Prior to traveling to Kenya I had booked a spot on an afternoon group tour to Nairobi National Park via Booking.com. I was really excited for this because it would be my first opportunity to see in real life many of the African mammals so many of us have grown up imagining or, at best, seeing in zoos.
The tour included pick up/drop off from my hotel, the guide/driver, but not the park fees, which are significant at $85 USD for foreigners. By the time we reached the park gate there were seven of us in this Land Rover.
Our first stop in the park was a spot with ivory burn piles where you can see how many tons of poached ivory authorities have burned over the years to demonstrate their commitment to combatting poaching. No doubt this is important but it felt a little propaganda-y and anyway we all just wanted to see animals!
We were not disappointed, though, because the animal sightings began quickly! First, an impala.
Then, a pond with hippopotamuses well under the water . . .
. . . all kinds of birdlife . . .
. . . more antelope . . .
. . . and a very relaxed crocodile!
I was excited about antelope, hippos, and a crocodile, but rhinoceroses are also amazing, and there were two right here grazing peacefully beside the road!
Basically only a few metres further up the road, albeit on the other side, was a herd of buffalo. So, we had been in the park about thirty minutes and had already seen two of Africa's famous "big 5" (rhino, buffalo, elephant, lion, and leopard).
Giraffes are not a big 5 animal, but I was very eager to see them, and a herd was in the trees just a little ways past the buffalo. Most of them were too far in the distance to photograph well with my smartphone, but I did capture these.
After the giraffe we went several minutes without seeing any mammals, but then suddenly I saw a lion! I was super excited and my fellow tourists were very impressed with my spotting skills. As we watched her, she got up and started stalking something, but then she lay back down. All of this occurred too far away to photograph but it was thrilling nonetheless. Then, maybe five minutes later, I spotted another lion, and so now I had a well-burnished reputation as a lion spotter. Our guide took the vehicle offroad briefly to allow us to photograph her up close.
As we continued the game drive we saw more giraffes . . .
. . . hippos . . .
. . . antelope . . .
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. . . buffalo . . .
. . . and, for the first time, zebras!
I have to say I was extremely impressed with Nairobi National Park. I was amazed to see all these animals just 30 minutes from Nairobi's CBD!
After the game drive we made the usual tour shopping stop. I took the opportunity to drink a beer. There are no elephants in Nairobi National Park, but a Tusker beer felt appropriate nonetheless.
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