Nairobi City Park

A forested urban park where vervet monkeys raid picnics and rare plants grow beside Victorian graves

Nairobi City Park is a forested 26-hectare green space about 2 km north of the city centre, and one of the few genuinely wild-feeling places within walking distance of downtown. The forest is thick enough that it feels like countryside even though office blocks are visible through the trees. Vervet monkeys are abundant and bold — they will take food from hands and bags if given the opportunity.

The park contains a number of rare and endangered plant species, some of them endemic to the Kenyan highlands, and is a good birding spot for forest species that don't appear in the drier Nairobi National Park. A short walk through the cemetery at the southern end takes you past the graves of early settlers from the 1900s and 1910s.

The park is generally safe during the day and is used by joggers, picnickers, and families from the surrounding neighbourhoods. Go in the morning for the best bird activity. Entry is free.

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The park contains a Victorian-era cemetery where some of Nairobi's earliest European settlers are buried — a strange and peaceful corner of the city that predates the modern metropolis. Walk through it at midday and you can almost hear the absence of traffic.

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