Nairobi- The city under the sun guidebook
Sightseeing
Come face-to-face with Africa’s unique wildlife at the capital’s most-visited tourist attraction which is 117 sq km (45 sq mile) Nairobi National Park, which borders the southeastern suburbs of the city. This remarkable tract of open grassland and acacia savannah is fenced on the city side, in order to protect residents of the capital from regular visitors by lions and other potentially dangerous beasts, but it remains unfenced to the south, allowing the wildlife to move freely between the national park and the bordering Athi Plains.
The park exists because Nairobi stands in an area that once supported prodigious herds of wildlife, comparable in number to the legendary Mara-Serengeti to the southwest. Animals were so prolific in the early days that nightwatchmen along Nairobi’s main thoroughfare (then Station Road, now Moi Avenue) used to be protected within lock-up sentry boxes. A soldier of the time, Col. Richard Meinertzhagen, recalled at least two race meetings being disrupted by rhinos.
The populace may not have wholly welcomed the presence of wild animals in the centre of town, but they seem to have recognised the cachet of having the wildlife around. Most of the Athi Plains were sold and settled, but a large area to the southwest of town was reserved as Nairobi Commonage. A few Somali herdsmen and their families were allowed to live there (as a reward for military service rendered to the Crown), but otherwise the land was left wild. During both world wars the Commonage was taken over as a weapons range, and the wildlife accordingly took a hammering. But in 1945 the land was gazetted a national park – the first in Kenya.
Since then, buffalo and rhino have been reintroduced, so that the full range of the area’s original fauna has been reassembled, with the notable exception of elephant. Today, Nairobi National Park is one of the best places in Kenya to see white rhino, and lion and cheetah are also likely to be encountered stalking the plains. Other wildlife includes eland, impala, Coke’s hartebeest, gazelle, zebra, giraffe and more than 400 species of bird, ranging from colourful weavers and rollers to bulky vultures and prim secretary birds, and it is a good place to seek the localised northern pied babbler.
In order to see a good range of wildlife, however, you usually need to dedicate a few hours to the park, ideally starting at 6am, when the entrance gates open and animals are most active, rather than waiting for the more normal post-breakfast departure.
visit www.kws.go.ke for more information
Tel: 020 600 0800/600 2345
202 moradores locais recomendam
National Park
Come face-to-face with Africa’s unique wildlife at the capital’s most-visited tourist attraction which is 117 sq km (45 sq mile) Nairobi National Park, which borders the southeastern suburbs of the city. This remarkable tract of open grassland and acacia savannah is fenced on the city side, in order to protect residents of the capital from regular visitors by lions and other potentially dangerous beasts, but it remains unfenced to the south, allowing the wildlife to move freely between the national park and the bordering Athi Plains.
The park exists because Nairobi stands in an area that once supported prodigious herds of wildlife, comparable in number to the legendary Mara-Serengeti to the southwest. Animals were so prolific in the early days that nightwatchmen along Nairobi’s main thoroughfare (then Station Road, now Moi Avenue) used to be protected within lock-up sentry boxes. A soldier of the time, Col. Richard Meinertzhagen, recalled at least two race meetings being disrupted by rhinos.
The populace may not have wholly welcomed the presence of wild animals in the centre of town, but they seem to have recognised the cachet of having the wildlife around. Most of the Athi Plains were sold and settled, but a large area to the southwest of town was reserved as Nairobi Commonage. A few Somali herdsmen and their families were allowed to live there (as a reward for military service rendered to the Crown), but otherwise the land was left wild. During both world wars the Commonage was taken over as a weapons range, and the wildlife accordingly took a hammering. But in 1945 the land was gazetted a national park – the first in Kenya.
Since then, buffalo and rhino have been reintroduced, so that the full range of the area’s original fauna has been reassembled, with the notable exception of elephant. Today, Nairobi National Park is one of the best places in Kenya to see white rhino, and lion and cheetah are also likely to be encountered stalking the plains. Other wildlife includes eland, impala, Coke’s hartebeest, gazelle, zebra, giraffe and more than 400 species of bird, ranging from colourful weavers and rollers to bulky vultures and prim secretary birds, and it is a good place to seek the localised northern pied babbler.
