Nairobi National Park is most sought after when it comes to wildlife in the city, the park is situated 7kilometers from the busy hub centre of Town, it is the oldest and first park to be gazette in Kenya in 1946 covering an area space of approximately 117 square kilometres. The conservation area features many wildlife species hosted in the vast Savannah grassland together with dotted acacia woodland at the backdrop of Nairobi skyscrapers. It is fenced with an electric fence with some parts left to connect buffer zones for migrating animal species. The conservation area is being managed by the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Tourist activities in Nairobi National Park include game drives, these are conducted using 4×4 wheel car drive characterized by their open pop rooftop to enhance the guest experience on animal views, game drives will bring you closer to animals through the well-distributed trails of the national park, they are conducted in sessions in the morning, afternoon and evening time it takes 2-3 hours doing the game drives, expect to see zebras, lions, leopards, elands, buffaloes, impalas, bushbucks, to mention a few. The morning hour is the most recommended time to go view animals in the conservation area, during this time is when mammal species are most active.
Nairobi National Park is a haven of birds, over 500 species have been recorded in the park to date these are mainly sighted on walks through the park trails, popular bird species include ground hornbills, sunbirds, pelicans, African fish eagles, white-bellied bustards, sooty falcon, white-headed vulture, secretary bird, kori bustard, lappet-faced vultures to mention a few, birds are best visited during the wet season in April, March, November when the conservation area receives migratory species.
The ivory burning site is a point in the national park where the president of Kenya burnt over 12 tons of Ivory which was collected from poachers, former president Arap Moi 1989 burnt these on the tower as a signal to show poachers not to hunt any more animals species, today the site is visited, it serves as a picnic site. Expect to have great sights of the vast plains to the east.
Visit the animal orphanage, it is directly adjacent to the national park, which is home to refugee animal species that are orphaned and injured from other conservation areas, the orphanage serves as a healing point for abandoned animal species, it is a conservation centre for animal species and an education place for students and pupils from schools.
With the park’s scenic background and composition, it is a great opportunity for photographers to have the perfect pictures of the destination, it is less effort to get to the park and yet it offers great opportunities to experience animal species and a lush green biodiverse environment.
In conclusion, tourist activities in Nairobi National Park can be done any time of the year but best during thedry season between December-February and June –September when the trails of the park are much drier and easy to access.