Why Nairobi and Nakuru are a rare treat to tourists

One quite often missed outstanding element is the fact that in the epicentre of modernity of the country's two major cities, sits nature's best.

This little-known fact about Kenya suggests that one can enjoy the hustles and bustles of daily city life and can at the same time choose to escape it by taking a 15-to-20-minute ride to a game park for wildlife viewing and big-game hunting in either of the cities.

At times, Nairobians get a rare, though scary, treat, when the animals, especially the King of the Jungle, the lion, takes a stroll into the estates or even city highways.

The second interesting and unique factor is that more of these easily accessible safari destinations can be found in the other two main cities, but with the exception of boat rides.

Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru are the major towns in Kenya in that order, and with populations of over a million residents each, their central business districts are a few kilometres away from some of the world's most breathtaking game reserves.

However, it's only Nairobi and Nakuru cities that offer the shortest and hustle-free drives to two renowned game parks. Apart from elephants, the other big five game animals can be seen in a few minutes when in these two towns that are 156km and two and a half hours' drive away from each other.

WILDLIFE CAPITAL

Nairobi, Kenya's capital, is already dubbed "The world's only wildlife capital" because it is the only capital city in the world with a game park so close to it. A 20-minute drive takes one away from the busy and noisy city centre to an ideal refuge in Nairobi National Park, which is home to over 100 mammal species and over 150 diverse migratory and resident bird species.

While in the park, 117 square kilometres in size and located south of the city centre, the city's high-rise buildings are visible from the open plains and scattered acacia. The park offers visitors, tourists, travellers and backpackers picnic sites, three campsites and walking rails for hikers.

The conservation and management of Kenya's wildlife is mandated by the Kenya Wildlife Service. KWS strategy director Edwin Wanyonyi says the agency strives to maintain the true meaning of safari in the wild in the game parks within the cities despite the pressures of urbanisation and climate change.

He says KWS is working on its booking system to facilitate visits to Kenya's game parks.

"Currently, there is no need to pre-book visits," Wanyonyi said.

"Starting this October, we shall have a robust system that will allow pre-booking and pre-paying for safaris. This will ensure visitors and tourists spend minimum time at the gates of entry."

Wanyonyi acknowledges that the number of domestic tourists in the country has doubled after Covid-19 exposed Africa's tourism dependency on foreign travellers.

He urges more Africans to make it a habit to visit game parks in the continent.

"Kenya is home to true safari and it's blessed to have protected areas across the country with unique landscapes and an abundance of wildlife," Wanyonyi said.

"Nowhere else in the world do you get an experience of safari breathtaking sceneries, and within a short time are able to access cities. And as KWS, we strive to keep this experience natural."

Nowhere else in the world do you get an experience of safari breathtaking sceneries, and within a short time are able to access cities. And as KWS, we strive to keep this experience natural

FLAMINGO HEAVEN

In Nakuru City, Kenya's youngest city elevated to city status in 2021, lies the great Lake Nakuru National Park, which has made headlines worldwide for many reasons, the most iconic being that it shelters millions of the world's flamingoes.

Just as one would enjoy a few minutes' ride from Nairobi to the national park in Lang'ata, the same dynamic applies to Nakuru City and its national park in Lakeview, which is only 4km from the city centre.

So close is Nakuru City to the park, 188 sq km in size, that some of the residents from the surrounding area commute daily by taking 10 to 15-minute walks to town instead of using public transport. For tourists and visitors, it only takes a short drive of less than 10 minutes from the city centre to get to the park.

Lake Nakuru deputy park warden Carolyne Mwebia says the park receives a large number of visitors despite some of the lake areas being submerged by rising water levels.

This is a phenomenon that hit the Great Rift Valley Lakes between 2012 and 2020 and has led to an increase in lake sizes.

According to the latest study conducted by experts from the Nakuru county government, since 2012, the water levels in Lake Nakuru have been rising from an average of 3m to the highest level of about 8.5m recorded in April 2020.

"Lake Nakuru has been adversely affected by climate change and some of the lake areas and roads have been submerged," Mwebia said.

"We have come up with different routes in the park as a way of mitigating the situation and allowing our visitors to still continue enjoying the different parts of the park."

The best-known flamingo photos in the world have been taken at this lake, which has since 2013 seen the depletion of flamingos due to the loss of their chosen diet and rerouting of the lake source.

"Despite the adverse effects of climate change on this fragile ecosystem, Lake Nakuru is definitely worth visiting. Depending on different seasons of the year, flamingos stream to the lake in thousands to feed on algae," Mwebia said.

Mwebia says the low park entrance fees, plenty of guide options, different sceneries and, of course, location, make Lake Nakuru one of the most accessible safari destinations in Africa.

There are five rivers that stream into Lake Nakuru.

Apart from Nakuru, which is currently constructing an airport, the three other cities have airports, and a flight to each city from Nairobi takes less than an hour.

Whether Kenya is the ultimate iconic safari destination in the world is still an untackled topic, but that it's the number one country in Africa with the highest number of game parks is a proven fact.

OTHER CITIES

Mombasa is Kenya's second-largest city and is about 487km from Nairobi. Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve is found offshore of this city, and diving, snorkelling, sunbathing, water skiing and windsurfing are some of the activities that can be enjoyed.

The park is 15km away from the city centre and can be accessed by road from town to different beach points that are accessible to the park by boat. A drive and a boat ride to the park take a maximum of 35 minutes.

Nyali, Kenyatta, Shanzu and Bamburi beaches border and enjoy immediate access to the Mombasa Marine Park.

Visitors can enjoy sea grasses, colonies of seabirds, coral species, crabs, sea urchins, jellyfish and more of marine life.

Lastly is Kenya's third largest city, Kisumu, which is located 355km northwest of Nairobi. Three kilometres away from the city centre is the Kisumu Impala Sanctuary, which hosts impalas, gazelles, big cats, buffaloes, giraffes, cheetahs and other species.

The impala sanctuary is set on the shores of Lake Victoria, which is the largest freshwater lake in Africa and the second largest in the world after Canada's Lake Superior.

With five campsites, some of the activities available are boat rides, nature walks and bird watching.

Whether Kenya is the ultimate iconic safari destination in the world is still an untackled topic, but that it's the number one country in Africa with the highest number of game parks is a proven fact.

According to World Atlas, Kenya is the top country in Africa with the highest number of national parks. Out of the total 268 national parks in 29 out of 52 countries in Africa, Kenya has a total of 23 parks, followed by Zambia which has 20 and thirdly South Africa with 19.

World Atlas is one of the largest publishing resources in geography, demography, environment and travel, and in 2019 alone, it served over 165 million readers around the world.