A Nairobi National Park day trip covers the only national park inside a capital city. Rhino, lion and giraffe against the skyline, with park fees included in the price.
A Nairobi National Park day trip is the only safari in the world that starts twenty minutes from a capital city's downtown. One hundred and seventeen square kilometres of plains and river forest, gazetted in 1946 as Kenya's first national park, with black rhino, lion and giraffe against a skyline of office towers.
What you see on a Nairobi National Park day trip
Black and white rhino. The park is a breeding sanctuary and one of the most reliable places in Kenya to see both.
Lion. Several prides live here and are most often found in the first hours after the gate opens at six.
Giraffe, zebra, buffalo, eland, impala and warthog, with the city behind them in the photograph everyone takes.
Hippo and crocodile in the pools along the southern boundary.
More than 500 bird species recorded, including ostrich and secretary bird.
There are no wild elephants in the park. For elephants, add the orphanage below or take our Amboseli safari.
Lion habitat with the city skyline behind
The park is fenced on three sides and open to the south, so animals still move between it and the Athi-Kapiti plains. The Nairobi National Park page explains that corridor and why it matters.
How the day runs
We collect you at your hotel or the airport before six, so you are through the gate as it opens and out on the plains while the light is low and the cats are still moving. Four to five hours of game viewing, a picnic or a stop in Karen, and back by mid-afternoon.
The Giraffe Centre, working with the endangered Rothschild’s
Two additions are worth the time, and are booked separately because each has its own entry:
The Sheldrick elephant orphanage, open to visitors for one hour late morning, booked in advance through the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
The Giraffe Centre at Lang'ata, where you feed endangered Rothschild's giraffe from a raised platform.
The Maasai Market in Nairobi, where most visitors buy
Every day of the year, and always early. January and February and June to October are driest; in the rains the park is green and the main tracks stay passable in a 4x4.
What it costs
From $119 per person sharing, or KES 9,500 for Kenyan residents and citizens, with park fees, a pop-top 4x4, your guide and hotel or airport transfers included. It is the cheapest real safari in the country and the obvious use of a long layover.
A secretary bird hunting on foot
Send a booking request with your dates and we will come back with availability, a firm price and an honest view of the month you have picked. Nothing is charged on this website.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nairobi National Park worth visiting?
Yes. It is close, affordable and one of the best places in Kenya to see rhino, with a skyline behind them that exists nowhere else on earth.
How long does a Nairobi National Park day trip take?
Soapstone, beadwork and carvings on a Nairobi stall
Half a day covers the main circuits, about four to five hours. A full day lets you add the elephant orphanage and the Giraffe Centre.
Can I do it on a layover?
Often, yes. With six hours between flights a morning drive works, and we collect you from and return you to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Are there elephants in Nairobi National Park?
Cape buffalo in Kenya
No wild ones. The Sheldrick nursery on the park's edge raises orphaned elephants and opens to visitors for one hour each morning.
Your guide meets you at your hotel at 6am, because the gates open at 6.30 and the first two hours are worth more than the rest of the day combined. The park runs to 117 square kilometres of open plain on the southern edge of the city, fenced on three sides and open to the Athi-Kapiti plains on the fourth, so game moves in and out. Black rhino are resident and reliably seen. Lion, buffalo, giraffe, eland and over 400 recorded bird species are all here. We stop at the hippo pools, where you can get out and stretch, and take you back to your hotel or on to the airport in the early afternoon.
Nairobi National Park
Check your dates and your price
Tell us when you want to travel and who is coming. The price below is for your party, not a headline figure, and nothing is confirmed until we have spoken.
The small print, up front
What the price covers
Written out in full so there is nothing waiting at the park gate.
