By admin Many travelers to Kenya simply fly into Nairobi and immediately hop on a connecting flight to their safari camp in the Maasai Mara or elsewhere, without seeing any of Kenya’s capital city except for its airport. However, Nairobi offers plenty to do, so if you can spare an extra day (or more), it’s well worth a stop to explore this vibrant urban destination–that also happens to provide many wildlife viewing opportunities as well!
I spent a day and a night in Nairobi in April 2022 after a week in Rwanda before catching my nonstop Kenya Airways flight home to New York. This was part of a “fam” (short for familiarization) trip organized by my host travel agency, with the goal of teaching us more about the destination so we could better sell trips to our own clients. I was more than happy to play the part of the eager travel student.
Arrival in Nairobi
Our trip started in style with VIP arrival services at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta Airport, so we were whisked through immigration and customs and brought to our vehicles for the day: safari-style Land Cruisers decked out with extra large windows and comfortable captain chairs. Next, our guides pulled out a bottle of champagne to provide us with a celebratory welcome to the country.
First Stop: Feeding the Rothschild Giraffes at the Giraffe Centre
The Giraffe Centre is a giraffe sanctuary located in the Karen neighborhood of Nairobi. Conveniently, all of the stops on our day trip were in Karen, so we didn’t have to sit in the bustling traffic of the city aside from getting to and from the airport. The purpose of the centre is to breed the endangered Rothschild Giraffes and then safely release them into game parks and conservancies across Kenya. Another aim is to educate Kenyan children about the country’s wildlife, while giving them and other visitors the opportunity to interact with the towering elephants in a responsible way.
Upon arrival at the centre, we were each given a shell basket with some food pellets and set free to start befriending some giraffes. And oh my, were they friendly! We quickly learned that we had to pay close attention to where the giraffes were or we could be in for a big surprise, literally.
Tickets to the Giraffe Centre can be purchased in advance online, and cost 1500 Kenyan shillings (about $12) for for non-resident adults. When purchasing your tickets, you must select a day and a time slot for your visit, as traffic limits (and the giraffes’ feeding schedule) are carefully controlled.
Second Stop: Seeing the rescue elephants at Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Next up, we headed to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (SWT), located approximately a 20 minute drive from the Giraffe Centre and on the edge of Nairobi National Park (yes, there is a national park in the city and you can even go on game drives to see animals such as lions, leopards and zebras). SWT is best known as a sanctuary for orphaned elephants, although it does a lot more than that in terms of conservation projects.
Once a day, the trust opens to the public (for a donation) for visiting hour, when the young elephants are fed milk out of giant bottles. We made sure to arrive just before visiting hour started at 11am so we could see the adorable creatures enthusiastically run into the feeding area to chug copious amounts of milk.
After all the milk was finished, the elephants had some free time to play in front of us. It’s hard to think of many things more adorable than a bunch of baby elephants frolicking in the dirt right in front of your eyes. Some of the elephants would even get close enough that we could touch them.
The SWT workers also spent some time teaching us more about the trust and their projects, introducing us to every single elephant and telling us their name, age, and the reason they were orphaned. It was quite impressive and touching. Anyone can actually “adopt” an elephant to help support their care, and a number of people in our group did so as gifts for kids in their lives.
To visit SWT, you must book in advance (up to three months before your visit). Upon arrival, a donation is required to enter, with a minimum of 1500 Kenyan shillings (about $12) per person 12 years and above. Public visits are operated daily from 11am to noon.
Third Stop: Lunch at Cultiva
After seeing the elephants chow down, it was time for us to do some noshing of our own. Cultiva Kenya is a beautifully designed farm-to-table restaurant set under a covered outdoor space on a sprawling farm. There are a number of different sections of the venue, but it is all decorated with plenty of lush plants, colorful art and a combination of basket lampshades and string lights. It is very Instagram-friendly, and the food is delicious as well, with a number of Latin-inspired dishes, as the owners are from Ecuador. I can attest that the cocktails were also excellent.
Fourth Stop: Karen Blixen Museum
Our final stop of the day was a visit to the Karen Blixen Museum for a tour. The author of the famous book “Out of Africa” and the namesake of the Nairobi neighborhood where we were spending much of the day, Karen Blixen was a Danish author who moved to Kenya with her soon-to-be-husband in 1914. She bought the house that has now been turned into a museum, as well as the sprawling farmland that has since been developed into the residential neighborhood of Karen.
Our visit to the museum took about an hour, and having a guided tour was very helpful in teaching us more about Karen Blixen’s life and the history of the neighborhood. While I had not read “Out of Africa” (or seen the movie), I still enjoyed the museum and would recommend a visit for anyone interested in history.
Where to Stay in Nairobi
Since many of the most popular attractions in Nairobi are in Karen, most visitors will want to base themselves in this neighborhood as well. The city is known to have pretty bad traffic, and you definitely do not want to spend much of your short time visiting in a car. Fortunately, there are some excellent options for accommodations in Karen. I would recommend:
- Giraffe Manor – the most famous of all hotels in Nairobi, Giraffe Manor is set across from the Giraffe Centre and offers guests the unique experience of eating breakfast or enjoying tea time while curious giraffes peek their heads into the manor
- Hemingways Eden – a small boutique hotel with just nine rooms that borders the Giraffe Sanctuary forest and offers an experience immersed in nature
- Hemingways Nairobi – an all-suite boutique hotel with a restaurant, spa and outdoor pool
- House of Waine – family-owned and run, was converted from a family home to a boutique hotel
