If you wish to get a taste of Kenya’s parks but are unable to do so probably due to limited time or budget, a visit to Nairobi National Park will do. It is distinctive in two ways. It is a representation of what most of the country’s parks have to offer considering that it teems with most of the wildlife found in them(most of which can be seen in a 1-3 hours game drive). Additionally, it is quick and easy to access from both the country’s main airport, as well as the city center.
Accordingly, it can easily fit into your itinerary. Most importantly, it offers a surprisingly satisfying sense of being out in the wild. During your game drive, expect to see giraffes, cheetahs, rhinos, hartebeest, elands, Cape buffalo, elands, and lions at very close range. There’s something rather surreal seeing these animals across a grassy plain within sight of a city center. These are tamed or habituated, there are very wild in the wilderness– but so many of our clients have to keep reminding themselves of this especially when they lower their binoculars from an animal sighting only to catch a glimpse of Nairobi’s skyscrapers through the heat haze.
Of all the big five, its only elephants missing in the park, but there are lots of alternative opportunities for unusual pictures, scenic waterways, ridges, a beautiful patch of an indigenous forest, as well as cliffs. The safari walk at the entrance of the park meanders through a beautiful patch of indigenous forest.
If you have a cat fetish like we do, you will certainly leave the park with a smile as there are lots of servals. During your tour, you will have a good balance of a game drive and bushwalk. At the hippo pool, you will walk along the river to many pools where hippos take a chill. Nairobi National Park is also excellent for bird-watching. Over 500 bird species have been recorded here, including species like the restricted-range Jackson’s widowbird. Notables in the open savannah include secretary birds, ostriches, and bustards.
A tour of Nairobi National Park can be combined with a visit to the nearby leafy outer suburb of Karen which is home to the Karen Blixen museum. You equally can’t miss the nearby Giraffe Manor for an opportunity to hand-feed giraffes while you are at eye-level with them.