Nairobi National Park
Expert Reviews (11)
Kenya Parks
Lizzie is a reputed guidebook writer and author of the Footprint guides to South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Game-viewing with a cityscape
Only a 20-minute drive from the city centre, the uniqueness of this park is its closeness to Nairobi – most visitors get to take that photograph of a zebra or giraffe browsing peacefully with the downtown skyscrapers rising beyond. I’ve always found my game viewing easy here, the gravel roads across the grassy savannah are suitable for normal cars (a taxi can take you), and the park staff usually know exactly where lion, cheetah or rhino can be located at any time. But its smallness and semi-urban location did give me the sense of it not being in the wild and it takes on the feel of a safari park when there are lots of other vehicles (try and avoid the weekends). I wouldn’t make a special effort to go to Nairobi just to visit it, but instead it acts as a wonderful precursor to a safari in Kenya’s larger parks – or afterwards if you’ve missed one of the Big Five such as black rhino or buffalo. All in all half a day here is enough to spot a fair variety of game, and it’s amazing that within one hour you can go from a hip coffee shop to photographing some of the animals and birds you are expecting to see in Kenya.
Nana is a travel writer and author of multiple guidebooks, including the Lonely Planet guides to Africa, Zambia & Malawi and South Africa.
Giraffes and skyscrapers
Just a short drive from the big city, Nairobi National Park isn’t exactly a wilderness destination, but if you don’t have the time to visit one of the country’s better-known parks then this is a good option. Nairobi encroaches upon the park on several sides, making for unusual photo opportunities such as giraffe browsing peacefully amongst the thorn trees with the city skyline as a backdrop.
Lion, buffalo, rhino, leopard, giraffe, impala and zebra are well represented here and those keen on seeing cute baby elephants can visit the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage close to the main entrance of the park.
Stephen is a travel writer and avid conservationist whose work appears in prestigious magazines such as Africa Geographic and Travel Africa.
City Safari
Nairobi National park is located within a stone’s throw of downtown Nairobi. The park’s wide-open grass plains and scattered acacias are juxtaposed against a backdrop of city skyscrapers and noisy highways, ensuring that this park scores lowest marks in terms of ‘wilderness vibe’. There is, however, something very unique and surreal about taking a game drive and seeing a surprising variety of wildlife right amidst the capital city.
Aside from the endangered black rhino and lion, you stand a chance of spotting the more reclusive leopard, cheetah and hyena, although my experience has been that healthy populations of buffalo, giraffe, general game and abundant birdlife are more reliably sighted.
Along with Lewa, Nairobi National Park is Kenya’s foremost black rhino sanctuary, but the reserve is probably most famous for the highly publicized burning of Kenya’s ivory stockpiles in front of the international media: an unequivocal statement from Kenya that the ivory trade should never resume.
Dale is a multi-award-winning writer and photographer with more than 500 published magazine articles featured in magazines such as National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Travel Africa, and CNN Travel.
Genuine Wildlife a Stone’s Throw Away From the City
The photographs I had seen of wild animals against the backdrop of a big city had given me the impression that Nairobi National Park was nothing more than a simulacrum of Kenya’s wonderful wilderness. A fake zoo of sorts.
But after my first visit, my preconceptions were shattered – perhaps not into tiny little pieces – but shattered nonetheless.
You don’t actually see the high-rise buildings from within the majority of this fairly small (117km2/45mi2) reserve, and for the bulk of the two days I spent there, I often felt I was truly in the bush, a million miles away from the trappings of human civilization. Occasionally, a Boeing would fly low overhead, or the wind would change direction, and I would hear the sound of distant traffic, but otherwise, the ambience is one of genuine wilderness.
I also thought it would be fully fenced, but this also turned out to be a misconception on my behalf. There are river crossings and wildlife corridors to the south, leading to the much larger Kitengela Game Conservation Area, and as such, animals are free to roam in and out as they please.
It’s is a great place to stay (or visit) if you must be in or near Nairobi. And what’s more, it’s possible to get there within half an hour of leaving the airport.
You’ll likely see lions and cheetahs. Hippos and rhinos too. And with more than 500 bird species recorded, it really is a twitcher’s paradise.
Anthony is a photographer and writer for travel magazines and Lonely Planet, including the guides to Kenya and Botswana & Namibia.
1 person found this review helpful.
