Nairobi National Park

A quiet drive with rhino and lion on the move.

Even though we had an inexperienced driver who got lost, we had a lovely day. But we saw a lot of animals on the savannah. Zebras, ostriches, antelopes, giraffes but also rhinoceros and a single lioness hunting. Female lion was suddenly on the road in front of our jeep. It was special to be Nairobi National Park with city skyline in the background. I would highly recommend people to visit the park.

Nairobi's Backyard Wildlife Park

Having been to most of Kenya's more well known wildlife parks Nairobi NP equally compares to Kenya's top parks for wildlife viewing and photography. I have been to Nairobi NP a few times. In my experience, especially If your staying in or near the city center, arrive at 6am when the park opens to avoid Nairobi's traffic, to be amongst fewer park visitors, to see active and possibly more wildlife, and to use the morning sunlight for optimal photography. What makes this park unique is that you can be driving along in full view of Nairobi's cityscape in the background and in the next minute the cityscape disappears and you feel like you're in the wilderness or bush, miles from any city. The park has a diverse range of habitat also, from dry scrub savannah to lush riparian areas with giant acacias hovering over a perennial river to scenic gorges and rocky outcrops. Besides the park, other must see destinations that are super close to the park's main entrance are the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Giraffe Manor—all three can be visited in one day.

Get close to the animals at Nairobi National Park

Nairobi National Park is a great place to go if you want to see Kenyan animals up close - the animals are rather used to cars and therefore come closer than they do in other parks while still being wild.
You can make the experience into exactly what you want to - if you just want an escape from Nairobi for a couple of hours or if you want to bring a picknick and stay there the whole day. As with all safaris, it is best to go in the early morning or late evening to increase your chances of seeing animals. When I went, I did however go in the middle of the day and still saw plenty of animals (even lioness with cubs).
The day started out sunny but soon rain clouds gathered creating a beautifully dramatic landscape. Even though Nairobi National Park is smaller than other parks in Kenya, you can still feel like you are far off from the city at times - in some parts of the park you can get beautiful pictures of animals with the city skyline as a backdrop and in other parts you feel like you are in the middle of no where.
If in Nairobi, I would definitely recommend going to the Nairobi National Park but you should also take the opportunity and go to some of the larger parks / game reserves in Kenya. My favorite so far is Buffalo Springs but I have still to many more to visit! Something to keep in mind is that KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service) parks are much more expensive than other parks, especially for a non-resident, which is something to keep in mind when planning a trip to Kenya. But it's worth going!

Nairobi National Park is not one of the best parks to visit in Kenya. If you are coming to Kenya specifically for safari, there are so many bigger and more beautiful parks and reserves in Kenya with greater variety of wildlife. However, I had already been to most of the other big tourist destination parks in Kenya and I had an extra day in Nairobi, so I decided to book a day safari in Nairobi National Park and I'm glad I did. Although it's not as wonderful as the Maasai Mara, Samburu, Tsavo, or any of the other big parks, it is still a wonderful little retreat into Kenya's wildlife that lies just outside the main area of the city. I was a little disappointed with the variety of the wildlife. I asked my guide why we weren't seeing lions or rhinos and he pointed towards the more heavily forested areas where the roads didn't go, and he said they mostly hid over there. We did, however, still see a lot of animals such as giraffe, zebra, many types of antelopes, buffaloes, ostriches, etc. My guide also took me to an area where I was allowed to get out of the vehicle and an armed guard took me for a short walk in search of hippos. We couldn't see them, but we could hear them on the other side of the river breathing loudly and making their unique vocalization. It was very enjoyable. For a 1 day excursion within Nairobi, I enjoyed it very much.

I would not choose this place as a single destination

Excellent safari!

n my opinion, when you are in Nairobi you have to visit Nairobi National Park.
The experience is incredible. There are so many animals that you can see, and also there are free on their natural environment, not in a cage as others parks.
Furthermore if you go early in the morning you can see and lions.
I believe that is a safari that you have to do!

It was an enchanting experience worth going on several occassions.

The only park in a capital city Kenya, Africa.. Beautiful scenery,blossoming flowers around with humming birds. Such a great experience under the sunny weather with cool breeze.

Great half-day trip from Nairobi

I went to the park without expecting to see the Big Five, but hoping to have a nice, short, manageable experience in the outdoors on my first trip to Africa. My hotel organized a guide for me, but I only had the afternoon available, which isn't usually ideal. My guide was not terribly knowledgeable about the birds, but he was very good at finding the animals, and we saw all kinds of things. It started slowly, with glimpses of some hippos in a pond (so he said, I wouldn't swear to it), then some giraffe, then ostriches, several different types of gazelle (some quite close), zebra, wildebeest and warthogs, secretary bird, white-eyed eagle (?), a couple of Black Rhino ambling under the acacia trees, and finally, as the grand finale, an adult male lion sitting just beside the road watching the zebras, and eventually crossing just in front of the jeep.
By all accounts this was a pretty exceptional day at the park, but even without the rhino and the lion, it was a beautiful spot, especially in the evening, and a really delightful way to spend a free afternoon in Nairobi. Definitely exceeded my expectations.

Very versatile wildlife including lions, rhinos, all sorts of antilopes etc. You have to be very lucky to spot a cheetah or leopard. Extremely easily accessible from Nairobi but can be rather busy on weekends.

A perfect end to a life changing experience

My visit to Nairobi National Park came at the end of an 11 day photo safari. The regular tour didn't have this park as one of its stops. I had several hours before leaving Nairobi so I booked a tour. To my surprise, it ended up to be a private tour as no one else signed up.

I found the park to be amazing. My favorite part was when we had a reasonably close encounter with a Black Rhino. That experience took my breath away. All the other animals and birds on this Nairobi National Park tour were very special. I asked my guide if locals visit the park and he said no. He told me most of the visitors were tourists. I was saddened to hear that the locals did not take advantage of such a national treasure.

All together, I found the Nairobi National Park to be very special. It was fascinating that such a park with such beautiful wildlife so close to a large city was available to me any anyone else who wanted to see nature, especially endangered animals before they disappear. It is also wonderful for people who travel on business to Nairobi to have such a beautiful place to experience nature in the wild so close that they can take a few hours between meetings to feast their eyes on real nature.