A visit to the Nairobi National Park requires proper planning to enjoy it to the fullest. Below are ten things you should know before embarking on a Nairobi National Park game drive.
To access the park, you require a tour converted vehicle driven by a professional driver guide. A tour-converted car has a retractable hard-top roof that allows easy game viewing. We recommend a four-wheel-drive tour-converted Toyota Landcruiser for a Nairobi National Park game drive. You will have the advantage of seeing different species of animals since the guides communicate among themselves and have expert knowledge of the park. The park is 117 square kilometres, so you need all the help you can get to locate wildlife.
Campo East Africa Safaris tour converted vehicles are all fitted with:
A retractable hard-top roof.
High frequency (HF) radios
Spacious seats (six adults)
Binoculars
Cooler boxes
Reference guide books
In addition, all drivers are multilingual professional driver-guides.
2. Lion Research
Most people are disappointed when they fail to see lions when they visit the park. After all, who doesn’t want to see the King of the jungle in his natural habitat. So before you visit the park, do some research and find out the most likely spots to see lions.
Campo East Africa Safaris guides work hand in hand with the lion research team and other guides to locate the lion prides in the park. Our guides can identify most of the lions and are always ready to narrate each lion’s history and unique characteristics.
3. Picnic Sites
There are six picnic sites inside the Nairobi National Park, but only five are operational, namely, Ivory Burning, Impala, Kingfisher, Mokoyiet and Hippo Pool. Mbuni, which is close to number 7 (Seven) and under the SGR, isn’t operational. You are allowed to carry food and drinks into the park and enjoy any of the picnic sites. Single-use plastics are not permitted in the park. Our guides will advise you of the best picnic site depending on the time. Always watch out for monkeys that love to snatch food from people.
4. Wildlife to See
There are 4 (four) of the big 5 (five) in the park—lions, leopard, rhino and buffalo. Unfortunately, the park is too small to host elephants. However, one could visit the Daphne Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, which is located inside the park. It is open to the public every day between 11 am to 12 pm, or you can book a private visit between 3 pm or 5 pm.
The elephant orphanage is accessible only through the Workshop gate directly opposite the Multi-Media University on Magadi Road just before you get to Ongata Rongai town.
The park has various antelopes, zebras, wildebeest, hippos, crocodiles, cheetahs, serval cats, hyenas, Jackals, over 400 (four hundred) bird species and many more. Campo East Africa Safaris guides know the spots frequented by various kinds of animals.
5. Visiting Hours
The park is open from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm. It’s always advisable to visit the park either early in the morning or late in the evening. The animals tend to be more active and easier to spot along the roads. The lighting is suitable for quality photos as well. A Nairobi National Park game drive should be not less than 4 hours. It is impossible to appreciate the diversity of flora and fauna in less than four hours.
6. Park Entrance Charges
Park entrance fees are paid directly to the Government of Kenya via citizen. The usual rate for Non-residents $43 (low season) or $60 (peak season). Citizens pay Kshs 430 and citizen children 215.
You can make the payment at the Main gate or East gate. Payment is not accepted at Masai gate, Workshop gate, Banda gate or Langata gate. However, you can exit using any of the gates apart from the Workshop gate.
7. Accommodation
The park has a few hotels accessible through the park. They are:
Nairobi Tented camp
Ololoo lodge
Emakoko lodge.
These properties require a reservation for an overnight stay or lunch. Other accommodation facilities adjacent to the park are Game View Hotel, Masai Lodge, Olaro Hotel, Park Place Hotel, Longview Hotel, Troy Hotel, Ole Sereni Hotel and Emara Ole Sereni.
8. Park Map
Nairobi National Park has two vegetation zones. The Forest circuit and the open savanna. Roads are numbered at every junction from number 1 to 30. In addition, there are several dams such as Hyena, Nagolomon, Olomomanyi, Karen C, Eland Hollow, Embakasi and Athi dam.
9. Game Drive Cost
The type of vehicle, number of hours and number of persons determines the cost.
For example, a 6 (six) seater Toyota Land Cruiser costs $230, and a minivan costs $180 for half a day.
10. Walking Trails
At Hippo Pool, you can take a short walk accompanied by a ranger. If you are lucky, you will see hippos and crocodiles along the river.
You can also see unique cave paintings at caves close to number 16 on the map.
If you are planning a Nairobi National Park game drive, we have affordable packages and highly trained driver-guides to make sure you enjoy your day to the fullest. For more information, check out our Nairobi National Park game drive package for more information or contact us today.
