The short answer is YES. For many, Nairobi is a stopover location – somewhere to fly into before you embark on your Kenyan Safari. We had heard mixed reviews about the city before we arrived but we ended up really enjoying our 3 days there. Depending on what you’re looking for, the capital either has much or little to offer.
Here we’ll break down our time spent in the city and talk about things to do in Nairobi that we enjoyed, as well as some general tips about getting around the city and staying safe.
Here are some of our recommendations for things to do in Nairobi.
Elephant & Rhino Sanctuary – The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust
Hands down our highlight in Nairobi, this place is a must if you have the time.
What is the Sheldrick Trust? – The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is an orphanage for young elephants and rhinos who have lost their parents due to poaching. Their goal is rehabilitation as they look after the young orphans until they are ready to return to Nairobi National Park. The stories we heard on the tour of the sanctuary were simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting.
At the time of writing this article, they have successfully raised 320 orphaned animals, have attended over 11k veterinary cases and have 30 anti-poaching teams dedicated to hindering the illegal trade.
What can you expect from the experience?
we got to witness feeding time when the elephants, everywhere from babies to teens, came out to feed on their bottles and play in the mud. Many of them come up to the edge of the enclosure voluntarily for rubs and to say hello. While all this is happening the keepers explain the work they carry out in the sanctuary and how you can help.
How to book tickets?
We had planned to go to the sanctuary well in advance of our trip but sadly didn’t book it in time. We recommend booking as early as possible as it is sold out months in advance. However, we still managed to get into the sanctuary by booking a guided tour of Nairobi on booking.com. This seemed to be a common practice as there were many other tours here doing the same thing.
The tour also included a separate giraffe sanctuary and a tour of BOMAS (which we will talk about below) as well as the Orphanage. This ended up being well worth the extra money (roughly 80 USD). Our guide picked us up from our hotel, brought us to the sanctuary and even raced ahead of the crowd to secure a place for us close to the enclosure, giving us a front row to view and pet the elephants.
If you’re spending some time in Nairobi this is something you certainly don’t want to miss. You can learn more on their website below, where you can book tickets, donate or adopt an elephant. Absolutely one of the best things to do in Nairobi!
https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/
Nairobi National Museum
If you’re a history nerd like us, this is also well worth a visit. Perhaps one of the most interesting museums we’ve ever been to with some exhibitions you can’t see anywhere else in the world.
The “Cradle of Human Kind” exhibition has stories of our evolution as a species and how we spread out from Africa. Archaeological evidence all points to Eastern Africa as the origin of our species. This means that Kenya and Ethiopia have some of the oldest human fossils in the world, and this museum is a great place to see them. They also have fossils of Australopithecus, one of our ancestor species.
If history/anthropology isn’t your scene, they also have significant exhibitions on natural history and wildlife as well as the cultural practices of the 43 tribes of Kenya. They even have a live reptile museum where we got to hold turtles and snakes and learn how to stay aware of venomous snakes in the wild.
We got tickets on arrival with no issue but maybe keep an eye on the website for more info https://museums.or.ke/nairobi-national-museum/. Lastly, we spent about 3 hours here but you could easily spend more/less depending on how much you like museums. We wished we had given ourselves more time but the museum was closing.
These exhibitions increased our understanding of the country as a whole, the historical, the human and the wild aspects, making our safari all that more enjoyable once we left Nairobi.
BOMAS of Kenya
This was not on our list before travelling to the city but it ended up being one of our favourite things to do in Nairobi!
BOMAS showcases the cultural heritage of Kenya. They put on daily performances of traditional Kenyan dance and music, celebrating the 43 tribes of Kenya and their unique cultural practices. Each dance/song is prefaced with an explanation of where the tribe is located and its customs. They also have a model homestay village where you can see the traditional Kenyan ways of living. We went during the week and had the place almost to ourselves. It seems like a bit of a hidden gem.
We got tickets on arrival and they were quite cheap. We were brought here by our tour guide after the elephant sanctuary. It wasn’t supposed to be part of the tour but when he told us about it and we showed interest he brought us there at no extra cost (besides the price of the entry ticket). The website for BOMAS is below if you would like to learn more.
https://www.bomasofkenya.co.ke/
This was certainly worth the visit if you have the time. It gave us an appreciation for the diverse and intricate culture of the country.
Nairobi National Park
We didn’t visit the park as we had a full safari booked after our stay in Nairobi, but they offer single-day safaris if you want to stay in the Nairobi region. Park entry fees start at 43 USD.
If you can’t afford the time or money for a full safari, but still want to see some of the wildlife Kenya has to offer, then this might be perfect for you. Nairobi is one of the only places in the world where you can see large wildlife (including buffalo, giraffes, lions, leopards, baboons, zebra, wildebeest, cheetahs and elephants) with a city skyline in the backdrop. The park itself is 117 sq km, not as large as the other national parks in Kenya but still big enough to get a good safari experience.
This also happens to be the park where the Sheldrick Trust releases their orphaned elephants once they’ve been rehabilitated, allowing them to monitor their development.
General Tips for visiting Nairobi
Weather and clothes
Nairobi is colder than we expected. We had planned to be in shorts and T-shirts during our time in the city. Kenya sits along the equator so we naturally thought it would be warm. We didn’t realise that Nairobi sits at a high elevation (1,795m / 5,889 feet) meaning it experiences much cooler temperatures than the rest of the country. So bring some layers.
It’s not high enough to experience any altitude sickness but you may find yourself more tired than usual in the evenings due to the elevation.
How to get around?
The simple answer is to use Bolt or other similar driver apps. It was super cheap and every driver we had was very friendly. We had read that this was also the safer option than using taxis as every driver on these apps needs to be verified, it also cancels out the need to negotiate the fair etc.
To put the price in perspective – We asked our hotel to organise a taxi for us on our very first morning. The trip was no longer than 25 minutes and they charged us 25 USD. In contrast, we rarely spent more than 5 USD on bolt trips and regularly took 20-40 minute journeys across the city. You’ll need to get a travel sim to use this service without wifi but we think it’s worth it.
This made getting around Nairobi super easy, safe and cheap, with the friendly drivers adding to the experience and giving us information about the city.
Is Nairobi safe?
The usual advice applies, as for any country. Keep your wits about you and don’t do anything silly. We took a few strolls around the neighbourhood where our hotel was situated. We never experienced anything dodgy but we certainly got a few stares, it was clear that tourists stand out in Nairobi. On one occasion a group of teens followed us for a while asking if we could buy them something in the shopping mall. They never threatened us or anything but we still felt uncomfortable as it was our first day in the city. I asked a clerk in the mall what should we do and she told us to ignore them. Nothing more happened after that.
Bolt made it pretty easy to circumnavigate these situations (this is not a paid promotion for Bolt, I swear!) so we didn’t have to worry about it too much.
There is also plenty of security in public places like hotels and shopping malls. Be prepared to put your items through security scans like an airport entering these places. This was a bit daunting at first, but we quickly got used to it. This as a result made public spaces feel very safe.
Overall the people of Nairobi were friendly and helpful but maybe not as used to tourists as other big cities so you may get some intrigued stares. Don’t let it put you off the city though, it still has a lot to offer.
In conclusion….
We really enjoyed our 3 days in Nairobi. We felt it gave us context for the culture and wildlife of Kenya before we set off on our safari and our trip to the Maasai Mara, helping us enjoy them all the more. 3 nights felt like the perfect amount of time to spend there but we’re sure there is more to do in the bustling capital if you fancy staying longer.
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