1 Day Nairobi City Tour : During your trip to Kenya, below are some of the best ways to spend a day in Nairobi. Nairobi is Kenya’s capital, is one of the largest cities in Africa and the most popular city in eastern Africa, and a major business, political, and financial hub in Africa. Although Nairobi is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa with construction, industry and the significant presence of major international corporations in the city. There are loads of modern hotels, shopping malls, and business centers in the city. At the same time, Nairobi, like many large cities, struggles with issues of crime, poverty, and unemployment. Wealthy suburbs like Karen, Gigiri, and Lang’ata stand in marked contrast to the slums of Kibera and Mathare, demonstrating a large social and economic divide.
Most tourists arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta airport and then head out the next day for safari, earning the city the nickname “Safari Capital of the World”. However, Nairobi is worth at least a day or two of exploration as the city offers parks, shopping, art museums, cultural attractions, the chance to get up close with wildlife, and even safari game viewing!
Exploring Nairobi city has a mixture of wildlife and cultural attractions whether you are interested in art, culture, family activities, nature, history, or wildlife, you are sure to find plenty of things to do in Nairobi like spending time feeding giraffes, ogling baby elephants, visiting the house made famous by Out of Africa, learning about handmade ceramics, and sipping coffee.
Nairobi city has a number of attractions that should appeal to those who are interested in art, food, wildlife, nature, history, local culture, or shopping. Some of the most popular visitor attractions include Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Giraffe Center, Naitional Museum, Karen Blixen Museum, Nairobi National park, Bomas of Kenya, Utamaduni shops, African Heritage House, August 7th Memorial Park, Nairobi Gallery, Nairobi Railway Museum, just to mention a few. Also, do a downtown city tour to visit places like the local markets, the KICC rooftop, and city parks and gardens. For most places in Nairobi, you will need a driver, but if you are interested in a city tour, walking tour of Kibera, or game drives in Nairobi National Park, you will want a driver guide.
Stop 1: Giraffe Centre takes about 45 minutes
Your first stop will start at the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife Giraffe Centre. The center has been successful in breeding the Rothschild’s giraffe, an endangered subspecies of giraffe found only in East Africa. The center was established in the 1970’s by Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville, and in addition to the breeding, conservation, and release of giraffes, it also provides education to the public.
After arrival, you are given a handful of pellets that you can feed to the giraffes from a large viewing platform. The platforms are raised so that you are standing face-to-face with the adult giraffes, and feed them. Spot other residents like the warthogs, antelopes, learn about the giraffes by listening to one of the free educational talks or lectures, and take a walk along the Giraffe Centre Nature Trail that begins just across the road.
A visit at the Gireffe center takes about 30-45 minutes without the trail walk depending on the population visit of the day.
Stop 2: Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage takes about 1 hour
Visit the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust elephant orphanage. David Sheldrick was a game warden and pioneer conservationist in Kenya. His wife Daphne established the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an elephant and rhino nursery and sanctuary, in his memory in the late 1970s following his death. We recommend that you read Daphne Sheldrick’s memoir “Love, Life and Elephants”.
The sanctuary is located within a section of Nairobi National Park, providing care and a home to dozens of orphaned baby elephants and rhinos from all over the country with the goal of being able to release them back into the wild. Visitors can visit daily at 11:00am to watch the public feedings of the young elephants and learn more about the mission of the trust. Although the feedings begin at 11:00am, you are advised to arrive and check-in at least 15 minutes early.
After a brief introduction, the first group of about 20 baby elephants are led into the fenced off area, these were the youngest of the elephants. You get to watch as they feed on bottles by the handlers, play in the water and dirt, and roam around the area. If you are lucky, you might get a chance to touch one if it comes up to the rope, but you need to be careful as they weigh a ton.
After the first group was taken away, another group of about 20 older young elephants are led in and the feeding process was repeated. During the feeding, a staff member with a microphone explains the goals of the trust and gives you some information about the individual resident baby elephants and rhinos (if there are any rhinos).
Stop 3: Utamaduni Shops takes about 30 minutes
Utamaduni Shops were formerly called the Utamaduni Craft Centre, so that guests could peruse the large number of craft items and souvenirs. This is a common short stop for many tours to give visitors a chance to shop or get a cup of coffee.