The endangered African Elephant is the largest land mammal. The tallest and heaviest recorded stood at about 4 meters (13.0 ft) at the shoulder and weighed a massive 10.4 tonnes. They are a sight to behold. There is no better place in the world to view these magnificent pachyderms in their wild habitat than the Amboseli National Park. Amboseli National Park is located in Kajiado South constituency in Kajiado County of Kenya. It is a four-hour drive (216Kms) from Nairobi’s central business district. The name Amboseli is derived from a Maasai name “ampuseli”, which means a saline area or salty soil. The park has an area of 392km2 which is considered part of 27,700km2 Maasai land founded by the British back in 1906.
It was gazetted in 1974, and in addition to being the best place to see Elephants, it offers stunning views of the tallest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro.
The park also hosts other large herbivores that graze in the swampy green areas. They prefer these areas due to heightened human pressure from the areas adjacent to the park where agricultural and livestock development is rising.
Elephant Research at Amboseli
The park has about 1,200 elephants, and for the last 40 years, it has proven to be the best elephant research location in the world.
Most of the pioneering research has been conducted by an American conservationist, Cynthia Moss. She built a small research centre, which also serves as her home, in conjunction with park administration. The centre is tucked in a doum palm area of the park between the Amboseli Serena Hotel and the Oltukai lodge.
As part of the research, the elephants have code names. For example, one elephant family is known as EB, with its matriarch being an elephant known as Echo. (Code EB refers to family “B”, located on the East part of the park).
The researchers chose this family due to the uniqueness of the family members. Echo members have extra-long curved tusks. The famous Echo died of natural death in May 2009 aged around 65 years. Most elephant research is based on this matriarch. She had strong genes, good mothering ability, and she’s believed to be a mother or sister of many elephants in the Amboseli ecosystem. Tim, the famous male elephant who died of natural death in 2020, and Craig are possible relatives due to their immense curved tusks. Other unique big bulls are Paulo, Tolstoy, and Ulysses.
Craig the Elephant at Amboseli
Little Known Facts about Amboseli National Park
Animals and humans have lived together for over 100 years with minor conflict. Centuries ago, elephants would migrate as far as the Nairobi National Park where the “Lunatic Express railway line” workers would encounter them near the current Athi town.
There is a seasonal lake to the northwest known as Lake Amboseli. It is usually bone dry but with heavy rain, you can view lesser flamingoes and pink pelicans.
The famous black rhino Morani was originally born and grew in Amboseli national park in 1974 and was the last rhino to be translocated from Amboseli national park back in 1989 to Ol Pejeta Conservancy, where he died of natural causes in 2008.
About 15 Kudus and 20 gerenuks are found along the Meshanani and Kitirua gate.
More than 15 movies were filmed in Amboseli National Park.
There is one airstrip inside the park close to Ol Tukai lodge.
The usual park entrance fee is $60 for non-residents adults and $35 for children. Citizens pay Ksh. 830 per adult and Ksh. 415 per child. However, during COVID-19 rates reduced to $35 for non-resident adults and $20 for children.
There are several extra activities that you can undertake while in Amboseli. These include a visit to the Maasai village, a hot-air balloon flight, a night game drive, or a short hike to Observation Hill.
Young spotted Hyena at Amboseli National Park
Accommodation Properties in and out Amboseli National Park.
Is your birthday coming up and you are wondering what to do on your special day? Or maybe you want to surprise a friend or loved one with the ultimate party in the wilderness. If you live in Nairobi, you can make it happen without breaking the bank!
The Nairobi National Park
The Nairobi National Park is just a few minutes drive from the City Centre. Holding a birthday in the park is an experience you won’t forget.
The best itinerary starts with an early morning game drive. Our tour guides pick the entire party crew from their residences or a central pick-up point early in the morning. The suggested departure time is 6 a.m. so that you see predators while they are still active. Lions, for example, prefer to hunt early in the morning, late evening or at night.
Once you get to the Kenya Wildlife Service main gate on Langata Road, a quick photo session gets the excitement going before proceeding into the park.
The Animals in The National Park
Campo’s tour guide drivers know all the best spots where you can see the animals. If you are lucky, you might even get to see the lion Sirikoi, of the Kingfisher pride, bring down a Cape Buffalo on his own. He patrols and controls the area stretching from the Kingfisher picnic site, hyena dam, Number 6, and the entire territory of the upper part of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line that traverses through the park.
Sirikoi has a black mane and is the son of Mohawk. Mohawk was killed by park rangers after he ventured out of the park and attacked several people.
There are two lion prides at Kingfisher known as Kingfisher 7 and Kingfisher 4. Before Sirikoi became the dominant male in this area, there was also a lion known as Sam. Sam died of injuries sustained in a fight where Sirikoi is suspected to have been the aggressor. Experts believe Sirikoi was the culprit because of the confidence he exuded venturing into territory previously controlled by Sam…almost like he knew what he had done!
