Booked a trip to Nairobi but haven’t booked a safari? Not to worry the next best thing is within reach. The Nairobi National Park borders the city centre therefore making it very accessible for a day safari. It’s quite funny that amongst all the vast plains and acacia trees you can see the city skyline on the horizon.

I would always recommend going to the park in the morning and spending an entire day in the park thus allowing for more chances of encountering animals. Unfortunately there is a park fee which is a lot higher for non-residents in comparison to residents and citizens. Once arriving at the National Park via the main gate purchase your tickets, which are US$50 for a non-resident adult and a 350 shilling car fee, continue on to the store next to the ticket office and get your hands on a map of the National Park – trust me this will come in handy! Another handy tip is to go in a 4-wheel drive, especially if it has rained or is forecasted to rain, I cannot count the number of times we almost got bogged or aqua planned!

The park is 117sq.km with almost every species expect elephants present, and if you visit on a good day you could be lucky to see everything. Unfortunately, yesterdays trip was not one of the best I’ve had. Although we managed to see a fair few animals such as Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelles, common eland, impalas, baboons, buffalo, zebra, crocodiles, lots and lots of giraffes, and we would argue that we saw rhinos briefly (not in much detail but we think that it was two rhinos).

Yesterdays trip was very different to my previous experiences within the park, usually you encounter zebras, gazelles and impalas every where but this time was different. The park appeared very scarce this trip and it wasn’t until we were leaving did we see zebras. Although we weren’t lucky enough to see every animal especially the big 5, the numerous encounters with the giraffes was well worth the trip.

I cannot even begin to describe the amazing feeling of coming around a corner to the sight of giraffes gracefully grazing within 10 feet of you or driving side by side a giraffe who is almost close enough to stick your hand out the window and pet him.

Despite the lack of animals seen, it was still a day well spent with lovely company in a fantastic surrounding.

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