PARKS

 

Karibu Kenya; In Kenya we have various Parks with the likes of the Nairobi National Park, Nairobi National Museum, Giraffe Park,Snake Park, Tsavo National Park, Masai mara National Park, Amboseli Game Reserve, Nakuru National Park hotels & Lodges, Aberdare National Park, Karen Blixen Museum, Samburu National Park, Hell's Gate National Park, Mt. Elgon National Park, Mt. Kenya National Park, The Samburu and Shaba Reserves, Tsavo East and Tsavo West.

 

NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK

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 major 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 predominant. The western side has a highland dry forest and a permanent river with a riverine forest. 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.

 

The dams also attract water dependent

herbivores during the dry season.

The park has diverse birdlife with 400 species recorded. However all species are not always present and much depends on season.

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. 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 Corridor. These are vital areas for herbivores disperse over them 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
• Aggregations of large herbivores
• Ivory Burning Site Monument
• Walking trails.
• Nairobi Safari Walk & the Orphanage.

 

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 six gates, the main gate at KWS headquarters, East Gate, Cheetah Gate, Lang'ata Gate, Maasai Gate and Banda Gate. The last two 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;
Nature Trails:• The park has one nature trail at the Hippo Pool

 

WILDLIFE
Reptiles: Python, Cobra, Monitor Lizard, Crocodile Terrapin, Tortoise, Lizard
Insects/arthropods:
Grasshopper, Butterfly, Moth, Beetle, Scorpions.
Major Animals: Aardwolf; Ant Bear; Bat, Angola Free-tailed; Baboon, Olive; Bat, Banana; Bat, False Vampire; Bat, Hollow-faced; Bat, Lander's Horseshoe; Bat, Rousette Fruit; Bat, White-bellied Free-tailed; Bat, Yellow-bellied; Bat, Yellow-winged; Buffalo African; BushBaby; Bushbuck; Caracal; Cat, African Wild; Cheetah; Civet, African; Colobus, Black and White; Dik-dik, Kirk's; Dog, Hunting; Dormouse, African; Duiker, Bush; Eland; Fox, Bat-eared; Galago, Greater; Gazelle, Grant's; Gazelle, Thomson's; Genet, Large-spotted; Genet, Small-spotted; Giraffe, Masai; Gnu, White-bearded; Hare, African; Hare, Spring; Hartebeest, Coke's; Hedgehog, East African; Hippopotamus; Hyaena, Spotted; Hyaena, Striped; Hyrax, Rock; Hyrax, Tree; Impala; Jackal, Black-backed; Jackal, Side-striped; Klipspringer; Leopard; Lion; Mongoose, Slender; Mongoose, Marsh; Mongoose, Slender; Mongoose, White-tailed; Monkey, Black-faced Vervet; Monkey, Sykes; Otter, Clawless; Porcupine, Crested; Rat, Cane; Rat, Giant; Reedbuck, Chanler's; Rhinoceros, Black; Serval; Shrew, Giant White-toothed; Shrew, Short-snouted; Squirrel, Bush; Squirrel, Striped Ground; Steinbok; Suni; Warthog; Waterbuck, Common; Waterbuck, Defassa; Zebra, Common.
Major Birds: Dove, Emerald-spotted; Dove, Laughing; Dove, Namaqua; Dove, Pink-breasted; Dove, Red-eyed; Dove, Ring-necked; Dove, Tambourine; Drongo; Duck, African Black; Duck, Fulvous Tree; Duck, Knob-billed; Duck, Red-billed; Duck, White-backed; Duck, Yellow-billed; Eagle, African Fish; Eagle, Ayres' Hawk; Eagle, Bateleur; Eagle, Black-chested Harrier; Egret, Great White; Eremonela, Yellow-bellied; Falcon, Cuckoo; Finch, African Fire; Guinea-fowl, Helmeted...........

 

COMMON VEGETATION
The vegetation is primarily dry savanna, open grass plains with scattered acacia bush predominate. 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..More>>>