Nairobi National Park
Lions and rhino with the downtown towers behind them, four miles out.
Duration
4 hrs – 6 hrs
Best time
At opening, around 6am
Open
Every day
Entry price
To confirm
The park was created in 1946, Kenya's first, and it begins seven kilometres from central Nairobi. It is fenced on three sides only: the south stays open to the Athi plains, which lets the grazers migrate.
You see lions, black rhinos, giraffes, buffalo and zebra, with the Nairobi skyline and aircraft on approach behind them — the only image of its kind anywhere. The park has no elephants, there being too little room. Urban pressure and a railway line running through it since 2017 threaten its integrity.
Getting there
Main gate on Langata Road, seven kilometres from the centre. A vehicle is compulsory — hire with driver, or an organised safari.
What the price covers
paid park entry for non-residents plus the vehicle; rates to be confirmed
Rules on site
Entry is paid online or by card: the gates no longer take cash. Getting out of the vehicle outside marked areas is forbidden, and the lions really are metres from the track.