In order to see a good range of wildlife, however, you usually need to dedicate a few hours to the park, ideally starting at 6am, when the entrance gates open and animals are most active, rather than waiting for the more normal post-breakfast departure.
visit www.kws.go.ke for more information
Tel: 020 600 0800/600 2345
The Nairobi National Museum reopened in 2008 following a long period of closure for renovations. Founded in 1910, it is one of the oldest museums in East Africa, and it houses some truly fascinating artefacts, notably a pair of ivory ceremonial Siwa Horns crafted on Pate Island in 1688, several of Joy Adamson’s famous ethnographic paintings and a collection of 700 hominid fossils, only a few of which are actually on display. An extensive zoological collection includes a life-size replica of the famous elephant Ahmed – the largest tusker in Kenya at the time of independence, and accorded special protection by President Kenyatta – along with a collection of stuffed oddities that are seldom seen in the flesh, for instance aardvark, giant forest hog and okapi (a relative of the giraffe endemic to the Congo). If stuffed animals aren’t your thing, be warned that the adjacent Snake Park is also likely to feel somewhat dispiriting to anybody who enjoys seeing animals alive and unfettered.
Visit www.museums.or.ke for more information
Tel: 020 374 2878
291 moradores locais recomendam
Nairobi National Museum
101 Muthithi RdThe Nairobi National Museum reopened in 2008 following a long period of closure for renovations. Founded in 1910, it is one of the oldest museums in East Africa, and it houses some truly fascinating artefacts, notably a pair of ivory ceremonial Siwa Horns crafted on Pate Island in 1688, several of Joy Adamson’s famous ethnographic paintings and a collection of 700 hominid fossils, only a few of which are actually on display. An extensive zoological collection includes a life-size replica of the famous elephant Ahmed – the largest tusker in Kenya at the time of independence, and accorded special protection by President Kenyatta – along with a collection of stuffed oddities that are seldom seen in the flesh, for instance aardvark, giant forest hog and okapi (a relative of the giraffe endemic to the Congo). If stuffed animals aren’t your thing, be warned that the adjacent Snake Park is also likely to feel somewhat dispiriting to anybody who enjoys seeing animals alive and unfettered.
Visit www.museums.or.ke for more information
Tel: 020 374 2878
Learn more about the famed book-turned-movie, Out of Africa, and its author at the Karen Blixen Museum
The Karen Blixen Museum comprises Karen Blixen’s old house, complete with period furnishings and memorabilia both of her time in Kenya and of the shooting of the film Out of Africa, and it is set within a charming garden that commands a lovely view of the Ngong Hills. The museum staff take visitors on guided tours of the house and grounds, and explain how Blixen managed the coffee plantation.
Visit www.museums.or.ke/karen-blixen/ for more information
Tel: 020 800 2139
150 moradores locais recomendam
Museu Karen Blixen
Karen RoadLearn more about the famed book-turned-movie, Out of Africa, and its author at the Karen Blixen Museum
The Karen Blixen Museum comprises Karen Blixen’s old house, complete with period furnishings and memorabilia both of her time in Kenya and of the shooting of the film Out of Africa, and it is set within a charming garden that commands a lovely view of the Ngong Hills. The museum staff take visitors on guided tours of the house and grounds, and explain how Blixen managed the coffee plantation.
Visit www.museums.or.ke/karen-blixen/ for more information
Tel: 020 800 2139
Masai Mara National Reserve is home to the legendary wildebeest migration for three months of the year, and to the feline stars of TV’s Big Cat Diaries throughout.
40 moradores locais recomendam
Masai Mara National Reserve
Masai Mara National Reserve is home to the legendary wildebeest migration for three months of the year, and to the feline stars of TV’s Big Cat Diaries throughout.
See all the work being done to save Africa’s elephant population at the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage
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Creche de elefantes e rinocerontes
See all the work being done to save Africa’s elephant population at the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage
City/town information
Nairobi, Kenya is a relatively young city with vibrant life and verdant surroundings. Enjoy views of the Nairobi River, scale nearby mountains, catch glimpses of lions, rhinos and antelopes in one of Nairobi’s many national parks and spend a day out of the sun in one of this African metropolis’ plentiful museums. Travel to Nairobi for an exciting adventure you won’t soon forget.
63 moradores locais recomendam
Nairobi
Nairobi, Kenya is a relatively young city with vibrant life and verdant surroundings. Enjoy views of the Nairobi River, scale nearby mountains, catch glimpses of lions, rhinos and antelopes in one of Nairobi’s many national parks and spend a day out of the sun in one of this African metropolis’ plentiful museums. Travel to Nairobi for an exciting adventure you won’t soon forget.
Drive a short distance to the neighboring city of Thika and admire the beauty of Fourteen Falls
Thika
Drive a short distance to the neighboring city of Thika and admire the beauty of Fourteen Falls