KARIBU KENYA - UNON - the United Nations Office at Nairobi

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CHAPTER 9: GOING OUT
The Fun Side of Nairobi
City Attractions
As the original ‘Safari City’, Nairobi boasts a variety of places of natural
beauty worth visiting – particularly if you have visitors from overseas.A small
selection of these are:
Nairobi National Park: The world’s first city park is still probably its
most famous – primarily thanks to the trademark images of rare black rhinos
browsing just out of the shadows of Nairobi’s office blocks. Opened in 1946,
this 117 sq km park has a surprising diversity of habitats and wildlife, from
lion, cheetah and buffalo on the plains, hippo and crocodile in the river, to
leopard and 500 bird species in the forests along its western border.The new
Nairobi Safari Walk at the Main Gate offers an informative close encounter
with several animals from a boardwalk meandering through three different
ecosystems, as well as an orphanage where a variety of animals including
cheetah, hyena and lions are being cared for by the Kenya Wildlife Service.
Open from 9am to 5.30pm daily;Tel: 501081.
The National Museum: In a country often touted as the birthplace of
humanity, the National Museum is a great place to start exploring Kenya’s
cultural riches. It has a variety of cultural exhibits, displays of rock art, fossils,
fascinating exhibits on the origins of humans, 900 stuffed birds and a fibreglass
replica of Kenya’s most famous elephant,Ahmed. It also houses a gallery
of wonderful contemporary paintings by local artists.The museum is a leisurely
1km stroll northwest of the city centre just across the Nairobi River. Tel:
3742131-4.
The Giraffe Centre: A raised wooden platform offers a uniquely sticky
encounter with the long tongues of a Rothschild’s giraffe as it takes cereal
pellets from your hand. Across the road, but still part of the centre, is a small
patch of forest through which you can take a 1km forest walk among beautiful
birds, butterflies and warthogs. Southwest of central Nairobi, the Giraffe
Centre is signposted from Langata South Road. Open 9am to 5.30pm daily;
Tel: 891658/890952.