Nairobi

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. It is popularly known as the “Green City in the Sun”. Founded in 1899, the city was handed capital status from Mombasa in 1905. The city lies on the Nairobi River, in the south of the nation, and has an elevation of 1661M (5450 ft) above sea-level.

Nairobi is the most populous city in East Africa, with an estimated urban population of between 3 and 4 million.

Nairobi is now one of the most prominent cities in Africa politically and financially. Home to many companies and organizations, Nairobi is established as a hub for business and culture.

Nairobi city Tour

The tour covers the modern city centre with its natural silhouette, the colourful city market, Parliament buildings, Kenyatta International Conference Centre, the landmark of Nairobi (Kenyatta International Conference Centre), the Railway Museum and the renowned National Museum where there are spell-binding displays of the early man, tribal regalia and flora and fauna of Kenya.

Karen Blixen and Giraffe Centre –

Karen Blixen Museum was once the centre piece of a farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills owned by Danish Author Karen and her Swedish Husband, Baron Bror von Blixen Fincke. Located 10km from the city centre, the Museum belongs to a different time period in the history of Kenya. The farm house gained international fame with the release of the movie ‘Out of Africa’ an Oscar winning film based on Karen’s an autobiography by the same title.

The Museum was built in 1912 by Swedish Engineer Ake Sjogren. Karen and her husband bought the Museum house in 1917 and it become the farm house for their 4500 acre farm, of which 600 acres was used for coffee farming. Their marriage failed after eight years and in 1921 the Baron moved on and left the running of the farm to Karen. Karen lived at the house until her return to Denmark in 1931. The house farm was bought by Remy Marin, who broke the land into 20 acre parcels for development. Subsequent development created the present suburb of Karen. Records indicate that a Lt. Col.G. Lloyd, an officer of the British Army bought the house in 1935 and lived there until his death in 1954, when it passed to his daughters, Mrs. G. Robersts and Lavender Llyod.  A transfer of title to Mrs. J.P Robson and Mrs L.B. Hyde is in City Hall records in 1956.  The house was sporadically occupied until purchased in 1964 by the Danish government and given to the Kenyan government as an independence gift.

The Giraffe Centre

The Giraffe Centre is located, approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the centre of Nairobi. It was established in order to protect the rare and endangered Rothschild giraffes, Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi, that is found only in the grasslands of  East Africa.

The Giraffe Centre was started by Jock Leslie-Melville, the Kenyan grandson of a Scottish Earl, when he and his wife  Betty captured a baby giraffe to start a programme of breeding giraffe in captivity at their home in Langata – home of the present centre. Since then the programe has had huge success, resulting in the introduction of several breeding pairs of Rothschild Giraffes into Kenyan national parks.

In 1979, Leslie-Melville added an education centre to his (then still private) giraffe sanctuary. By 1983 he had raised enough money to establish the Giraffe Visitor’s Centre as a tourist destination in Nairobi.

The main attraction for visitors is feeding giraffes from a raised observation platform. The centre is also home to several warthogs which freely roam the area along with the giraffes.

David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage

Born from one family’s passion for Kenya and its wilderness, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is today the most successful orphan-elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world and one of the pioneering conservation organisations for wildlife and habitat protection in East Africa.

The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is a Kenyan wildlife conservation charity founded in 1977 in memory of David Sheldrick by his widow Daphne Sheldrick. It assists and advises the Kenya Wildlife Service and manages an orphanage for elephants and rhinos. This trust is reintegrating orphaned elephants back into the Kenyan wildlife. It is open to the public and viewing is at 11am to 12 noon every day. Here, you get to see the baby elephants being fed and playing. In addition, there is a keeper who gives a talk about the elephants, where they came from, how they are getting on, and how some of the previous orphans are progressing. You can get really close to the elephants. The orphanage also takes in rhinos and so if you are lucky you will get the chance to see a young rhino.

Nairobi National Park

Nairobi National Park is unique by being the only protected area in the world with a variety of animals and birds close to a capital city. The park is a principal attraction for visitors to Nairobi.

The park also serves many residents and citizens living in the city. It has a diversity of environments with characteristic fauna and flora. Open grass plains with scattered acacia bush are predominant. The western side has a highland dry forest and a permanent river with a riverine forest in the south.

In addition, there are stretches of broken bush country and deep, rocky valleys and gorges with scrub and long grass. Man-made dams also attract water dependent herbivores during the dry season. The park has a rich/diverse birdlife with 400 species recorded.

Nairobi National Park is one of the most successful of Kenya’s rhino sanctuaries that is already generating a stock for reintroduction in the species former range and other upcoming sanctuaries. Due to this success, it is one of the few parks where a visitor can be certain of seeing a black rhino in its natural habitat.

To the south of the park is the Athi-Kapiti Plains and Kitengela Migration and dispersal area. These are vital areas for herbivores dispersal during the rains and concentrate in the park in the dry season.

Major Attraction – Black rhinoceros; diverse birdlife; large predators – lion, leopard, hyena and cheetah; aggregations of large herbivores – eland, buffalo, zebra and wildebeest; Ivory Burning Site Monument; walking trails at hippo pools; Nairobi Safari Walk and the Orphanage; spacious picnic sites.

Riuki Cultural Centre

The Centre is situated about 25kms from Nairobi and offers tours to African homesteads, performances of African dances, story telling sessions and a treat of selected dishes from “Mumbi’s jiko’ – the traditional cuisine.

Riuki, which means hearth or simply the centre of a Gikuyu homestead, and nuclear of the family, is an apt name for the enterprise. It portrays Agikuyu rural life and culture both in outlook and activities.

For anyone, looking for a chance to watch live performances of traditional dances, music and story telling or to sample a range of traditional dishes and famous African brews, Riuki is the centre of this rare and awesome opportunity.

Here, you will be given a brief lecture of Gikuyu rural life and invited to taste the Gikuyu brew, Njohi Muratina, Gikuyu porridge and view the farmers preparations. Gikuyu dancers will entertain you with dances, songs and cleansing ceremonies, while being served with a delicious African Barbeque complete with Gikuyu traditional meat, rukuri, and delicious marinated steak, Agikuyu mash, sukuma wiki-‘push the weekend!’ irio, salads, fruits and more traditional wine.