, New Hampshire

New Hampshire is New England’s playground, and usually, they keep it to themselves. For travelers coming from other parts of the country, New Hampshire’s lakes, forests, and mountains often lose out to the beaches of Cape Cod or the coast of Maine. Make this the summer of New Hampshire — specifically Wolfeboro.

Located right on Lake Winnipesaukee,

The National Park Service is doing its part to encourage Americans to get outdoors. It’s waiving park entry fees six times this year, and one of those days is coming up this weekend — Saturday, April 17.

Saturday’s free entry day is in honor of the start of National Park Week, a weeklong celebration of the country’s natural beauty. While not all national parks charge for entry, those that do will be completely free on Saturday, making some of the United States’ most beautiful natural places accessible to everyone.

Although the parks themselves will be free to enter, activities within the park like tours, transportation, and camping will still retain their fees. The free entry, however, should make these fees more manageable.

National Park Week takes place from April 17 to April 25, with parks across the country hosting a range of programs, events, and digital experiences. According to the NPS, “Every April, during the presidentially proclaimed National Park Week, we join with the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, to celebrate America’s treasures.”

Other national parks’ free entrance days this year include:

• August 4 for the one-year anniversary of the Great American