There are both outdoor stalls as well as a much larger indoor store. You can find a bit of everything here, including woodcarvings, soaps, slippers, clothing, children’s items, and jewelry. The Streetwise stall in front of the building sells a number of inexpensive locally made items and all sales from that shop benefit the disadvantaged youth who made the items. There is a cafe and restaurant located at Utamaduni Shops that serves meals, snacks, and drinks. So can be a good place to stop for coffee or lunch. There is also a small children’s play area.
Stop 4: Karen Blixen Museum takes about 45 minutes
After the souvenir shop and lunch, head to the Karen Blixen Museum. Do a house tour and visit the grounds in about an hour. The Karen Blixen Museum is housed in the farmhouse where Danish author Karen Blixen (penname Isak Dinesen) lived from 1914 to 1931. The house was built in 1912, and later bought by Karen and her husband Baron Bror von Blixen Fincke when they began a coffee plantation. Blixen and her coffee farm became well-known because of the book she wrote about her experiences in Kenya and the 1985 film adaptation “Out of Africa” starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.
You join a guided group tour of the house which included the interior of the house, the detached kitchen, and a small portion of the grounds. The house is much smaller than we expected but includes original furniture that belonged to Blixen, including the famous cuckoo clock, as well as some movie props used in the filming of Out of Africa. The tour lasts about 40 – 45 minutes and then visitors are allowed to explore the grounds and gift shop on their own. The great views of the Ngong Hills that Blixen often commented on in her book remain, and it was nice to just walk around the property and notice other things that Blixen wrote about in her book.
Stop 5: Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens taking about 40 mintues
The Karen Blixen Coffee Gardens, the restaurant and an associated lodge sit on property that was once part of the large coffee estate that belonged to Karen Blixen and her husband.
The restaurant is quite large and is open daily for meals. They also have a bar and lounge area. The menu contains a mix of Western and Indian dishes, plus a few local Kenyan dish options. There have always been several seafood options as well as meat and vegetarian dishes. Food and service here have always been good.
Stop 6: Kazuri Beads for about 1 hour
The last stop of our tour can be at the Kazuri Beads factory and store. Kazuri Beads makes ceramic hand painted beads, ornaments, and pottery. It was started in 1975 as a business to employ local single mothers and now has grown to employ around 300 people. The word Kazuri means “small and beautiful” in Swahili.
Upon arrival, you are welcome by the staff and given a brief introduction. Then a guide takes on a free tour of the factory where you will get to see how they make the beads and pottery, learning about the how whole process, from mixing the clay to hand painting the beads to adding the final touches. The tour takes about 30 minutes and is definitely worth doing if you have the time. At the end of the tour, you are led to the Kazuri Beads shop and left to browse on your own. Although they are best known for their beaded jewelry, they also make and sell other items such as ceramic tableware, pots, and ornaments.
This is a great place to support. You can purchase something for yourself as a souvenir or to give as a gift when you get back home. After finishing your day Nairobi city tour, drive back to your hotel.
Stop 7: Carnivore Restaurant for Dinner at 7:00pm
After a break for a couple of hours, the driver will pick you up and head to Carnivore for dinner. Carnivore is probably the best known restaurant in Nairobi and serves “a beast of a feast”. It is a restaurant focused on roasted and grilled meats that are cooked over a large charcoal fire on Maasai swords.
The restaurant became famous for offering a number of exotic meats; however, game laws changed in Kenya and they now only serve farmed meat. You can still find meats like crocodile and ostrich on the menu alongside more familiar ones like beef, chicken, lamb, and pork.
The meal is served differently than in most other restaurants. You start with soup, then salads and sauces are brought, then baked potatoes, and then a parade of different meats. You can eat for as long as wish. You need to put down the flag at your table when you “surrender” and don’t want any more meat. Then, if you can still manage to eat anything, dessert is served! The price of your meal includes all your food, but it does not include any drinks that you order. Dawa is a popular vodka-based cocktail that was invited here and the house special. You can make reservations (we did), but these are often not necessary unless you are a large group.
This is obviously a popular restaurant with tourists and a bit kitschy, but we enjoyed having dinner here. We tried all the meats (our favorite was the ostrich meatballs) and even saved room for dessert. You certainly want to be hungry when you go here to make the most of it.
