Going on an African safari is an aspiration that every budding traveler should purpose to check off their bucket list. Perhaps you want to squeeze a game drive into an otherwise packed trip to Kenya; the country’s capital city makes it a possible experience.
A Sprawling Safari Park in the City
Just a short drive from the central business district, the Nairobi National Park harbors wide open grass plains featuring diverse habitats. The nature retreat also houses various wildlife, with the added treat of the city’s skyscrapers visible in the backdrop.
Touted as the world’s only national park found within a city, it might be smaller in area than other reserves, but its makeup is very diverse.
The park occupies about 45 square miles (117 square kilometers and features scattered acacia trees, open plains, and grasslands. Riverine forests, rocky gorges, a highland forest, and broken brushes also form its landscape.
The Animals
A recorded 400 animal species inhabit the Nairobi National Park. Visitors can go on game drives where they will enjoy the sights of wildlife roaming freely in their natural habitats.
Predators like hyenas, cheetahs, leopards, and lions stay within the reserve. Baboons, hippopotamuses, waterbucks, black rhinos, gazelles, buffalos, giraffes, and wildebeests are other wildlife species visitors can expect to see.
Diverse bird species, including ostriches, hornbills, black-necked herons, and Egyptian Geese, offer an exhilarating bird-watching experience.
Other Things to Do Within The Nairobi National Park
There are several picnic sites alongside three campsites within the park. These facilities welcome corporate event planners, team-building groups, weddings, bush dinners parties and content creators working on photography or video projects.
The ivory burning site is another area that allows visitors to disembark their vehicles and explore the site. Tons of rhino horns and elephant tusks, burned by the nation’s former president as a deterrent to the illegal ivory trade, rest on the site.
Adjacent to the National Park, the Nairobi Safari Walk and Animal Orphanage is worth a visit. You can get up close with big cats in enclosed areas at the Nairobi Safari Walk.
Except for sculptures found at the ivory burning site, the elephant is perhaps the only “Big Five” animal you won’t see within the National Park. You can still set your eyes on the wondrous mammal by scheduling a visit to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is 10 miles (17 kilometers) from the National Park.
Plan a Trip to the Nairobi National Park
The Kenya Wildlife Service offers private vans that take tourists around the park. Several private tour companies also provide game drive services, which include a 4WD vehicle accompanied by a driver, who also doubles as the tour guide in most cases.
It’s also possible to secure a private 2WD vehicle for the game drive, given that the roads within the park are well-maintained and navigable. In the rainy season, which usually falls between June to August, it is best to brave the grounds aboard a 4WD vehicle.
Links:
Kenya Wildlife Service
https://www.kws.go.ke/parks/nairobi-national-park
David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/
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