Nairobi in 2 days
The national park at six in the morning and Langata in the afternoon on day one, the museum and the centre on day two — two days before the safari that are worth more in Nairobi than people think.
- How long
- 2 days
- Getting around
- A vehicle with guide for the park
- Rhythm
- The park at dawn
Nairobi in two days starts at six in the morning in the national park and ends in the evening in Westlands — with the elephant orphanage at eleven, giraffes at noon, Karen Blixen's house in the afternoon and the museum with Turkana Boy the second morning in between. Everything is paid in advance through eCitizen and everything is driven by Uber, because in this city you do not walk.
The park at dawn, Langata in the afternoon
The vehicle with guide outside the hotel; the Nairobi National Park gate opens with the sun. Entry paid in advance through eCitizen — €69 plus a fee — because the gate takes no cash.
The drive through the park: lions on the Athi plains, rhinos at the Hippo Pools, giraffes with skyscrapers behind them. Everything is seen by nine; after that the animals go into shade.
Out through the Langata gate and ten minutes to the Sheldrick elephant orphanage: feeding at eleven, one hour, the ticket bought on the website days earlier.
The Giraffe Centre ten minutes away: Rothschild's giraffes from a platform, half an hour. Touristy and the only place a giraffe is seen from ten centimetres.
Lunch in Karen — the district with the best lunch restaurants outside the city; Talisman or the Karen Blixen Coffee Garden.
Karen Blixen's house, an hour with a guide, then back to the hotel to rest — at 1,800 metres after a flight you feel it.
Westlands: nyama choma on the grill and a Tusker; Uber there and back.
The museum in the morning, the centre in the afternoon
An Uber to the National Museum on Museum Hill: the hall with Turkana Boy and the Rift Valley fossils, the ethnography of forty peoples, the birds. Two hours, air-conditioned.
If there is energy left, the Snake Park next door for half an hour — or skip it and go for coffee in Westlands ten minutes away.
Lunch in the centre or in Kilimani.
The centre with a guide or on a tour: Kenyatta Avenue, the KICC tower with the rooftop viewpoint, the Maasai Market on a day it is held. Two hours; the centre is walked alone by day, not at night.
Back to the hotel; packing for the safari that leaves at seven tomorrow.
Dinner in Kilimani or Karen — quieter than Westlands before an early start.
Three things that wreck the plan
- The park at nine instead of six. By nine the lions have lain down in shade and the park looks empty; whoever leaves after breakfast sees zebras and giraffes and that is all.
- The orphanage without a ticket. The eleven o'clock feeding is the only public slot and tickets sell out on the website; they are not sold at the gate.
- A safari the day you land. A long-haul flight, 1,800 metres and a seven o'clock departure the next morning — the first night in Nairobi is not a loss but a condition.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Can the park and Langata fit in one day?
They can, and that is the plan: the park from six to half past ten, Sheldrick at eleven, the giraffes at noon, Karen in the afternoon — all in the south-west of the city, ten to fifteen minutes' drive apart. The condition is entering the park as the gate opens; leave at nine and you lose the lions and reach Sheldrick in the crush.
How do you pay for Nairobi National Park?
Only through the eCitizen system, in advance, by card or M-Pesa; cash and dollars are not taken at the gate. The driver or guide usually arranges it — ask the day before. The price is €69 plus a fee per foreigner, for 24 hours.
What if you land in the afternoon, not the morning?
Then the days swap: the museum and the centre on the afternoon you land if there is energy, the park and Langata the next morning, before the safari. What does not change is the night in Nairobi before the seven o'clock departure — the park at six after an overnight flight and 1,800 metres is not a plan but a punishment.
Ready for Nairobi?
Where to next
Day trips from Nairobi
→The Masai Mara to the west, Amboseli to the south, Nakuru and Naivasha to the north, Hell's Gate by bicycle…
Masai Mara · 108 km
→The Kenyan end of the Serengeti ecosystem, with one of the highest lion densities in Africa — and an entry fee that doubles from July to December, though the herds leave in October
How well does Nairobi suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
Front row for the next trip
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