Nairobi: A modern city with ultra-modern facilities

A modern city with ultra-modern facilities, Nairobi is the capital of Kenya. It is also an international center of commerce with a thriving café culture and bustling nightlife. Kenya’s biggest city has plenty of places to visit and party. During the day you can visit colorful markets, animal sanctuaries, and diverse museums. The cultural markets provide a wide variety of African curios, jewelry, and Art. There are also Tropical fruits and flowers on sale. Nairobi also boasts of numerous international conference and hotel facilities.

Railway Museum

On exhibit at the Railway, the museum is old steam locomotives, including the one from which Superintendent John Lyall was taken by a “man-eating lion” in Tsavo in 1901.

Nairobi National Park

Established in 1946, Nairobi National Park is a unique Wildlife sanctuary seven kilometers from the city center. The 117 sq. km facility contains over 50 species of mammals, including four of the “big five” except elephants.
They include the Black rhinoceros, diverse birdlife large predators (lion, leopard, hyena, and cheetah), and aggregations of large herbivores (eland, buffalo, zebra, and wildebeest). Other attractions inside the park are the Ivory Burning Site Monument, some historic rock art in the form of paintings, and hippo pools.
The best time for game drives in the Park is early in the morning or late in the afternoon. A verandah of the Ranger’s Restaurant adjacent to the Orphanage faces a floodlit water hole, favored by many of the Park wildlife and one can view the animals in their natural setting.

Nairobi Safari Walk & the Orphanage

Just outside the Nairobi National Park main entrance are the Animal Orphanage and the Nairobi Safari Walk. The Orphanage, founded in 1963, is where wounded or orphaned animals are nurtured back to health and then released back to the wild. This is also one place where you can adopt an animal.

Karen Blixen Museum

This is the former home of Karen Von Blixen, she of the “Out of Africa fame”, and whose life a movie by the same name is based. The Museum’s history dates back to 1914, during the First World War, with the arrival of Karen Blixen from Denmark. She established herself as a coffee farmer at the foot of Ngong hills and the museum is a memorial about the novelist’s life.
The prestigious neighborhood suburb is named after her. A visit to the museum provides an opportunity to step back in time and gain an insight into this remarkable woman’s life. Views of the Ngong Hills can be admired from the beautifully landscaped gardens of the museum. The Karen Blixen museum is an immensely popular tourist attraction with the words “I dreamt of Africa”.

Giraffe Center

The Giraffe Center is a project of the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW) and showcases giraffes and baby elephants.  It is housed at the home of Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville, a couple that rescued a baby giraffe named Daisy from a heavily-poached area of western Kenya in 1974.  The center is favored by especially conference delegates and other visitors transiting through Kenya. The center also houses a few other animals such as the tortoise, warthog, and a parrot. A tour of the site provides an opportunity to view and feed giraffes up close and personal. There is also an elevated platform where you can photograph giraffes. A nearby facility known as the Ostrich Park provides the opportunity to see the breeding of ostriches from eggs to full grown-ups.

The Carnivore Restaurant

Kenya is a meat-eating society and the Carnivore Restaurant is a meat feasting den. The restaurant is like no other. It is simply a meat-eating haven. Here you get served with an endless number of different meats continuously until you bring the flag down! All the meats are served with a specific sauce that is grown in a small garden right outside. It is the only place you can get a variety of game Meat served in one meal. A comprehensive vegetarian menu is also available. The restaurant guarantees to satisfy the most demanding of appetites. If you miss the Carnivore experience, then you have not been to Africa

Bomas of Kenya

“Boma” means a homestead. The Bomas of Kenya is a cultural hub showcasing a mix of Kenya’s varied cultural heritage in the form of homesteads that are constructed in a shady forest area. The visitor is treated to a cultural tour that introduces you to the traditional village life of Kenya’s major ethnic groups. The visitor is also provided the opportunity to view, feel and experience a cocktail of cultures that have been created to bring village traditions to life.
There are displays of artifacts that depict cycles of life, occasions, and events in the lives of the 42 different ethnic groups of Kenya.  A key attraction here is the Center’s magnificent Arena where acrobatic shows and traditional dances are performed in the evenings.

Nairobi National Museum and Snake Park

Kenya is a superpower in archaeological resources and the Nairobi National Museum is the place where all the material evidence is on display. Next to this world-renown Museum is a magnificent park full of all kinds of snakes and other reptiles.

Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage

The Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage is a project of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. The facility helps to rehabilitate severely traumatized orphaned animals thus enabling them to live their natural lifestyle once reintroduced into the wild. Visitors can come close to and even feed elephant calves!

Other attractions

Other attractions include the Butterfly Farm, the Kazuri Bead Center, and the Mamba village.