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Nairobi National Park
Background
Information
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 capital 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 are predominant.
The western side has a highland dry forest and a
permanent river with a riverine forest in the south.
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(life forms). The
dams also attract water dependent herbivores during
the dry season.
The
park has a rich/diverse birdlife with 400 species
recorded. However all species are not always present
and some are seasonal. 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 and
other upcoming sanctuaries. 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 and dispersal area. These
are vital areas for herbivores dispersal 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- lion, leopard, hyena and cheetah.
* Aggregations of large herbivores- eland, buffalo,
zebra and wildebeest
* Ivory Burning Site Monument
* Walking trails at hippo pools
* Nairobi Safari Walk & the Orphanage.
* Spacious accomodating picnic sites
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 seven gates, the main gate at KWS headquarters,
East Gate, Cheetah Gate, Lang'ata Gate, Maasai Gate:
Mbagathi and Banda Gate 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;
Other
attractions
* Lone Tree
* Directors tree planting site
Nature
Trails:
The
park has one nature trail at the Hippo Pool
COMMON
VEGETATION
The
vegetation is primarily dry savanna, open grass
plains with scattered acacia bushes. 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.
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