NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK
Dep: Daily at 09.00 / 14.00 hrs (4 hours)
The 117 km2 Nairobi National Park, only 7Km from the city centre, and the first park to be gazetted in the country, is unique by being the only protected area in the world with a variety of animals and birds close to a major city.
Open grass plains with scattered acacia bush predominate. The western side has a highland dry forest and a permanent river with a riverine forest. In addition, there are stretches of broken bush country and deep, rocky valleys and gorges with scrub and long grass. Man-made dams have also added a further habitat, favourable to over 400 species of birds (including Northern migrants that pass through the park primarily during late March through April).The dams also attract crocodiles, hippos, and terrapins can be found sunning themselves daily on floating vegetation.
The Nairobi National Park is one of the most successful of Kenya’s rhino sanctuaries that is already generating a stock for reintroduction in the species former range. Due to this success, it is one of the few parks where a visitor can be certain of seeing a black rhino in its natural habitat.
To the south of the park is the Athi-Kapiti Plains and Kitengela Migration Corridor. Around the months of July/August, the park boasts the largest wildebeest and zebra migration second only to that of the Serengeti- Mara ecosystem.4 of the Big 5- lions, leopards and buffalo can be found, as well as one of the largest populations of cheetahs.