Nairobi National Park
Nairobi is one of Kenya's first national parks, founded back in 1946 on an area of 117 km2. The park is located right on the outskirts of the capital of Kenya - this is the main feature of the park. The city is perfectly visible from the park, but such proximity does not harm the plant and animal world, but only emphasizes its special status.
In these places, before the arrival of the British colonists, the Masai tribe was engaged in cattle breeding, the Kikuyu people were engaged in agriculture. But soon everything changed, the city of Nairobi grew in several decades. The initiator of the creation of the national park is Mervin Koui, born in Nairobi. Returning to the city in 1932 after a ten-year absence, he was amazed at how much everything had changed: there was almost no game in the Ati Valley, cattle and farms were around. Previously, there was a hunting reserve and was not officially allowed to hunt, but nevertheless livestock, landfills and sometimes this territory was bombed by British aircraft.
After much effort by Mervin Coey, the Kenyan authorities decided to organize a commission to consider protecting the territory. And in 1946, the first Nairobi National Park in Kenya was opened. Because of this, the Masai people had to be driven out of these lands, and Mervin received the position of head of the national park, which he had been to until 1966. In 1989, Kenyan President Daniel Moi burned 20 tons of ivory on the lands of Nairobi National Park to raise the country's authority to protect wildlife. Since then, animal bones mined by poachers have been burned 2 more times.
The flora and fauna of Nairobi Park is extremely rich. This was expected from wild places, but clearly not in the immediate vicinity of the multi-million dollar city. Typical representatives of local fauna are elephants, lions, cheetahs, rhinos, gazelles, giraffes. In the waters of the Ati River you can see hippos and crocodiles, in the forests nearby there are many birds and monkeys. In total, over 400 varieties of birds are found in the park. The main feature of the park is the presence of approximately 50 rhinos. When the path of elephant migration passed in the park, but few people get from elephants to the park because of poachers.
In 1963, a shelter was opened for elephants and rhinos who had fallen off the herd and lost their parents. It is located near the main entrance to the park.
The park is best visited in July - March, when it is dry and warm. The rainy season here happens 2 times a year - in April - June and October - December.
