#MustVisitCitiesinAfrica – Nairobi, Kenya

Hi!

In case you missed it, I started a #MustVisitCitiesinAfrica Series here and our first destination was Dakar, Senegal. Today, we would be talking about Nairobi, Kenya.

Culture

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name “Nairobi” comes from a water hole in Maasai as Enkare Nairobi, which translates to “cool water”. The phrase is also the Maasai name of the Nairobi river, which in turn lent its name to the city. However, it is popularly known as the “Green City in the Sun” due to its high crime rates, and is surrounded by several expanding villa suburbs.

Tourist Attractions

1. Nairobi National Park

   

   

    

2. Dame Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage

Located inside the Nairobi National Park is the Dame Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage. Dame Sheldrick is called The Woman Who Fosters Elephants. Basically, she takes care of orphaned elephants and rhino as well as those who have survived poaching and have been abandoned by their families. You can visit the orphanage every morning if you want to watch as the elephants are being fed with bottles of milk as well as them playing in their mud bath.

3. Uhuru Park

Uhuru Park, Nairobi’s own central park is features features many play areas for children, a man-made lake, historical monuments and a generally clean environment. It offers a wide range of fun and exciting activities such as boat riding on the lake, camel riding, picnic with friends and family. The recreation park features a variety of natural play areas for children, an artificial lake and several national monuments.

4. Nairobi National Museum

The National Museum was founded in 1920. It is a good place to visit if you want to learn about the culture and natural history of museum. There are a lot of exhibits about the ethnics, heritage, art of Museum.

5. Safari Walk

The Nairobi Safari Walk allows tourists and vistors to experience Kenya’s flora and fauna in habitats that simulate natural environments, albeit on a smaller scale than the large National Parks and Game Reserves. 

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6. Railway Museum

Kenya Railway Museum (Nairobi Railway Museum) shows the history of railroad in Kenya and how it has impacted greatly the economic of Kenya.

7. The Maasai Ostrich Farm

If you are free and you have got time, you can visit the ostrich farm wherre you can eat ostrich meat, watch the ostrich mates(during mating season), feed the ostrich as well as ride an ostrich.

Food

• Mandazi (Kenyan Doughnut)

• Kenyan Pilau 

Looks their version of Nigerian Jollof Rice here but you know there is nothing like Nigerian Jollof Rice.

• Ugali

Ugali is made by continually stirring cornmeal flour in water till a thick dough is formed just like mashed potatoes. Reminds me of semovita

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  Nyama Choma with Kachumbari

Nyama Choma means grilled meat in Swahili.

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• Mutura Sausage

Flight

From Lagos, you can get the following flights to Nairobi, Kenya

• Ethopian Airline (Layover at Addis Abba)
• Kenya Airways
• South African Airways (Layover at Johannesburg)

You should save about $650 – $1,000 for the flight ticket. But you can track your flight tickets here well ahead of time so you get alerts when the price of your flight ticket has dropped.

Visa

There are 3 Categories of Visa:-

• Single Entry – This visa allows you to enter Kenya ONCE.
• Transit – This visa allows you a short stop over that can last up to three days.
• Multiple Entry – This visa allows you to enter Kenya multiple times.

If you are laying over in Kenya for not more than 24 hours then you don’t need a visa. Also, you can get your visa at the Kenyan Embassy in Nigeria or at the border in Nairobi but it could be risky depending on that just in case you are denied a visa.

Thank you for reading!!!

P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog and comment below.

Ciao

Simi