Nairobi National Park is
so close to Kenya’s capital city that it’s possible 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 and was established in 1946. It is the oldest national park
in the country. It’s only 7km or a 20 minute drive from the
city centre. Most of its fences actually border Nairobi’s suburbs
with only the southern perimeter unfenced. Here some of the animals
migrate into Masai grazing areas. The park has plains of long grass
dotted with acacia forest and some man-made dams that attract lots
of animals and birds to drink.
Animals include many plains game and all the Big Five, except for
elephant, for whom the park is too small. You can see baby elephants
at the Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage at the edge of the park.
There are hippo and crocodile in the Athi River in the south of
the park, and the park staff usually know exactly where lion or cheetah
can be located at any time. Recently Nairobi National Park was
designated a rhino sanctuary and more than 50 rhino have been relocated
here from remote parts of the country where poaching was rife. They have
already begun to breed and will be used to restock other parks in
East Africa.
All in all it is a very easy game park to visit with good roads and
facilities. Half a day here is enough to spot a fair variety
of animals.
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