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Nairobi National Park
Back Ground Information
The 117 km2 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. As
expected, the park is a
principal attraction for
visitors to Nairobi.
The park also serves many
residents and citizens living in
the city The park 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 have also
added a further habitat,
favourable to certain species of
birds and other aquatic
biota (life forms). The dams also
attract water dependent
herbivores during the dry
season.
The park has a rich/diverse
birdlife with 400 species
recorded. However all species
are not always present and some
are seasonal. Northern migrants
pass through the park primarily
during late March through April.
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 Attractions
Annual wildebeest and zebra
migration in July/August, 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 & the Orphanage,
Spacious accomodating picnic
sites.
How To Get There
Roads:
Located only about 7 km from the
city centre, the park is easily
accessible on tarmac roads,
mainly through Langata Road.
Park
Roads:
There is an adequate
administration and viewing road
network with satisfactory
signage.
Park gates:
The park has seven gates, the
main gate at KWS headquarters,
East Gate, Cheetah Gate,
Lang'ata Gate, Maasai Gate:
Mbagathi and Banda Gate are
service gates and therefore not
used by tourists.
Facilities
There are no accommodation
facilities in the park. But a
wide range of well developed
accommodation facilities are
available in the city. Further,
there is also the Masai Safari
Lodge near the park.
Picnic Sites: Impala Observation
Tower; Ivory Burning Site; King
Fisher Gorge; Leopard Cliffs;
Mokoiyet; Hippo Pool;
Other attractions: Lone Tree,
Directors tree planting site
Nature Trails: The park has one
nature trail at the Hippo Pool
Common Vegetation
The vegetation is primarily dry
savanna, open grass plains with
scattered acacia bushes. The
park also has a permanent river
with a riverine forest.
The western upland areas has an
upland dry forest with stands of
Olea africana and Croton
dichogamus/Brachylaena
hutchinsii and calodendrum. The
lower slopes are a grassland
composed of such species as:
Themeda, Cyprus, Digitaria, and
Cynodon with scattered
yellow-barked acacia, Acacia
xanthophloea. In addition there
are stretches of broken bush
country and deep rocky valleys
and gorges with scrub and long
grass.
There is gallery forest in the
valleys, predominantly Acacia
spp., and Euphobia candelabrum.
Other tree species include
Apodytes dimidiata, Canthium
schimperanum, Elaeodendron
buchananii, Newtonia sp., Ficus
eriocarpa, Aspilia
mossambicensis, and Rhus
natalensis.
Several plants growing on the
rocky hillsides are unique to
the Nairobi area including
Euphobia brevitorta, Drimia
calcarata, Murdannia clarkeana
and the crassula sp. |