On the other side of the SGR, there is the Athi Pride led by two lions, Mpakasi and Kitili. Kitili can be identified by a unique cataract on his left eye while Mpakasi has a tracking collar fitted by a team of researchers from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
KitiliMpakasi
In addition to the lions, there are large herds of Cape Buffalo and various species of Antelope. You also get to see Giraffes, Hippos and numerous small mammals, in addition to an abundance of birds.
Picnic Breakfast
After the game drive, you can head-off to one of the picnic sites for a hearty breakfast.
Picnic Breakfast
Kingfisher Picnic Site: The picnic site is the far end near Ongata Rongai is a favourite spot for a picnic breakfast.
Impala Picnic site: This site is nearest to the KWS main gate. It is located on the upper forested area and is the oldest picnic site in the park.
Other picnic sites include Mokoyeti picnic site where you can see families of Rock Hyraxes and the Hippo Pool picnic site
At Campo, we have partnered with The Lekker Restaurant which is adjacent to the park to deliver breakfast at the picnic site. The breakfast includes; sausage/bacon, eggs, baked beans, hash potatoes served with African mix tea, and assorted fruits.
Cake Cutting, Lunch and Drinks
You can decide to cut the cake during the picnic breakfast or do it at the Game View Hotel over lunch and drinks. We can also arrange to have The Game View Hotel bake the cake for you. The hotel has beautifully manicured gardens with tented dining areas. There is also a swimming pool where you can cool off in the afternoon.
Game View Hotel
Departure or Accommodation?
After the party is over, our tour guides will drop you back to your pick-up point, But, who says the party has to end? The party doesn’t stop until you say so. There are numerous accommodation options at The Game View Hotel ranging from a massive 6 bedroom bungalow to a small cottage for two.
Cottage for two
Photography
Make sure your phone is fully charged so that you can capture all the special moments. If you need a professional photographer, we can provide one to accompany you on your adventure.
So what are you waiting for? If your birthday is coming up and you want to do something out of the ordinary, check out our Game Drive at Nairobi National Park package. If you have any comments or want additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Campo EA Safaris.
The months of lockdowns, curfews and travel restrictions have seemed endless. But thankfully the wait is now over. You can now travel, relax and enjoy an adventure in magical Kenya.
A lot has happened during the pandemic period. The Rhino, Elephant and Giraffe population grew in number thanks to conservation efforts. The increase in large herds of herbivores naturally leads to a boom in the population of big cats.
The recent rains have also been good to The Mara. Health and safety protocols are in place to ensure safe travel to parks, reserves, and other attractions. Travel with the peace of mind that all the necessary measures have been taken into account.
We encourage you to take advantage of the prevailing low rates. This is the time to travel to places and stay in hotels and lodges that would usually be a bit pricey. The Kenya Wildlife Service even went ahead and slashed wildlife parks entry fees to boost tourism recovery.
At Campo, we have several affordable tour packages to help you begin your journey.
Visit The Mara in a tour-converted Landcruiser and see the massive herds of wildebeest up close. If you have ever wanted to experience the thrill and adrenaline rush of lions hunting, this is the package for you. Enjoy two nights full-board stay at the prestigious Zebra Plains Luxury Tented camp.
The Ol Pejeta Conservancy is the largest Black Rhino sanctuary in East Africa and has the highest density of predators per square kilometre. It is also the only park in Kenya where you can see chimpanzees.
You also get to stay one-night on a full-board basis at the serene Anka Resort.
If your schedule is packed then you don’t need to travel too far to experience magical Kenya. Why not take a day off or plan a Saturday/Sunday morning game drive at The Nairobi National Park. Enjoy a sumptuous picnic breakfast as you relax and become one with nature.
There is a lot you can do. We have just sampled a few of our tour packages. Browse our safari packages for more offers and when you find something you like make your booking, pack up your bags and get ready to treat yourself to an exhilarating adventure as you discover the pure magic of Kenya.
While the Savannah presents fierce obstacles to most wildlife, perhaps no animal fills its niche here better than the jackal (Canis aureus). A member of the dog family, the jackal looks more like a fox, with its bushy tail and greyish-brown coat. Slightly built, able to range over nearly 200 miles, the jackal eats nearly everything the Savannah has to offer. Chiefly a scavenger, the jackal feeds on the remains of dead animals, but will occasionally hunt down small mammals. If animals are nowhere to be found, jackals will settle for a meal of lizards, insects, and even grass.
The Hunt
When it hunts for small mammals and insects, the jackal usually hunts alone. Preferring to hunt by night, it begins its hunt at sunset and ends at sunrise. Before starting its hunt, the jackal will howl. According to scientists, these first howls announce the beginning of the hunt. At dawn, the jackal will howl again. Pairs or small groups of jackals sometimes organize to hunt larger game, such as young gazelles or antelope.
Together for Life
A mating pair of jackals often stay together for years, and sometimes do so for life. The male and female both care for any pups that are born.
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