Facilities at the Main Gate include an information centre, an office where you can buy and load Smartcarts, a shop selling drinks, snacks, souvenirs and an excellent map that corresponds to the road markers within the park, as well as the headquarters of KWS and the office of the safety and communication centre. Almost all roads are navigable in a normal car, or go on a guided tours from Nairobi. Staff at the gate will advise on where there has been recent animal activity, especially lion and cheetah, which are monitored closely, and it takes three to four hours to get around. There is a picnic site and nature trail at Hippo Pools in the southeast of the park, where you can get out of your vehicle as there is an armed KWS ranger stationed here. The Animal Orphanage and the Safari Walk at the Main Gate can both be visited independently from the park.
Nairobi National Park is so close to Kenya’s capital city, it’s not unusual to take a photo of a rhino browsing peacefully amongst the acacia thorn with a background of high-rise office buildings. The park covers 117 sq km, was established in 1946 and is the oldest in the country. It’s only 7 km or a 20-minute drive from the city centre and most of its fences border Nairobi’s suburbs with only the southern perimeter unfenced where some of the animals migrate into Masai grazing areas. Despite its proximity to the city, it is home to over 100 recorded species of mammal. Animals include the Big Five, except for elephant – the park is too small to sustain them, though you can see baby elephants at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust at the edge of the park. You are also very likely to see zebra, giraffe, baboons, buffalo, ostrich, vultures, hippos and various antelope. This is one of the best parks for spotting black rhinos: the area is not remote enough for poachers, and the Park has proved to be one of the most successful rhino sanctuaries in Kenya.
The concentration of wildlife is greatest in the dry season when areas outside the park have dried up. Water sources are greater in the park as small dams have been built along the Mbagathi River. There are also many birds, up to 500 permanent and migratory species. To the south of the national park is the Kitengela Game Conservation Area and Migration Corridor leading to the Athi and Kaputiei plains. The herbivores disperse over these plains following the rains and return to the park during the dry season.
Apart from wildlife watching, the other point of interest is just a kilometre or two into the park from the Main Gate. The Ivory Burning Site is to the left of the road and is where on 18 July 1989 12 tons of confiscated ivory was burnt. A mound of ash and information board marks the spot. The fire was lit by then-president Moi and was a symbolic gesture that declared war on poachers and the mass slaughter of African elephants in Kenya. When the country gained Independence in 1963, there were an estimated 170,000 elephants but by 1989 they numbered just 16,000. The event, which was televised across the world, contributed to the CITIES international ban on ivory trading and the establishment of the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) in 1990. All employees were, and still are, armed and there’s a shoot to kill policy against poachers. Today’s elephant population in Kenya is put at around 28,000. Back at the Main Gate, in the car park, look out for the Conservation Heroes Monument, which lists all the names of KWS employees who have died in the line of duty since the KWS was established. Some died in accidents, when they were relocating animals for example, while others died during armed battles with poachers or bandits.
The Animal Orphanage (T020-600 800, daily, US$15 adults, children under 18 US$5), is at the Main Gate of the Nairobi National Park. Opened in 1963, this facility cares for orphaned and sick animals, which are brought from all over Kenya. Whenever possible they are re-released back into the wild, and if that’s not possible relocated to the more spacious Safari Walk, or if they are severely injured remain in the care of the orphanage for the rest of their lives. The centre is most popular at about 1430 when it is feeding time. There is also a Wildlife Conservation Education Centre, which has lectures and video shows about wildlife and guided park and orphanage tours, primarily but not exclusively to educate schools and local communities. When it was built, enclosures were quite cramped, but in response to criticism, the animals are now housed in more spacious accommodation in a more natural environment. If there are resident cheetah or lion cubs, visitors maybe be permitted to go into the enclosures for a close-up photograph.
The Safari Walk (T020-600800, daily 0830-1730, US$20, children under 18 US$5) is also at the Main Gate of the Nairobi National Park. Opened in 2001 as an education centre for local school children, this is a lovely walk through 18 ha of indigenous trees and vegetation full of birds and butterflies. It’s completely wheelchair friendly, everything is well labelled and there are a number of interesting boards about Kenya’s flora and fauna, conservation issues, and the conflicts animals have with the environment and humans. The beginning of the walk begins on a concrete pathway, and this eventually rises on to an elevated boardwalk that goes to the edge of Nairobi National Park and overlooks a natural waterhole. Animals are housed not in cages, but on grassy mounds separated by moats so it’s not zoo-like at all. Residents include lion, cheetah, leopard, pygmy hippo, rhino, plains game, hyena, ostrich, monkey, buffalo, two unusual albino zebras and the rare bongo antelope. Attached is the Rangers Restaurant....
