A city of contrasts, Nairobi with a population of over 10 million, is among Africa’s largest cities. It houses some very posh and wealthy neighbourhoods and also Africa’s largest slum. If you are well travelled, there is nothing great to see in Nairobi and how much time you spend here depends on your itinerary.
Top attractions
Some of the top attractions are Giraffe Centre, David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and the Nairobi national park but since I was visiting other national reserves, I decided to skip these attractions. The usual museums (National Museum, Railway Museum), malls, cafes, gardens/parks are all there. I decided to just drive round the city as I had only few hours, spent some time in the city square and shopped for souvenirs.
Clock Tower at Parliament Building, Nairobi, Kenya 
Nairobi Skyline, Kenya 
Stork’s nest in city square, Nairobi, Kenya 
A street in city square, Nairobi, Kenya
From Nairobi, you can also consider day trips to Hell’s Gate national park, Lake Nakuru or Lake Naivasha or even Lake Victoria…there are direct flights in the morning to Kisumu with return flights in the evening.
In my view, even if you do not go around Nairobi, you are not really missing much.
Shopping for Souvenirs
My driver in Nairobi took me to Birds Paradise Souvenir shop that surely was quite large and offered a wide range of items. But the prices quoted were way too high- a wooden statue of a Mara elder was quoted at KSh4500 which was available for KSh2000 at the International Airport!
Moral of the story – do bargain if you are buying anything, starting at 40% of the quoted price.
