Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name ‘Nairobi’ comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nairobi, which translates to "cool water”. Nairobi is known as the safari capital of Africa, however the city has still managed to keep up with modernization. Unlike other cities, Nairobi is surrounded by 113 km² (70 mi²) of plains, cliffs and forest that makes up the city’s Nairobi National Park. The city is filled with many things to do during the day and the night. Tourists can have their pick from numerous safaris (wildlife, cultural, sport, adventure, scenic and specialist), ecotourism cultural, sport, adventure, scenic and specialist), ecotourism tours, restaurants, culture, shopping, museums and entertainment. While in Nairobi, tourists can also engage in numerous sports from golf, rugby, athletics, polo, horse-racing, cricket and soccer.
NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK
Kenya's first national park, Nairobi National Park is a haven for wildlife and only 7 km from the skyscrapers of Nairobi's city center. The park is also a rhino sanctuary, which protects more than 50 of these critically endangered creatures. In addition to the rhinos, visitors may spot lions, gazelles, buffaloes, warthogs, cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, and ostriches, and more than 400 species of birds have been recorded in the wetlands.
DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST
Daphne Sheldrick founded the project in 1977 in memory of her late husband David, a former warden at Tsavo East National Park. The center cares for young abandoned elephants and rhinos and works to release the animals back into the wild.
KAREN BLIXEN MUSEUM
Karen Blixen Museum at the foot of the Ngong Hills is the former home of the famous namesake 'Out of Africa' author. Karen Blixen, also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen, lived in the house from 1917 to 1931 where she ran a coffee plantation. Today, visitors can tour the well-preserved colonial farmhouse, a kitchen in a separate building, a coffee-drying plant in the woodland, and an agricultural college on the grounds. Furniture that belonged to Karen Blixen and her husband is on display, as well as photographs, and books owned by Karen and her lover, Denys Finch Hatton.
GIRAFFE CENTRE
At the Giraffe Centre, on the edge of Nairobi National Park, visitors can come face to face with endangered Rothschild's giraffes. The Centre’s main mission is to provide conservation education for children. The visitor center displays information about these graceful creatures, and a raised platform allows visitors to feed them at eye level with specially prepared pellets.
NAIROBI NATIONAL MUSEIUM
The Nairobi National Museum displays diverse cultural and natural history exhibits including more than 900 stuffed birds and mammals, fossils from Lake Turkana, ethnic displays from various Kenyan tribal groups, and exhibits of local art. In the Geology Gallery, visitors can explore an impressive collection of rocks and minerals and learn about tectonic plates and the life cycle of a volcano. The Hominid Vault contains a collection of prehistoric bones and fossils, including the preserved fossil of an elephant.