Nairobi, Kenya

I set off on the my Masai Mara and Gorillas trip, with G Adventures. A little more about it here:

https://lynntowin.ca/masai-mara-and-gorillas/

It takes a long time to get to Nairobi from Regina, Saskatchewan.

After many hours, I arrived an hour later than scheduled, and border control added another hour. It was 11 pm by the time I exited the airport. Thankfully I had a driver waiting for me. It’s really nice to have that, especially when you arrive at night in a city not known for its hospitality (travellers have nicknamed it Nairobbery).

John treated me to a commentary on the way to Hotel Boulevard, talking about the Big 5 (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, rhino – animals most dangerous to hunters on foot) and the Ugly 5 (hyena, wart hog, wildebeest, vulture, and maribou stork). He showed me the maribou storks with their nests high in trees along the boulevard from the airport.

My hotel had a high locked gate with guards for the car to enter. On my last trip to Nairobi the hotel gatekeeper ran a long mirror under the car, but that didn’t happen this time. I felt very safe.

John picked me up at the airport as part of a package deal. I asked G Adventures, the tour company, to ask my tour leader for a recommendation – http://whydahadventures.com/day-tours-in-nairobi/, md@whydahadventures.com, Phelix Abila, Tel: +254 743 993 350. We made a deal over Whats App.

The rest of the package included a personal safari in Nairobi National Park on the outskirts of the city, a visit to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage, and a visit to the Giraffe Centre, all for about $250 including entry fees.

Nairobi National Museum

The next day, I went to the Nairobi National Museum. The museum was literally right behind my hotel grounds, so I walked there, but had to deal with broken pavement and crossing an expressway exit.

The museum is filled with cultural information, but the main event is the stuffed animals.

The exhibits and information focus on conservation of the animals. A notable taxidermied body is Sudan, last male northern white rhino in the world.

In an outside area stands a replica of the famous elephant Ahmed. He became a symbol of the poaching crisis in the 1980’s, when the price of ivory sold to Asian markets increased greatly and herds of elephants were decimated for their tusks. He was under 24 hour guard at the end of his days.

There was an exhibit about Joy Adamson, who was famed for her book Born Free about Elsa the lioness, made into a movie in the 1960’s. She was an amazing artist, painter of plants, animals, and people. But apparently she didn’t pay her staff sometimes and she was murdered in 1980 by a disgruntled employee.

Right beside the museum was the snake park, with creatures slithering around in and out of cages, including the deadly black mamba. The black mamba is actually green, with a black mouth that you hope never to see open. If you’re bitten you have about half an hour.

A park attendant put a chameleon and a little boa constrictor on me for a picture.

Back at my hotel, I had a great Indian dinner at the restaurant. In the late 1800’s, many Indians came here to build railways. They are now recognized as one of the tribes of Kenya.

Nairobi National Park

Early the next day, I left my hotel with a new driver and guide. We drove in an early morning downpour through the city to the outskirts, passing through Kibera, the largest slum in Africa, where there were thousands of people walking to work through the driving rain.

We entered the national park right on the outskirts of Nairobi. Along the roads, we had great close sightings of a lioness hunting, a hippo on the road, both black and white rhinos, and many other animals and birds, including buffalo, ostrich, masai giraffes, hart antelope, eland, impalas.

There are no elephants in this park – apparently they were relocated long ago to reduce conflict with humans who live right beside the park. The conflict mainly comes when the elephants eat and destroy crops, and the locals retaliate with snares and spears.

The park is a unique place to view wildlife with views of the city in the background. It is split through the middle by a controversial train bridge built with Chinese funds.

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

After a few hours on safari, we went to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust compound, inside the national park, for the 11 am feeding of elephant orphans. https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/

I first visited this elephant orphanage about 12 years ago, and left with the virtual adoption of little Barsilinga. His mother was a victim of poaching for her ivory. I send $50 each year for him, and in return get a monthly newsletter with stories about the orphans.

Barsilinga left the orphanage here long ago. He was transferred to a re-integration unit, and has returned to the wild. The unit is still there for him to come back to if he wants for a little extra attention. In February of 2024 he returned with a deep spear wound, and his keepers cleaned and disinfected it for him.

The young elephant orphans here come for their daily bottles of soy milk, and mill around a bit in an enclosed corral, coming over to the edges for attention and twigs from the crowd. They aren’t the most fun to scratch with their thick wrinkled skin with spiky hairs, but they are very cute!

Giraffe Centre

Next stop, again a place I had been before, was the Giraffe Centre https://www.giraffecentre.org/. This is a rescue centre for the endangered rothschild giraffe. There are about a dozen giraffes here, including a two week old baby that kept his distance from us.

You can get a scoop of food pellets, climb up to a raised walkway, and feed the giraffes by hand. Last time I was here you could put the pellets between your teeth and you would get a big kiss with a long black tongue. That is not allowed anymore for some reason.

On the walkway is a sign advising you to watch for head butts. A woman next to me wasn’t watching and got a solid bonk to her head. That would have hurt! They don’t like to be petted either, they just want that pellet.

Right beside the Giraffe Centre is Giraffe Manor, an exclusive hotel where the giraffes can peek into your window, or share your breakfast. Stays here cost at least $1500 per person and are sold out a year in advance. And you are with the very same giraffes I was with at the Giraffe Centre!

That evening I met up with my tour leader and group of 5. We went for dinner to a Brazilian type steakhouse called Fogo where the waiters come to your table with different meats, including crocodile. This place is apparently just a good as the world famous Carnivore restaurant, but much cheaper at about $30 vs $120.

Then, home to bed to get ready for an early start to the Masai Mara game park – https://lynntowin.ca/masai-mara/