Kenya’s Capital Park
It can feel pretty incongruous searching for wildlife within sight of city skyscrapers, but Nairobi National Park is no ordinary park. Founded as one of Africa’s first parks in 1946 ostensibly to keep wild animals out of the city’s streets, the park has since become an important refuge for the black rhino – with more than fifty in residence, it’s the most densely populated collection of black rhinos on earth; on a recent afternoon in the park, I saw ten black rhinos. Lion, leopard and cheetah are also present, along with hyena, buffalo, wildebeest and zebra, although sadly no elephants roam the park. The birdlife – more than 400 recorded species, almost as many as in the entire UK but within just 117 sq km of park – is extraordinary for a park of this size. Despite the park’s proliferation of wildlife, the proximity to Nairobi means that it’s always busy and I always feel a safari here is like an appetizer for the main event, a fine way to spend an afternoon while in Nairobi before heading out into the wilderness for a real safari.
Stuart is a travel writer and author of numerous Lonely Planet guidebooks, including 'Kenya', 'Rwanda' and 'Tanzania'.
1 person found this review helpful.
Tower Block Safari
I can’t say enough good things about Nairobi National Park. I’ve visited the park numerous times over the years and have never had a disappointing safari. The park is situated hard up against the city of Nairobi and for those who want a ‘pristine’ wilderness experience then Nairobi National Park, with its backdrop of tower blocks, is quite definitely not going to suffice. But for straight out quality wildlife viewing including all the Big Five bar elephants, amazingly easy access (I’ve been on an evening safari here and half an hour later been checked in for an international flight home) then no other park can come close. I don’t think I have ever been on a safari here and not seen rhino (both black and white). I’ve also watched lions hunt warthog not once but twice and even witnessed cheetah hunting. There’s a lot of plains game here including herds of zebra, impala, buffalo and plenty of birdlife (over 400 species), beautiful, rolling savannah scenery and, despite it being just moments from the city centre you can often have the place much to yourself (avoid weekends and holidays though).
There are now a couple of upmarket lodges and camps within or close to the edge of the park meaning that you can be enjoying the full Africa safari experience within minutes of leaving the international airport. Also, I can think of almost no other park that is so perfect for a family safari with younger children – even more so if you combine it with a visit to the nearby Giraffe Centre and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust where you can play with orphaned baby elephants and rhinos.
Kim is a travel writer who authored and updated over 15 guidebooks, including Lonely Planet's South Africa and Bradt's Tanzania guides.
2 people found this review helpful.
Out of Nairobi
For anyone spending a few days in Nairobi, a tour of Nairobi National Park should be at the top of your must see list – unless you’re already gamed-out, that is. In the dry season, this wonderful wildlife sanctuary, which literally lies at the edge of the city, teems with game. It’s certainly one of the best places in Kenya for seeing rhino, lion and cheetah at very close range and also one of the best places to see servals for anyone with a cat fetish. On my last visit we easily spied zebras, Cape buffalo, rhino, hartebeest, elands, crocodile and a brand new baby giraffe. At the hippo pool there is an armed guide who’ll walk you along the river to several pools frequented by hippos. There are also plenty of opportunities for bird watching. On leaving the park, I’d suggest you loop back to Nairobi through the leafy outer suburb of Karen - once the home of Karen Blixen of Out of Africa fame – and visit the museum set up in her former home which looks out over the Ngong Hills, under which Blixen’s lover Denys Finch-Hatton is buried. And don’t miss nearby Giraffe Manor where you can eye-ball a giraffe and feed them straight from your hand.
Emma is an award-winning travel writer for Rough Guides, National Geographic Traveller, Travel Africa magazine and The Independent.
3 people found this review helpful.
A host of wildlife, right on the capital’s doorstep
There’s something rather surreal about the sight of a small herd of wildebeest or buffalo, a pair of giraffes or even a cheetah and her cubs pacing across a grassy plain within sight of a city centre. These are not zoo animals – they’re wild – but I had to keep reminding myself of this whenever I lowered my binoculars from an animal sighting and once again caught a glimpse of Nairobi’s distant towerblocks through the heat haze.
I’d recommend Nairobi National Park if you’re on a brief visit to Nairobi, or are in transit, and have a few hours in the early morning or late afternoon to spare between appointments or flights – it’s quick and easy to get to from the city centre and the sense of being out in the wilds is surprisingly satisfying.
