An Afternoon at Kenya's Game Park Within a City

Tags:

Credit: Tami Hultman/allAfrica.com

An olive baboon. Be sure to keep food away from all baboons, as theyll be just as sure to take it from you if possible. Ive also run into baboons at City Park, smack in the heart of the city, climbing all over market stalls selling fruit and other food. Wherever theres a meal, theyll find it, so clean up your picnic table as well.
Credit: Tami Hultman/allAfrica.com

A turtle we saw at the hippo pool. I would recommend visiting the hippo pool on any visit you make -- along with the Kingfisher area, because nearby watering holes make it a likely place to spot more animals. According to a ranger we met, it doesnt matter what time of day you come to see the hippos, because if they visit that particular pool, they arrive early in the morning and stay all day. The hippo pools are quite far from Kingfisher, and since we didnt have a map it took us longer than wed have liked to reach our picnic spot, but with a map it would have been much easier.
Credit: Tami Hultman/allAfrica.com

We learned to distinguish the hartebeest from other antelope by its horn-like ears, causing the animal to appear as if it had four horns instead of two.
Credit: Tami Hultman/allAfrica.com

Birds werent the only flying objects we saw on our game drive. Wilson Airport - Nairobis smaller, domestic airport - is just north of the park and glimpses of a rhino are often accompanied by the sound of whirring engines; a constant reminder of the nearness of the city.
Credit: Tami Hultman/allAfrica.com

While giraffes are certainly plentiful in the park, for a closer look a visitor can head west of the park to Giraffe Center on Simba Hill Road in Langata (http://giraffecenter.org). For 700 ksh (non-resident adults) or 250 ksh (non-resident children), you can pet, hug, or feed the giraffes out of your hand with pellets the staff provide. Several visitors when I was there - including me - placed pellets between our lips and got a wet kiss as the giraffe got a snack. The giraffes are very friendly, and willing to be fed constantly - the centre offers a great opportunity to get up close to one of Africas most famous animals. The center is open 9 am to 5:30 pm seven days a week.
Credit: Nina Papachristou/allAfrica.com

While we were eating our lunch at the Kingfisher picnic spot (be warned: there are no picnic tables), another visitor gave us a hot tip about two lions that had been seen not too far away. We jumped in our Land Rover and rushed away to find them - there are only a few dozen in the park. After about a half hour of crazed driving off the beaten path, we found a couple of male lions lying lazily under a bush. We got this shot of an outstretched tongue just as a midafternoon rain began to fall, quickly turning into a downpour. Fearful of getting stuck in the mud, we had to leave our lion friends behind too soon, but we were lucky to see them at all. The so-called "king of the jungle" was the crowning sight of a day full of exotic animals - all just a minute's drive away from our city life.

Comments Post a comment

InFocus

Kenya: The Year in Photos

This allAfrica feature reviews the Kenyan photo essays for 2011. Read more »

Animals on View in Nairobi National Park

An Afternoon at Kenya's Game Park Within a City

The worlds only game park close to a capital city, Nairobi National Park is home to over 100 mammal species, including four of the Big Five. Established in 1946 and covering 117 ... Read more »