A Weekend in Nairobi
We spent the long Thanksgiving weekend exploring the sprawling metropolis of Nairobi.
Nairobi is only a 1.5 hour flight from Bujumbura. It’s also a major hub and jumping off point to other locations in Africa. For this trip we decided to stay local and explore the city and the Nairobi National Park.
We stayed in the Westlands neighborhood, which is a popular area for visitors due to proximity to shopping, dining and general walkability and safety.
The main thing to take into consideration when traveling through Africa is that although a destination may only be a 1-2 hour flight, the price is pretty hefty. For example, it cost us $500 USD per person for this quick flight to Nairobi- so not particularly cheap.
Nairobi is a proper city -and I absolutely LOVED it! We ate Mexican food (shout out to Mercado), went shopping for goods we can’t get in the Buj and soaked up the ease of travel with Uber. We ended up at the westgate shopping mall- I sort of nonchalantly thought why does this name sound familiar?? When our driver picked us up he reminded us that this was where the 2013 attack occurred. Talk about a creepy goosebump moment- as I recalled the news clips from that day to our lighthearted shopping outing… yikes!
Although we had a fabulous time living that city life (we are after all San Franciscans at heart), I have to admit we were ready to head back to our cozy small town life in Bujumbura. Less people, less traffic, and of course our sprawling and spacious casa.
We will definitely be back to Nairobi. Next time we plan to do a proper Safari at Masai Mara and perhaps another trip where we connect to Zanzibar (only another 1.5 hour flight from Nairobi).
In the words of my amiga: East Africa is magical!!
Nairobi National Park
Located about 30-45 minutes south of Nairobi central (only 5 miles but traffic here is no joke). It’s the only wildlife park in the world that is so close to a city. To get around we rented a jeep with a tour guide for 2 hours (you can do longer but that is about all our toddler can handle- or all we can handle with our toddler). It cost $100 plus the entrance fee. The south end of the park is open to allow migration of animals to and from Masai land. You can spot 4 of the big five here: lion, buffalo, leopard, rhino. Yes, we saw a sleeping lion next to it’s zebra carcass!!!
A unique experience to have a reserve so close to a large urban area. It was interesting to see the animals with the Nairobi skyline as a backdrop.
Grazing Impala’s - wanna be a baller, shot caller, twenty inch blades on the impala….. for real, am I the only one that thinks of that song when you hear the word Impala…
The Giraffe Center
A sanctuary for Rothschild Giraffe which are unique to East Africa. they lost their natural habitat in western Kenya so the center breeds this particular species. You are given a small bowl of “Giraffe food” and are allowed to feed them. This was actually more fun that it sounds!
Chotu had the best time getting Giraffe slober all over him (and ok maybe we did too)- highly recommend for kids.
Giraffe manor is the boutique hotel that is actually on the grounds here- perhaps you have seen pics of giraffes sticking their heads into the dining room as guests eat their brunch. Not gonna lie- I was intrigued to stay there but not super practical for our family so we skipped it. Check out the Giraffe manor here if you’re interested.
Now it’s back to the Buj for us!