Philip is an acclaimed travel writer and author of many guidebooks, including the Bradt guides to Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.
4 people found this review helpful.
A Top Safari Experience Bordering The Capital
This remarkable and in many respects unique national park borders the southeastern suburbs of Nairobi, the bustling capital of Kenya. Though fenced on the city side, for obvious reasons, the park remains unfenced to the south, allowing wildlife from the bordering Athi Plains to move in and out freely, although growing human populations are increasingly blocking this route. Game viewing can be erratic, but it is often very good – on our most recent overnight stay at Nairobi Tented Camp, in 2024, we encountered good numbers of both black and white rhino, came across a young male lion up a tree, and also saw plenty of giraffe, buffalo, baboon, eland and various smaller antelope. The birdlife is exceptional too, with large ground dwellers such as ostrich, grey crowned crane and secretary bird found alongside the colourful likes of superb starling, yellow-throated spurfowl and purple grenadier, as well as the localised northern pied babbler. In our experience, the best time to be here is first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon, when animals are most active. A striking feature of the park is the distinctive skyline of the city centre, which can be seen from several vantage points. Indeed, Nairobi National Park as a whole pays heartening testament to the tenacity of large wildlife within roaring distance of one of Africa’s largest cities.
Ariadne is a renowned African wildlife photographer whose work is featured in many well-known guidebooks and magazines.
5 people found this review helpful.
Nairobi National Park – wilderness in an urban setting
After many visits to Kenya, I finally decided to have a look at Nairobi National Park. It’s location in the city never appealed to me, but for the particular photo commission I had taken on, I needed a picture of animals against the Nairobi skyline. Although I’ve seen many great images like this taken in this park, it is easier said than done. In fact the repeated images showing this, might give you a wrong idea. Most of the park doesn’t give a view of the skyline at all and it is quite easy to forget you’re in the city a lot of the time. I visited in the rainy season and it poured down with rain, but the game viewing was very good and certainly exceeded expectations. We saw a lioness hunting and several rhino, which is said to be very rare. Next time I’ll have a spare day in Nairobi, I’ll go again!
Mark is a travel writer who grew up in Africa and has written over 700 titles for Condé Nast Traveller, Travel Africa, BBC Wildlife and others.
13 people found this review helpful.
Unspoiled savannah in the shadow of the concrete jungle
Within 20 minutes of collecting my bag at Nairobi international airport I’m already driving through seemingly endless savannah on the trail of hunting lions. Nairobi National Park is often overlooked – and occasionally actively scorned – by inexperienced safari ‘aficionados’ who see it as little more than an urban safari park. In fact Nairobi NP deserves recognition as an incredible wilderness region where great herds of zebra and antelope graze alongside herds of several hundred buffalo. Despite its location, right on the edge of the city, Nairobi National Park boasts about 80 rhino and a population of lions that is almost too large for the area. Recently two wonderful accommodation options have opened here (Emakoko Lodge and Nairobi Tented Camp) and it is to be hoped that more people will realize that you can now start your safari within a few minutes of leaving the airport…rather than have to battle across town to an inner-city hotel through Nairobi’s notorious traffic.
Safari Tours to Nairobi NP
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![8-Day Northern Kenya Luxury Safari]()
8-Day Northern Kenya Luxury Safari
$7,019 to $9,315 pp (USD)
Kenya: Private tourLuxuryLodge & Hotel
You Visit: Nairobi (Start), Laikipia Plateau, Nairobi NP, Nairobi (End)
Wayfairer Travel
4.8/5 – 172 Reviews
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![12-Day Incredible Kenya - Masai Mara to Mountains]()
12-Day Incredible Kenya - Masai Mara to Mountains
$13,283 pp (USD)
Kenya: Private tourLuxuryLodge & Tented Camp
You Visit: Nairobi (Start), Nairobi NP, Masai Mara NR, Lewa Conservancy (Laikipia Plateau), Ngare Ndare Forest, Matthews Range (Mountain Range), Reteti (Elephant Sanctuary), Nairobi (End)
Viatu
5.0/5 – 64 Reviews
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1-Day Nairobi National Park Safari Tour
$132 pp (USD)
Kenya: Day tourPrivate tour
You Visit: Nairobi (Start), Nairobi NP, Nairobi (End)
Journeys Beyond Africa
5.0/5 – 61 Reviews
